HOW TO BUY A SURFBOARD

Find a comfortable spot and watch some surfers. Study the boards. Big boards glide easily but turn slowly. Small boards turn quickly but glide poorly.

Small boards--less than about 7 feet in length, with pointed noses--are called shortboards or thrusters. These are ideal for aggressive, rapid maneuvers. Larger boards--usually between 9 and 10 feet, with rounded noses--are called longboards, and excel at graceful, smooth turns.

There are also mid-sized hybrid designs that combine aspects of both short- and longboards called funboards.  Depending on your height and weight, fun boards from 7 to 8 feet are great for beginners and for casual surfing in small to medium waves.

If you're a beginner, get an inexpensive starter board like an NSP Funboard or even a foam top board from Surface, not an expensive, high performance board designed for experienced surfers. You might look cool carrying the same type of board Kelly Slater rides, but your learning curve will be way off.  You might even consider a used board, but make sure that the fins are securely in place and that there are no holes in the fiberglass. Small repairs are fine, but avoid boards that have been broken in half and repaired.

Inspect the dimensions, usually written on the bottom. For beginners, concern yourself with the length, width and thickness. Ignore the nose and tail dimensions. Width ranges from about 18 to 21 inches. Most thicknesses fall between 2 and 3 inches.

Larger surfers need larger boards. A 220-lb. (82-kg) person might choose a 7-foot shortboard, 21 inches wide and 3 inches thick. An 80-lb. (30-kg) kid will surf better on a 5-foot board, 18 inches wide and 2 inches thick. For longboards, most people choose 9- foot boards. People of above-average size should consider slightly longer boards, such as 9-foot-6 inches.

Consider your weight, and buy a board that is long enough and thick enough to float you. It should also paddle well. Buy a smaller board that will perform well in the surf you see most often. Pick a board with more thickness (such as a Fish or Funshape) throughout if you need more paddling power or if your local break is a slow mushy wave that requires speed for maneuvers. Choose a board that is wider and curvier for snappy turns.

Don’t forget essential accessories like wax and an ankle leash.  Wax comes in different softnesses for optimum traction in different water temperatures.  Leashes should be approximately the same length as your board, longer if you are in big waves.  The purpose of a leash is to keep the board with you when you wipe out – it is not a lifesaving device.

It is important to wear appropriate clothing when you spend time in the water – a good pair of boardshorts and a rashguard (protecting your torso from sandy wax) suffices for warm water, wetsuits are mandatory as the temperature drops.  Don’t forget sunscreen, too!

DEFINITIONS

Rocker: Rocker is a dimensional curve along the bottom, top, and rail of the surfboard usually referenced from nose to tail.

• Bottom Rocker - Dimensional curve following a straight line along the bottom of a surfboard. Bottom rocker is the backbone or foundation of a well designed surfboard.

• Deck Rocker - Dimensional curve following a straight line along the top of a surfboard. The area defined by plotting bottom and deck rocker defines the foil or thickness flow of a surfboard from nose to tail.

• Rail Rocker - Dimensional curve along the rail of a surfboard. This line follows the outline and the bottom of a surfboard's rail(s). The relationship between a surfboard's bottom rocker and rail rocker helps define the bottom contours of a surfboard.

Bottom Contours: There are several bottom contour configurations found in contemporary surfboard design. They may be divided into three primary groups: flat, convex, and concave. All may be applied to any type of surfboard, although most are relevant to specific types of boards.

• Flat is flat. Some shapers employ a flat bottom nose to tail in their designs, but a flat bottom is hard pressed to add any performance features to a surfboard - shortboard, hybrid, fish, or longboard. Flat provides no lateral stability, lift, or leverage. Bottom contours with flat areas combined with other contours are common. Combined with vee, tri planes, soft round surfaces, and concaves flat bottom contours move away from their safe, neutral, vanilla features and help develop acceleration, speed, and control.

• Convex bottom contours are any combination of flats and curves that descend below the rail line of the surfboard. Convex bottoms may also be described as "displacement hulls." These designs provide great lateral stability and control, smooth transitions from rail to rail, and are very forgiving. They handle well at a full range of speeds. They are truly essential to big wave guns, hybrids, and longboards. And, they are functional, although somewhat conservative, in shortboards and specialty shortboards.

The following illustrations show two convex bottom configurations:

                        
 

Flat to vee is very simple and common to shortboards, hybrids, and longboards. The flat entry is fast enough and forgiving enough for surfers of all skills. The depth and length of the vee is varied to determine turning radius and provide control at higher speeds or in critical sections. When employed in hybrids and longboards, surfboards with lots of surface area and volume, the vee helps manage and control the boards' mass.

Triplane to vee is also a very simple bottom, and arguably a more versatile and efficient configuration than flat to vee. The displacement in front of the vee is faster than flat, as it planes in the face of a wave with less wet surface; it's very forgiving as it lifts the forward rails out of the water in critical sections; and it initiates turns with less effort as the surfer leads the surfboard onto rail or from rail to rail.

Traditional longboards, reproductions of the classic surfboards of the '50s and '60s, have a convex bottom configuration. The longboard bottom design is a displacement hull, blending nearly flat entry with soft round bellied mid and tail sections. These boards are designed to glide, trim, and roll from side to side to turn and adjust trim. These convex features hold the board firmly in the face of a wave.

Concave bottom contours are any combination of curves that ascend above the rail line "into" the surfboard. Variations of single to double concaves are the primary bottom contour configurations in the modern shortboard. Concaves are one of the most complicated and contradictory design components included in a shortboard. Consideration of other design variables of the board is essential to decisions about the arrangement, depth, and placement of concaves. Imagination and experimentation - trial and error - testing and observation yield efficient multiple concave bottoms.

Concaves produce lift with laminar flow (channeling water under the board) and surface area (a curved line is longer than a straight line side to side across a surface) as water passes under a surfboard. They produce additional lift when water runs into the aft section of the surfboard's template (where the template turns into the tail and crosses the path of the water flowing towards the tail) and lifts the tail under the surfers back foot. (Try placing the concave side of a spoon under a faucet of flowing water!)

Dealing effectively with lift and drag is key to designing concaves into the bottom of a surfboard. Efficient multiple concaves feed water under a surfboard to the surfer's stance then release water through the fins and tail of a surfboard behind the surfer's back foot. When a surfer weights the rail and bottom of a surfboard he compresses the water, channeling it through the concave array. The rocker, template, rail, and fin arrangement provides this compressed water with an avenue of escape - out through the tail section of the board. This phenomenon accentuates the acceleration of the surfboard through its turns.

Tuning each variable and their interaction with the other variables determines the performance characteristics of the surfboard.

Most concave bottoms will follow one or two designs:

1. Single to double concave: Flat, slight roll, or slight vee in first 12 to 20 inches of entry; shallow single concave increasing in depth to maximum depth just in front of the rail fins; double concave begins at or near this point and carries through rail fins; double concave transitions to vee behind the rail fins; and

2. Single concave: Flat, slight roll, or slight vee in first 12 to 20 inches of entry; shallow single concave increasing in depth to maximum depth just in front of the rail fins; concave decreases in depth through the trailing fin to the tail.

Holding the template and rocker constant, single concaves tend to be looser than single to double concaves and have the potential for greater variation in surfer-dependent turning radius. Single to double concaves tend to hold a consistent turning radius without much variation and will favor easier, less surfer-dependent projection out of turns.

TAILS

• Round tail – Tail template with the most surface area of the "round" and "pin" family. It creates a full, elliptical line flowing without interruption from the area near the fins to the center of the tail of the surfboard. This tail is common with small wave boards where the design and performance preference is to maintain significant surface area without the "corner" typical to squash and swallow tails. A round tail will release a bit easier off the top of a wave than a squash or swallow, but will not be as easy to "square off" a turn in mid face or off the bottom of a wave.

• Round pin – The most versatile tail template in the "round" and "pin" family. Moderate reduction in surface area of the tail with a similar elliptical curve flowing from the area near the fins to the center of the tail (may or may not end in a soft point) of the surfboard. The smooth curves and the reduced surface area allow this tail template to maintain more control than the round tail when performing critical maneuvers. The round pin template is common to a wide variety of shortboards, semi guns, hybrids, and longboards.

• Pintail – The most dramatic and the rarest member of the "round" and "pin" family. The pintail is based on the same elliptical lines of the other tail templates in the family with the curve reduced to nearly straight. Absolutely minimizes the surface area in the tail of the surfboard's outline. A great tail design where control is the primary design consideration used almost exclusively by shapers and designers for large semi guns and big wave guns.

• Squash tail – The most common tail template for shortboards, hybrids, and longboards. The squash tail combines maximum surface area (provides lift and generates speed) with a soft squared corner (for control.) The curves leading into the corner may be continuous or parallel. A continuous curve leading into the corner will have some of the smooth feel associated with the round tail and the round pin tail. A parallel curve leading into the corner will provide some extra drive and acceleration out of the turns.

• Thumb tail – Thumb tails borrow the best of squash tails and round pin tails and morph them into a very functional tail design. They maintain the surface area of the squash and incorporate the smooth transitions of a round pin through maneuvers. The surface area provides lift and speed at the low end or in marginal conditions and maintain enough of a corner for a powerful feeling off the bottom. The soft thumb-like corners are very forgiving and transition rail to rail with ease.

• Swallow tail – The swallow tail shares it's fundamentals with the squash tail. The layout of the swallow tail maximizes surface area, from rail to rail or side to side, in short and mid range shortboards then reduces the surface area between the corners with a cut out area that provides a great deal of control into and out of turns. Swallow tails are also common to step up shortboards and semi guns with narrower tails. The narrow tail with the cutaway between the corners provides maximum control in critical performance situation. (The width between the corners and the depth of the cut out can be manipulated to increase or decrease surface areas, thus balancing the effects of lift and control.)

RAILS

Rails are the primary interface between surfboards and waves. The volume and configuration of rails facilitate control, maneuverability, power, and speed. In the same manner as the other primary variables of surfboard design, rail designs will vary according to the design goals of every surfer and the various waves they ride.

Rail volume is significant as it must allow the surfer to penetrate or place the rail in the face of the wave when initiating turns and support the dynamic displacement of the surfer through the turns and maneuvers they perform.

Rail configuration is significant as it accommodates the other variables included in the design of any surfboard. Fuller - boxier rails are generally applied to shorter lower volume boards. Thinner - crowned, domed, tapered rails are generally applied to higher volume boards.

Basic Rail Configurations:

• Boxy – A full, round rail that varies in volume with the overall thickness of a surfboard. The top of a boxy rail will flow out of a relatively flat or very moderately crowned deck. This rail configuration is generally applied to shorter lower volume boards.

• Crowned or domed rails – A low, tapered rail that blends well with a moderately crowned deck. This rail configuration is generally applied to step up shortboards, semi guns, and guns - basically higher volume boards - to facilitate control of greater overall volume found in these designs.

Rails for Specific Surfboard Designs:

Shortboard Rails are round and neutral in the nose, entry, and widepoint. The rail foil or profile mimics the foil or profile of the body of the board. The bottom of the rail develops a firmer and firmer corner with the "tuck" decreasing as it transitions from the widepoint to the fins. The rails have a very hard, crisp edge from the leading edge of the rail fins through the tail. Thinner boards have a fuller profile on the deck side and thinner boards a moderately lower profile. The volume of the rail is thin enough to provide control and full enough to support the surfer on rail during turns and maneuvers. Generally, the rail volume and configuration of a step up board should be the same as the rail volume of a shortboard.

Hybrid/Fish Rails are borrowed from the modern shortboard. They may feature a boxy or crowned rail - thin, round, and neutral through the nose, entry, and widepoint allowing them to penetrate the face of a wave as the board rolls onto the rail. The round, neutral rails in the entry also provide easy transition from rail to rail in critical - tight areas of a wave. From the wide point to the tail the rail profile remains the same on the deck, but begins to shorten the radius and develop an edge on the bottom side of the rail. At the rail fins the rail has no tuck and an extremely hard edge. Through this transition the rail provides leverage and release so the board can accelerate off the rail and out of the turn. The substantial volume of hybrids requires the rail profile to be a bit lower or more crowned for control.

Modern Longboard Rails mimic shortboard and hybrid rails. The length, width, and ultimately high volume of the modern longboard, combined with the size, technique of the surfer, and deck design determine the volume and configuration of the rail.