What makes a board fast?

obslop

Rabbitt Bartholomew status
Feb 4, 2002
8,044
1,512
113
san diego, CA
I think Pete Sampras said it perfectly. Its not surfing but it relates in a way.

"I learned early that the secret of a powerful tennis serve is timing. You don’t have to be the strongest person out there. You just need to toss the ball high and to the right spot consistently. Then your body has to work in unison to snap the power just as the ball descends. It’s the uncoiling explosion."
bingo

technique > strength
 

racer1

Tom Curren status
Apr 16, 2014
12,922
14,982
113
Honolulu, Hawaii
Some of the best surfing I've seen out there was from an older Aussie guy who lives there. 12-15ft faces, and he was on a chunky, 8ft, parallel-rail quad fish. Showed all the undergunned young guys how to surf it and on what board.
A twin feel keel fish at your height or a little over your height would be ideal, IMO.
 
  • Like
Reactions: csarqui

ANIMA

Legend (inyourownmind)
Feb 11, 2020
353
363
63
Planet Earth
That wave looks frustrating. Doesn’t look like you can do a proper bottom turn. Fast with a small pocket and soft shoulders.

I would try the FCS h4 fins. Those fins help a board go faster. Do I sound like DC and his Tomo crush. Been crushing hard on the h4’s hahaha.
:LOL::LOL::LOL: Get a Tomo Evo and put some h4's in there. hahaah.

I think that wave looks frustrating too. You would need to read the wave carefully and try and get to the bottom as quickly as possible and do strong bottom turns to get any sort of decent turn out of it. Top to bottom surfing. The challenge might be fun though. Those waves look fun with the right board and fins. :shaka: Good luck :)
 

csarqui

Legend (inyourownmind)
Oct 11, 2009
356
51
28
Twin fin Keel fish, slightly oversized since it looks like a lot of paddling
One thing I noticed about the "twin fish keel guys" is that they would get a little hung up at the lip when paddling, and they would drop in all the way down to the bottom of the wave causing them to stuck behind the first section. Slightly oversizing the board would probably be a good call.
 

racer1

Tom Curren status
Apr 16, 2014
12,922
14,982
113
Honolulu, Hawaii
I don't think you need a lot of rocker at that spot (at least in the OP video footage, some photos I see it looks hollow).
 

csarqui

Legend (inyourownmind)
Oct 11, 2009
356
51
28
"at speed u can plane on just a few square inches of your boards bottom, so u have less drag holding u back"

This part of the controlled lift I've spoken of here for 15 years - something from the early 70's

Board designed together with fins can create this effect in all waves

Boards designed with no fin boards can never acheive this .
Surprisingly, there's this one guy on a 6ft single fin that has a little bit of hull in the nose, and he swoops thru sections with very little effort. The same sections that the last 20 guys failed to make. I really don't understand it.
 

csarqui

Legend (inyourownmind)
Oct 11, 2009
356
51
28
:LOL::LOL::LOL: Get a Tomo Evo and put some h4's in there. hahaah.

I think that wave looks frustrating too. You would need to read the wave carefully and try and get to the bottom as quickly as possible and do strong bottom turns to get any sort of decent turn out of it. Top to bottom surfing. The challenge might be fun though. Those waves look fun with the right board and fins. :shaka: Good luck :)
Honestly, I feel like my old Vader could get me thru a lot of those sections, but it would probably fail when the wind kicked in.
 
  • Like
Reactions: ANIMA

Retropete

Phil Edwards status
Jan 20, 2006
5,962
4,401
113
Sunny Coast Qld Australia
Surprisingly, there's this one guy on a 6ft single fin that has a little bit of hull in the nose, and he swoops thru sections with very little effort. The same sections that the last 20 guys failed to make. I really don't understand it.
I'd be having a look at not only the bottom but his rails on that board if you can...projection is the key!
Those who have experience with many different boards/lengths/fin configurations will know what I'm talking about.
 

CutnSnip

Phil Edwards status
Sep 11, 2018
5,737
6,045
113
Probably dropping in on you, California
its called impossibles for a reason. in my limited experience there, the bigger it is - the better the wave holds.

i rode a 6'4 quad GX, slightly stretched out with a roundtail out there the few times Ive surfed it and it was probably 6 - maybe 8 on the largest day. constant pumping and skating on the backside. no time for a bottom turn just pedal to the metal and bob and weave the sections.

now that I have a teeny bit of experience on a midlenght I think my 6'8 single fin would be the best board for out there. that said - id rather go up to Ulu or down to Bingin because as others said - its a frustrating wave.
 
  • Like
Reactions: csarqui

SharkBoy

Miki Dora status
Oct 22, 2004
3,881
188
63
fast board is a relative concept.
ingredients are generally less curve, more planing surface

but it's always a balance with other components.

Think of tire treads or even cleats.

track shoes might be the fastest shoes, but would they be as fast as sneakers on a gym floor or in mud?

You need the right balance of traction for drive relative to the surface conditions. Same with surfboards. and that is also relative to the surface pitch, rider size and input, and angle you want to travel.

people confuse the term fast with a lot of other things.
A retro fish might be faster in mushy lined up waves while a pin tail step up will feel slow, but that may feel vice versa in firing cloudbreak or pipe
 

csarqui

Legend (inyourownmind)
Oct 11, 2009
356
51
28
its called impossibles for a reason. in my limited experience there, the bigger it is - the better the wave holds.

i rode a 6'4 quad GX, slightly stretched out with a roundtail out there the few times Ive surfed it and it was probably 6 - maybe 8 on the largest day. constant pumping and skating on the backside. no time for a bottom turn just pedal to the metal and bob and weave the sections.

now that I have a teeny bit of experience on a midlenght I think my 6'8 single fin would be the best board for out there. that said - id rather go up to Ulu or down to Bingin because as others said - its a frustrating wave.
It really is a frustrating wave. Sometimes the conditions line up for like an hour and it's amazing. Then it all gets really frustrating again. Last time I got fed up, paddled over to Padang and scored with one other guy out for about 2 hours (just overhead). That's a scary, but rewarding wave.

I'm considering a mid-length or maybe a long fish. I'm not really a fan of hpsb anymore.
 

aldo

Nep status
Aug 13, 2012
639
206
43
Bahamas
It’s perfect for a long phish, in fact I got mine with this wave in mind but the cursed covid put paid to that!