surfresearch.com.au  steve core : surfboards today, 1970?

YESTERDAY-TODAY
In the not so old days surfboards were glassed with two layers of 10 oz glass both top and bottom,
they were usually strung with numerous redwood and balsa stringers for strength and beauty, also in vogue were wooden and fibreglass nose and tail blocks once again for added looks and durability, and a solid pigment colour top and bottom could be found on every second or third board. (2)
All these extras combined with a board's length certainly made a strong but extremely heavy product. Have you ever walked up to one of these antiques lately and tried tp pick it up or tried to indentate (sic.) it with your thumbs, or for that matter ever tried to picture yourself trying to ride one? (3)
The materials they were using then are basically the same ones we are using now only they have been reduced considerately in practicable application.
In place of the 10 oz duo you will more than likely find a single 6 oz allover with probably a 6 oz toe and heel patch, the full deck patch is hardly used anymore because most boards being around the six foot mark and under, and in order to gain maximum floatation and speed while paddling, the prone (laying) position is preferred- thus knee dents are no longer a problem.
Instead of triple 1 1/2" red- wood stringers or the popular redwood-balsa T -band nowadays you will find a simple resin glue-up (4) or a 1/10" wood strip.
A resin glue-up is the rough blank cut in half, resin applied to both sides of the cut, then clamped back together, this method considered to have a slight advantage over the completely stringerless because it will hold the turn-up shaped into it for a useable life-time.
Rocks eat 6 oz boards, but the performance that surfers are getting from their short, light equipment compared to the old logs of the past, must be worth it to sacrifice a certain amount of strength.
If you want a board that's going to be light and super strong the progress has to come from the people who make the glass, resin and Ifoam.
But in Australia because of the little industrial interest in surfing no-one is willing to put up the money for experiments and advancements on materials for the surfboard industry.
Our only progression has to work its way from the United States, and if it doesn't cost too much, will be incorporated here. (5)

REDUCING THE WEIGHT
To effect a light board correctly, a radical "super- fragile drained out one cup of resin glass job wax it up and surf it," is not the right way to go about it.
A board has to be cut down a couple of ounces in each stage of manufacture.
This method not only produces a light board but a strong one as well.

GLASSING; MAIN WEIGHT FACTOR.
To the experienced glasser there are several ways to lighten a glass job without losing too much strength.
The glasser who is fully aware of what he is doing can effect what is termed a dry glass job (the name sounding a little more harsh than the actual operation) in this method the resin, and this comes with experience, is sparingly worked out with a squeegee leaving only enough resin for proper saturation of the cloth and securing a good bond to the foam, here the glasser has to be very careful of drain-outs (little air bubbles in the weave) which becomes weak spots when the resin has cured, sometimes the cause of stress cracks, drain-outs are more noticeable in tinted glass jobs.
Another way to save a couple of ounces is, a small rail lap, you may have noticed over the past three years the decrease in the size of rail laps, once anything up to three inches was quite standard now three-quarter inch is normal with some manufacturers using the diminishing lap on the bottoms of their boards.(6)
Textured decks have also become popular recently, after a light glass job has set-up, resin is worked sparingly into the holes in !he weave with a squeegee and when this is dry, is then lightly wet sanded. Wax goes on very easy, and always has a good base for texture.(6)

HOT COATING
It is quite easy to lay on a hot coat without realising just how thick it really is, there should be only enough resin to cover the glass evenly and allow for it to be sanded smooth and flush.

SANDING.
Also a very important step in lightness and strength, the sander's job is to sand the hot coat down to the glass but not into the cloth.
If he only roughs it up enough to smooth it out he is leaving useless hot coat resin which could weigh several ounces maybe even a pound.

GLOSS COATING.
It is pretty obvious that the best way to reduce here is to not have any gloss coat at all, but most surfers prefer to have one on the bottom at least so that it can be buffed out.
The gloss coat resin can be lightened by mixing in styrene, which has the same effect as thinners does in paint.
If you're paying one hundred dollars for your boards a gloss is a must for re-sale and trade-in value.(7)
There have been a couple of significant attempts for a change in raw materials; honeycomb blanks for one.(8)
The Japanese have taken a renewed interest in surfboards perhaps we might see something new from them, although materials are going to get better eventually. (9)
All we have to do is keep digging it and let the evolution continue.

Going to extremes, maybe none of them is right.
I suppose there have been a few innovators who have paved some sort of path, but as a few, including myself have seen, these innovators have been mostly commercial designers, sometimes not really knowing what they have been talking about - excuse me for brandishing the iron a little there - but it is unmistakably true. (2)

Through the years I have grown up with a number of shapes and have tried not to fall into the contaminating, conforming, commercialised innovating media but, to look for slowly creating fresh simplicity as I saw fit, fit for a true designing path.

Australians are really radical thinkers, in the way of design, whilst Continental and American ideas follow a more smooth line of thinking. (3)
Of course their waves differ quite a bit but, then again the only difference really is that their waves are usually much slower, from the top, while our waves tend to pick up quickly, consequently being faster from the top. (4)
And so we have therefore longer boards in America, which pick up speed through length, gaining a much more moving action, whilst the short board through its short length, could not gain enough speed to move on a slow top into the hollow section, (long board 7'-7'3", short board 6'-6'3").

When we speak of Hawaii we speak about bigger waves, but waves similar to smaller Australian waves.
So Hawaiians, because of this consistent size in waves, use a speed type board a little less in length than the Continental or Americans, and a little longer than the Australian length.
Why do Hawaiians use an in-between length?
Because their waves break faster, more like Australian waves than Californian waves, and not forgetting the bigger size which requires longer length, especially when their waves are harder to paddle into.  (5)

Picking up speed from the top of these waves is essential and once they drop into the section that extra length helps them to tear apart the wave in a somewhat Australian type attitude, but still embedded with that ancient style, which has kept Americans on longer boards since time began. (3)
Hawaii is their only "let loose", as it were, to riding more radical paths.

Australia is established with its shorter board, smaller wave size so that the average American surfer can't cope with Australian waves unless he is above average and has the natural ability to adapt himself well. (6)

We find that Americans who do well in Australia have done quite a bit of surfing in Hawaii and have used Hawaii as their testing grounds to tackle Australia.
Considering the world titles this year the yanks had one up their sleeve when the waves came up to Hawaiian size.
Strangely enough the Aussies, because of the big wave ruling in World Contests, found themselves thrust into a contest which probably gave some Americans a bigger advantage with their equipment. (7)
I can only name two Aussies who really had themselves fully equipped for the contest. (8)
The Americans even had better wetsuits than us.
So make up yoiur mind about that.

Getting back to board design, and remembering what I have just said, we can come to a conclusion on what design I like or think goes the best for, shall we say, all wave sizes.

Considering Australian surf let's say length to be 'shorter' than what's considered long.
In the past year or so everyone has forgotten including me, the fact that surfboards demand at least about average floatation, so remember to keep your thickness as thick as possible, where you need it and take it out slowly where you don't. (9)

I'd make sure you use tapering lines from the widest part of the board, making sure the widest point is more towards the nose than the tail. (10)
Too much width all over means a 'go slow', so find the widest point and work away, tapering instead of holding width all the way to the back and the front.

Low rails are a new thing and they are working really well. (11)
Eliminate rolls as much as possible in a low rail board.
Use a slight roll if any, as too much roll on the bottom or top shape and it will make you fly away and spin out.
Flats, curves and straighter lines are essential.
The low rail board eliminates paddling problems and this to me is a breakthrough in design.
We can paddle as long as we like once again.
Faster re-entries from top to bottom without bouncing.
Everything is combined into one; you're tighter, your inside further and your moving faster, when you feel like it.
You're skimming instead of slapping.
It's a freer feeling than before.
Average length for this board, depending on your age, build etc. is from 5'8'' (mainly young children), 6'3'' (older than young), (Aust. design).

I hope I have spread a bit more light on the scene, as far as what the story really is in todays surfing mysteries which so many of us can't understand. (12)
Whether I am right or wrong time will tell, but while I have facts, and have eyes and ears, then maybe we are heading in the right direction.

4. Of course their waves differ quite a bit but, then again the only difference really is that their waves are usually much slower, from the top, while our waves tend to pick up quickly, consequently being faster from the top.
There are some differences between continental USA and Australian waves, largely a function of the larger American contintental shelf.
Drouyn's analysis is vague, and is not improved with the following comments on Hawaiian waves.

 5. When we speak of Hawaii we speak about bigger waves, but waves similar to smaller Australian waves.
So Hawaiians, because of this consistent size in waves, use a speed type board a little less in length than the Continental or Americans, and a little longer than the Australian length.
Why do Hawaiians use an in-between length?
Because their waves break faster, more like Australian waves than Californian waves, and not forgetting the bigger size which requires longer length, especially when their waves are harder to paddle into.
The earlier confusion"European and American" or "Continental (Mainland) USA"? is repeated.

6. Australia is established with its shorter board, smaller wave size so that the average American surfer can't cope with Australian waves unless he is above average and has the natural ability to adapt himself well.

7. some Americans
The only continental American finalist was the winner, Rolf Arness.

8. I can only name two Aussies who really had themselves fully equipped for the contest.
Drouyn fails to name the two Australian competitors, and his own status is unclear.

9.  In the past year or so everyone has forgotten including me, the fact that surfboards demand at least about average floatation, so remember to keep your thickness as thick as possible, where you need it and take it out slowly where you don't.
Although the (rarely recognised) importance of paddling performance is commendable, Drouyn's analysis is technically crude.

10. I'd make sure you use tapering lines from the widest part of the board, making sure the widest point is more towards the nose than the tail.
From 1968, templates tended to a foiled, or postive wide point, profile (an Hawaiian gun influence) rather than the negative wide point common in most Vee bottom designs, circa 1967.
The Pig (negative wide point) template would return in Geoff McCoy's No-Nose design, circa 1978.

11. Low rails are a new thing and they are working really well.
The most informative comment - dates the introduction of the down rail circa 1970.

12. I hope I have spread a bit more light on the scene
Very little - a candle rather than a florescent tude.

Instinctive movement, devoid of pre-meditated thought or planning.
This is animal.
In order to gain this instinct we need balance and a sense of timing.
To put it more simply you've got to get rhythm, and its got to be the right rhythm.
The rhythm is the timing, is the flow, is the progression from one movement to the other.

It's just like music, just like a band.
The waves are the drummer, putting down a basic rhythm for us to follow and improvise on.
So we become the melody according to our personal moods and ideas.
Where does a surfboard fit into this?
It is the instrument on which we play and so it has to be correctly turned if we are to get the best from it.

Now we will progress from these abstractions into the reality of shaping and what's behind it.
The motivating factor behind all surfboards is lift - the force upwards of the wave on the underside and the fin of the board
The tail must be lifted higher than the nose by (sic. for?) the wave to propel the board.
Simple?
Here's how it works.
When the wave lifts the tail the surfer must stand forward for maximum speed.
Standing right on the tail slows the board into a stall by lifting the forward section out of the water to get lift in front of your feet, and less wetted area underneath.
So there it is.
The more board you have behind your feet with the wave's force lifting it, the faster you go and vice versa.

Having discovered this fact we must now decide which is the best hull shape, the one that gives maximum lift and control.
Is it a curved underside, or flat,  or is it a compromise?
A curve is softer and less responsive to water pressure on it, but a compromise flat can be too extreme so the obvious answer is compromise.

Since the advent of the shortboard some two or three years back (circa 1967), the greatest single change in design has come from the Hawaiian influence on design.
By now every body is well aquainted with the design so inappropriately called "side-slipper".
Disregarding this much maligned description we find the Hawiians have come upon the perfect compromise of flats and curves.
Instead of dividing the bottom into various sections of each we have a flat planing area from one rail to the other, and a curve from nose to tail.
Beautifully simple.
The flat bottom gives us the maximum power from the wave so we can have speed and flow (rhythm) and the curve is our control for manourveability.
The rails are turned down from tip to tail, however there are some variations on this theme.

Another variation is to keep the rails low right through until about 18'' from the new (sic.) nose then lift them up to the centre.
These are popularly called 50-50 rails.
Some surfers who ride beach breaks a lot prefer this type of rail where the waves are slightly bumpy or choppy.
Because the flat bottom extracts maximum power from the wave for the surfers use, they are less affected by slow sections and the stop-start effect of a curved bottom is greatly reduced.
AQcceleration is nearly always instantaneous, and the momentum is greatly increased.
Other advantages are, increased stability and easy gliding beneath white water.
All in all, this shape underneath will energize your surfboard.

The increase in accleration and momentum means you know have increased turning power.
More turns and faster are within your grasp.
Turning up into the pocket from behind the curl is easier and bouncing off the top roller-coaster style becomes a breeze.

A surfboard is a planing surface, like an aquaplane or water-ski or any other object propelled across water.
Flat stones skip across water better than round stones because their planing surface is more suitable. Water-skis are flat, aquaplanes are flat.
All this has been arrived at through constant experiment and changing design.
Experiment and change has brought us the flat botom and low rails, and at present I feel it would be hard to better this.
Any changes in this area will now be small and very refined.
Some have gone ahead and used a slight concave bottom and low rails or a Vee behind the fin.
But for major changes in design we must look toward other variables in shape.
They are plane-shape (sic.) width, thickness, fin and weight.
The curve from nose to tail, or "rocker" could also be considered variable according to local surfing conditions.

The most important variable at this stage of our progress is length overall.
At the time of writing the general surfing public has reached a point of uncertainty regarding
how short to go.
We used to be able to give a reasonably accurate pointer to length by considering the customer's weight and height, but we've now reached a stage where two people of the same weight, height and experience can differ in preferred lengths from 4'6" to 7'.
Between 5'6"-6' seems to be the most popular " range, arrived at through a precarious analysis of what's in vogue at the moment.
This "fashionable" trend does have its problems as far as beginners or surfers with limited experience or ability, finding shortboards too hard to handle after being caught up by mass advertising campaigns.

If I could give a prediction it would be, that overall boards will tend toward an increase in length, where an average surfer of 10-11 stone will be using equipment closer to the 6 foot mark and even just over 6 foot.

Plane-shapes (sic.) are easier to categorise.
Most manufacturers are producing two major shapes, a small board with a rounded pin-tail and full nose, and a slightly longer board with a more pointed nose and narrower tail.
The rounded tail is ideal for beach breaks such as those found around Sydney and Newcastle and Wollongong, while the more streamlined design has obvious advantages in bigger surf or point
and reef breaks.
Here at Noosa Heads we have good quality point surf at the right time of year and an abundance of
beach breaks along Sunshine Beacli to Caloundra and Alexandra Headlands all year round.
So we've ij been trying for a compromise once again, which will give freedom in both types of surf.
At the moment this means a board for the average 10-11 stone surfer of around 6' x 20" with a
flat bottom and low rails.
Slightly pointed in the nose with a width of 14" one foot up from the tail and a fin around 9" deep.
Thickness is around 3 1/4"-3 1/2" thickest point to give enough flotation for the board to sit up on the flat planing surface while riding on a wave.

Kevin Platt : Basics of Form and Design Part 2.
Surfing World Magazine  Volume 14 Number 4. Pages 76-77.Circa 1970.

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Surfing World Magazine
Volume 14 Number 4 Pages 69 - 70.
1971?

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