learninghowtosurf.com

Is the local a bit mushy sometimes?

Want a board you can thrash around more?

Try a swallowtail.

They eat little waves for breakfast and are super skatey.

They excel in small to medium sized swell and mush.

The swallowtail provides two sharp points to pivot on so you get a loose feel and can throw it around easily.

They also allow you to have a wider tail without sacrificing control because they reduce the planing area.

However you’ll most likely lose on high-end performance in bigger waves so might not be the best option if you only have one stick.

Shaper Todd Proctor breaks it down in the vid below.

Watch this video for step-by-step instructions on how to fix a surfboard ding.

You’ll save hundreds in ding repair fees if you can do this yourself. This also saves time so you’re back in the water faster.

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Believe it or not, there’s an art to this.

Wax is the only thing connecting your feet to your board so it pays to get it right.

1. Score Some Wax.

1 bar basecoat.

1 bar wax. It’s important the temperature rating suits your break or the wax won’t do it’s thing.

Get a wax comb too.

2. Remove Skanky Old Wax.

Leave your deck in the sun for 20 minutes till wax is soft, but not runny. Use the flat scraper on the comb to remove it.

You can also use a Wax Pickle or special surf wax solvent to get it all off if you’re keen (now is not the time to get DIY on it with funky chemicals or you may melt your board).

2. Apply Basecoat.

Hold the bar at a 45 degree angle so you rub with the edge.

Rub basecoat on lightly in a circular motion - roughly 25cm (10”) circles.

If you’re a learner/intermediate then go hard and cover ¾ of the deck from the tail up. Let’s face it, we probably already look like kooks so no point going for extra style points with a delicate wax job.

Don’t wax the side rails, but do rub a little where your hands grip to pop and duck dive.

Use about ¼ of the bar and you should have lot’s of sweet little bumps.

Do one final layer rubbing rail to rail, then tip to tail.

3. Apply Wax.

Now gently apply wax, again with the bar on an angle rubbing in small-ish circles.

You want to end up with nice small round bumps.

4. Future Care.

Use a wax comb with diagonal cross-hatching strokes to revitalise traction from time to time.

Keep your wax in a plastic snaplock bag so it doesn’t get covered in crap and melt all over your pimp ride.

Always put your board in your bag the same way up or you’ll get wax on both sides of the bag, which means wax on both sides of your board. That’ll slow you down.

When your wax gets all skanky and flat start again from Step 1.

I just wish it tasted as good as it smells.

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So you want the perfect board huh?

You’ll need to get your bottom contours sorted (and I don’t mean your ass bro!).

Contours on the base of your board channel water to affect speed, stability and manoeuvrability.

The three main types are flat, concave and convex. All three contours can be blended together for different effects.

Flat.

It’s, well, flat. Boards that are flat from tip to tail are sweet in small, soft, crap waves but will struggle in anything decent and at higher speeds.

Flat. Photo: Surfing Waves

Convex.

Convex is when a section of the base sticks down below the rails. The most common convex shape is called a vee.

Vee. Photo: Surfing Waves

These boards are very forgiving. They push water out to the side to give stability, control, and easy edge-to-edge transitions.

A convex contour creates drag and will slow you down. It’ll also amplify the effects of your rocker, making the board more manoeuvrable and easier to turn.

Shaper’s Journal say vees are crucial for big boards (they make the size of a gun or a longboard manageable).

Vees are also primo learner boards.

Many shortboards (for all levels of riders) will also have one or two small sections of vee, usually near the tip and/or tail to free it up so you can get slash-tastic.

Concave.

Parts of the base are scooped out to channel water underneath the board and towards the back. Concave increases speed, lift and responsiveness.

It’ll also give you extra boost through turns when more weight on the back foot forces water tightly through the fins and off the tail.

Surfline says concave makes a board accelerate quickly from almost any point on the wave, but it also makes turns ‘sticky’ and hard to adjust.

You can have single or double concave, or both.

Single Concave. Photo: Surfing Waves

According to Surfing Waves, single concave “is designed for speed and works well in fast, large clean surf. This shape is does not perform well in messy, lumpy surf and as such is not a good choice for a surfboard you want to use in all round conditions”.

Double. Photo: Surfing Waves

You can get a looser ride by having single concave that blends to a double concave.

Tip from Shaper’s Journal: “To create looser boards, single concave carries further towards fins before double concave develops. To create drivier boards, double concave carries further into the board from the fin cluster.”

Channels. Photo: Surfing Waves

Channels are multiple grooves along the base. They create heaps of speed.

Surfline say, “In the hands of a skilled rider, channels produce extraordinary length through rail turns and provide wave “feedback” unlike any other board. But they’re difficult to manufacture, unpredictable in choppy surf and perhaps best suited to expert riders and/or flawless surf conditions.”

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Now go check out the base of your board. Is it right for you?

Let’s pimp your ride.

First you’ll need to decide whether you want to paint the whole board, or just do a groovy design. I’ll walk you through both processes.

Step 1: Stuff You’ll Need.

Acrylic auto spray-paint:
- Undercoat (1 x 150ml can).
- Main colour (I used 3 x 150ml cans of Holts, colour: Aurora).
- Clear top coat (about 300ml).

If you want to do funky designs you’ll need water-based paint pens. Legendary board artist Drew Brophy sells Sharpie pens here.

One roll low-tack masking tape.

One sheet 600-grit sandpaper.

A newspaper.

Step 2: Cleaning.

Set yourself up in a well ventilated area, out of the wind or you’ll get bugs stuck all over the dam thing.

Pull the stomp pad off carefully (gently pry it with a scraper as you pull). Or you can leave it on and tape over it with newspaper later if you want to do a quick job and paint around it.

Now clean that board. I mean really clean it. Scrape the wax off then scrub the board thoroughly to remove all traces of wax, salt and grime (you can use a Wax Pickle for this). Don’t use any harsh solvents or your stick may melt into a bubbling mess. Repair dings.

Step 3: Sanding.

Give it a light but thorough sand all over. Don’t be a lazy bastard when it comes to sanding. I skimped out on this step and the paint’s chipping off in places.

This is particularly important on high wearing areas like the nose, rails and tail.

Step 4: Spray Painting.

Set the board up so you can hold the cans vertically when spraying. Use long, smooth horizontal strokes that overlap a little.

It’s preferable to do a couple of nice even thin coats as the paint will drip and look crap if you spray it on too thick.

If you suck at spray painting practice on newspaper first. Paint the less visible areas to begin with (like around your fins or on top of your deck where your wax goes).

Read paint instructions for drying time.

One layer of undercoat, then two coats of your primary colour. Give a light sand between coats.

If you want to have multiple colours tape off other areas with newspaper to protect them.

Step 5: Funky Designs.

If you want to get crazy use water-based paint marker pens to do designs. They allow a lot of colour and detail.

You can also tape off stencils any spray ‘em.

You’ll find some podcasts by Drew Brophy here on how to get creative.

Sketch a draft first. Brave Surf recommend you THINK BIG for your design, since small stuff wont show up.

Don’t worry if you mess up. Just tape over the rest of the design, re-spray where you stuffed up, then start again.

Step 6: Topcoat.

Finish off with two or three layers of clear topcoat.

Now you can say it’s a Tuflite and flick it to a punter on eBay.

You’ll make millions.

Photo: www.drewbrophy.com