Surfing Waves

What is more important for paddle power, length or thickness? And does paddle power of a board necessarily equal wave-catching ability or is that different?

My story: I normally longboard (9ft x 2 ¾” thick) but I’m looking for a glidey longboard substitute for those workdays when I need to just throw a board in the car. I also surf a midlength Superfish quad (7’3ft x 3” thick with a step deck) and a fishy shortboard quad Von Sol Shadow (6ft x 2 5/8” thick). The 7’3 paddles slower than the longboard but I can catch any wave I want with it (just can’t duck it very well when conditions get bigger). The 6ft paddles a lot slower and I struggle to catch waves if they are not at least waist high, fairly clean and with some push and steepness (no mush)- a rarity on the East coast of the US.

I’ve been considering a mini-simmons type board, (they are normally under 6ft and 2 5/8 to 3” thick) and I read things like “outpaddles my minimal” and “paddles and catches waves like a longboard” but I’m not sure if I can believe those things based on my board experience (limited as it is). Your wisdom and experience is appreciated!

None ticket matters most when paddling

Mini simmons are cool boards, but you can have them shaped bigger if you want to have a bigger one. I had one custom made 5'10 x 22 x 3", but you could get a 6'2 to 6'4 if you want more glide. Get exactly what you want

Thanks IB Surfer but my question is really more about paddle speed and wave catching than about the mini-simmons specifically. For example, did your 5’10 mini-simmons outpaddle or catch waves better than other boards (especially longer ones)? And, if so, was that because of thickness, surface area, less fin-drag, straightness or fullness of the rails or anything else I can’t think of?
I may be on the wrong track, but from my little experience with my long, midlength and short boards I would guess that paddle speed is mostly related to length (hull length and speed usually go together in boats, right?) and wave catchability, while effected by paddle speed to an extent, is more a result of total surface area of the board the wave acts on. And both speed and wave-catching are helped by enough thickness to keep the board up out of the water (not sure how much thickness is enough relative to length or surface area though…)

So I would guess that your 5’10 mini-simmons would paddle slow but because of the surface area of a wide blunt planshape, (helped by 3”of thickness) catch waves easily, at least relative to a typical shortboard in the low to mid 6 ft range. But it certainly would not catch waves as well as a longboard or a 7ft fish-hybrid shape.
I hope I’m wrong and my theory is missing something- let me know! Thanks!

Rocker not ticket sorry

There is also, the matter of inertia, by that I mean the bigger the board the more inertia it has. So yes a smaller board will go faster quicker but won't be able to maintain that speed as easily as a longer board.

bajoman wrote:Thanks IB Surfer but my question is really more about paddle speed and wave catching than about the mini-simmons specifically. For example, did your 5’10 mini-simmons outpaddle or catch waves better than other boards (especially longer ones)? And, if so, was that because of thickness, surface area, less fin-drag, straightness or fullness of the rails or anything else I can’t think of?

At 5'10 it paddled the same as my fish that is 6'3 and way better than both my shortboard that is is 6'5 and my step up that is 6'8. It's a combination of the thickenss, 3 inches, the minimal rocker which lets it glide, and the twin fins which have way less drag than any thruster. I would go as far as to say that it can probably outpaddle a 7ft funboaard.

Before, I owned a 6'8 fish, which replaced my longboard, but I will tell you that when waves are only 1ft there is nothing better than a longboard, but for everything else a mini simmons or a retro fish will do wonders...

Oh, and if you are in San Diego you can take my high volume fish for a spin...

Thanks IB, from what you say it sounds like fin drag is a major factor. I run my boards quad and my lb single fin (love the looseness of those set-ups) so thruster drag is an aspect I'm not used to at all. Just picked up a twin set of fins that I'm going to try in the 6'0 to see how/if that changes things...

From what I've heard, the mini-simmons are comparitively bad paddlers. Length helps a lot, thickness helps too of course but super short boards don't paddle so well (in general, not sure about wave catching).