Assymetrical.....I thought this was a joke.....

[Big H]

http://www.elleciel.com/boards-gallery/no-274/

Apparently it isn't (a joke that is) and it's a real thing......anyone have any experience with these? It's curious to say the least....

[IanCaio]

I've heard they work nice, but you need one for catching lefts and one for catching rights
I saw those assymetrical boards on TV, in a show in which they talked about board designs and how they affect its performance. They are made for waves in a particular direction, so you would probably want to use it on a point break.
I don't remember exactly what the design was supposed to do, but I think the rail was longer on one side (the one that locks on the wall) and the other one shorter (to make it easy to maneuver or something).

Never tried one though. I don't know if I would enjoy it much, since I surf beach breaks and like the idea of being able to surf rights and lefts

[jaffa1949]

Assymetric board have been around since the 1960s probably before and quite often were break specific .
Nothing much is new , mainly just smaller in size or increase in the alteration of the characteristic.
Materials and techniques of manufacture is where there is more innovation!

[dtc]

The usual premise is that your backside turn is weaker than front side (because you cant put as much weight on your heels as your toes), so you shorten the backside rail to make it easier to turn that way. You keep the front side rail longer because it doesn't affect the turning but gives you greater drive/down the line speed.

Of course, as IanC says, this means you can only surf it one way - if you surf it back to front (the 'backside' rail being the main rail on the wave) then it makes frontside turns really easy and backside turns even harder and you go slower.

Still, many point and reef breaks only ever break one way, so you wouldn't necessarily risk much in getting such a board if that is where you surfed a lot.

Its interesting if you look at surfboard design over the years - there was a real period in around (being a bit of a guess here) the 1990s and early 2000s where almost every board was pretty similar to the previous type of board ie shortboards all were pointy nosed and 19inches wide, longboards were all traditional shaped. Then along came - I'm thinking - CAD and computer design and a greater variety of surfers and suddenly we have all sorts of boards coming out - fat, thin, noseless etc (not that many of these are new - as Jaffa said someone probably tried it out years ago). Different materials. etc. Quite an interesting time

[RinkyDink]

Its interesting if you look at surfboard design over the years - there was a real period in around (being a bit of a guess here) the 1990s and early 2000s where almost every board was pretty similar to the previous type of board ie shortboards all were pointy nosed and 19inches wide, longboards were all traditional shaped. Then along came - I'm thinking - CAD and computer design and a greater variety of surfers and suddenly we have all sorts of boards coming out - fat, thin, noseless etc (not that many of these are new - as Jaffa said someone probably tried it out years ago). Different materials. etc. Quite an interesting time

My thinking is probably too simplistic, but what I don't understand is why surfboard prices haven't dropped. If a great shaper comes up with an amazing design and can essentially clone that board using technology (e.g. 3D printing or some such), then shouldn't the prices come down. The shaper doesn't have to reinvent the wheel for every board. They take a sampling of their best board shapes and just mass produce them. I wouldn't have a problem buying a board mass produced from a machine if it was a clone of a highly regarded board type. To some extent, that is probably happening with the more commonly known boards (9 foot Torq or designs from Channel Islands, Lost, Firewire, etc.) so isn't it a lot cheaper to produce surfboards nowadays. I guess my question really is, what are you paying for when you buy a board off the rack? Is it the hand shaping? The brand? The advertising? Are all boards painstakingly hand shaped or are machines popping out the majority of them?

[jaffa1949]

If you have a custom board made and made well, in reality the shaper is not being paid enough for his efforts.
Truly, toxic environment , nasty chemicals and demand for a nice piece of hand crafted surfboard. Not all shapers choose to clone their work and unique boards say in balsa are like top end unique watches.
CAD and shaping machines wth vacuum bagging processes and other new technology and sweat shop Asian factories for boards and some clothing means cheap manufacture and cheaper prices in the market.
Many sweat shop boards rate as cheap is as cheap does, there have been custom made duds too.
Production line manufacture is not a wrong nor is outsourcing, happens right through from computers and cars to board shorts, plenty of moralizing about surf brands can be done, just match your morals to what you buy

[oldmansurfer]

I hear that some surfers will find better use of an asymmetrical board made for a goofy footer when they are regular foot. I guess that the theory behind asymmetrical boards isn't dialed in so far. I haven't tried one nor have I seen anyone on one.