Fast Boards, Sad Dings, and a Fun Little Bird

by Paul Finley

This month we are going to take a look at fast surfboards, dings on fast surfboards, and a beach loving bird that you might see through your tears as you cry over the dings on your fast surfboard.

Board design can be a bit subjective, but there are some concepts that are objectively true across the board . . . no pun intended. Last month's preview topics included the question, "What makes a board faster?" If your board is feeling a bit sluggish, here are some things to scope out.

Water likes simplicity. The more of a flat surface your board has, the faster it will go. This is referred to as "getting on plane." Flip your board over with one rail in your hands. Hold your board up to eye level and look at the curvature from the nose to the tail (board rocker). If your board has little or no flat area in the rocker, this may be one problem causing sluggish surfing. If your board has a good flat spot, take note of where it starts and ends. This is where you want to focus your weight when trimming and aiming for speed. An over accentuated tail or nose rocker can make the board feel slow in weaker waves, but come in handy when the waves get heavier. There are a multitude of other factors that play into the speed of a board, but always remember that your board is a unit and all parts play together in order to create the ride or feeling that you are going to have.

It is really a game of give and take. You can add foam to make your board float better, but then it won't turn as well. You can add nose rocker to help with late takeoffs, but then it won't paddle as well. You can make it narrow for steeper, more hollow waves, but then it will bog down in any slow sections. Extreme tail rocker allows you be able to turn on a dime, but will keep you from easily being able to pump through a flat section. The list could go on and on. Board design is endless, and that's not even including the fins

Dings are a sad reality. It is actually amazing that our boards- and our bodies, for that matter - can handle the rugged pressures of the sea and the beatings that it delivers. Every once in awhile something gives way. Either you are going to have to go to the hospital to fix your body's dings or you are going to break out some resin and fiberglass to fix your board's dings.

The reason that last month's preview topic was addressing rail dings is the fact that they are the most important dings to fix properly. I am not suggesting the neglect of other dings, but rail dings will lead to board snapping or buckling if not correctly repaired. Know what you are getting into before you start ripping into your board.

Check to see what type of board you have. This will determine if you need polyester resin or epoxy resin. Wear your safety gear, respirator, gloves, eye protection, and clothes that you don't care if you get resin blobs on. Always prep area by sanding. Resins will never bond to a completely smooth surface. Cut away all broken or delaminated fiberglass. Make sure there is no water left in the board. Fill any gouge with a resin and filler mixture. Allow to cure. Sand flush with undamaged board. Tape off area. Rough with 60-80 grit and cut fiberglass cloth to overlap taped area. Wet out cloth with resin, removing excess resin. Flooding your cloth is a waist of resin and adds no positive strength to the repair. Once the cloth is partly cured, carefully cut along the inside of the tapeline with a razor blade and peel away the excess cloth. This leaves you with a nice square and makes sanding a lot easier. Sand the edge of the square to get ready for the hot coat. Hot coating is the step of filling in the actual weave of the cloth in order to sand to a smooth finished surface. This is just sanding resin applied with a brush over the area that you are working on. Taping off another nice square will be an advantage to you as well. Sand away and go surf

There are so many birds to investigate around the Central Coast. The next time that you are paddling out, you can impress your friends by letting them know that the bird with the long curved down bill is called the Long-billed Curlew or "candlestick" or "sickle" bird.

What to look for in June's article?

Whether you are just starting out or a pro, there are some basic things to take into consideration before investing in your next board... how to avoid getting stuck with a board that is going to frustrate you.