Surfing Waves

"Swallow tails are loose and good for turning, but better in smaller waves".
"Pin tails are fast and better in big waves".
"Quads work better in the barrel".

Check out what Jack Robinson was riding in the Pipemaster trials ( watch the video about 1:45 )

http://www.worldsurfleague.com/posts/16 ... istVideo=1

This is my drivey, baby swallow tail, channel bottom step up 6'11". Really nice board....got it off a tourist that was going home and sold it for next to nothing their last day here....bought it primarily because it was a deal....glad I did; turned out to be a super nice board.

There are preferences for boards and not much more. It depends on what you like.

Those quotes are kinda the accepted norms. But that goes to show that you need to experiment with what works for you. Especially with Longboards and Noseriding. Getting a big single fin with 50/50 rails and a big ole nose and tail, might not be right board to learn to noseride.

( right now, I'm watching heat 9 of the 2015 Pipemaster. Kelly Slater is paddling out with a Pin tail Quad .......... oh well )

There is so much more than tail design that goes into a board. To say a swallow tail is good or bad for something seems pretty presumptuous to me. Even to say they are loose ....I mean what? How could anyone say that about a simple tail design without taking into account the whole rest of the board? People don't even agree on what constitutes a swallow tail. How much width of the tail needs to be notched to be called a swallow? For instance if you have a basic pin tail design but the last 2 inches of the tip of the pin is swallowed is that a swallow tail? Even within that design concept there is marked variation between just the tails so to say it means something specific seems unlikely to be true to me. Of course I might be wrong but then I surfed a swallow tail on relatively big waves and I am pretty sure some of the big wave guys have swallow tail big wave guns. I think these rules came from before there was so much variation in boards.

It's funny when you see the Craigslist ads for a "Fish" surfboard, and it ends up being a swallow tail shortboard.

This is my wife's swallow tail longboard.

Big H wrote:This is my drivey, baby swallow tail, channel bottom step up 6'11". Really nice board....got it off a tourist that was going home and sold it for next to nothing their last day here....bought it primarily because it was a deal....glad I did; turned out to be a super nice board.

That's a sweet looking board. I love the color red with surfboards, but I'm always afraid they might be the one color that catches the eye of a shark enough to get them to come over and investigate. I admit, though, that I have a bit of norcal shark paranoia. I should be worried about getting bonked on the head and drowning, but I probably think more about the dangers of sharks than I do about the very real danger of being in all that raging water.

If you worry about that then the colour to fear is yellow........ask Mick Fanning......