Ready to transition from white water to tubes.

[drowningbitbybit]

I doubt any of us will get much benefit from a super light board....... other than a psychological boost. If it was just an inch wider or longer and had more glass we would never know (except we paid for that).

Ever ridden an underglassed board? I have - felt great, but was way too fragile. Ever ridden an overglassed board? I have - felt dreadful.
I certainly can tell the difference. There is an optimum level, which is why most boards of a given size (subject to the rider's preference) will have a similar level of glassing. And that level for a shortboard is not "long lasting".

[oldmansurfer]

Underglassed overglassed those are figments of your imagination.

[Big H]

I have to side with DBBB on this....

I had a vintage board that was SOLIDLY glassed....board was probably 15 years old, multiple owners and hardly had a pressure dent....was HEAVY as all heck and just would not accelerate fast enough for the waves around here which are fast moving....honestly wasn't me, it was the board as I had smaller and larger boards at the time and was catching waves with those but struggling to with this barge....had to have a running start then calculate the positioning I'd be in with the running start vis a vis the onrushing wave and where I needed to be......too much! However, once I caught the wave, the inertia of the heavy board made for a smoother ride and would plow through chop....pluses and minuses but noticeable none the less....

Current favourite board is a 7' epoxy fun board that I wait until the wave is tickling my ankles before I start to paddle....catches waves like a dream, really light and accelerates to full speed with just a few strokes....no more elementary math calculations (train leaves point a at 60mph while car leaves point b at 40 mph, where do they meet?), I just get into position then gun it when the wave is on me....

These are extreme examples....but point being is that the range of boards that I've tried, lighter boards do make a difference in feel and performance even for a hack like me....

[oldmansurfer]

You buy a board. It's your choice lots of glass no glass whatever YOU want.

[drowningbitbybit]

Underglassed overglassed those are figments of your imagination.

Ah, you can't feel it so it doesn't exist?

Makes the rest of the conversation a bit pointless. Me and Big H will go and have a conversation about it instead - we can imagine stuff together

[jaffa1949]

Neurologically when someone is hallucinating the brain activity is exactly the same as if they were experiencing the event!
Secondly as an example nobody can qualify or quantify another's sensations as they are not experiencing them. Pain is the perfect example! Different thresholds exist!

[oldmansurfer]

If you can't surf on a board does that mean it isn't a good board? NO. It only means you don't have the skills to use that board. Or that board isn't good for you. Underglassed or over glassed is only from your own perception. It isn't a real thing

[oldmansurfer]

What is it that affects how a board performs? Is it how much glass is on it. If you know this then why would you ever want to use a board that by your own definition has too much glass? or too little? I think glass adds weight but a little more glass only adds a little more weight. This can be made up for by using a design with a little more floatation. The small weight difference will be only noticed by top end surfers in my opinion.

[Tudeo]

Generally speaking, to feel a difference the change must be significant and all other factors that could influence the experience should be the same, so u know what caused the difference. This last thing in surfing is about impossible. Also the sensibility of the rider is crucial for what little differences can be felt. Be it weight, fin-setup, volume or whatever factor u could imagine.

Having said this I must add that yesterday I felt a huge improvement when I surfed my Dominator 606 in a different fin-setup and (much) smaller fins. Although I don't have scientific proof of this cos of reasons listed, it's enough for me to know this is it for the Dom: a Thruster setup with Glass Flex medium center fin and GXQ sides. Now the GXQ's are said to be quad rear fins with their depth of only 10mm, but they worked great as thruster sides. Well, in the waves I surfed yesterday..

[drowningbitbybit]

Ah, I see OMS - only totally objective opinions and experiences will count. Okay, got it - I'll make sure I add a suitable disclaimer to all future posts.

[oldmansurfer]

People ride all kinds of boards that I can't ride but that doesn't mean they are too short, too long, too heavy too light. I seriously don't think I can ride a huge heavy wooden board but there are those who do so quite well. The limiting factor is me and not the board. It's too short for me, too long for me, too heavy for me, etc.. someone else can ride it well. So I am just pointing out the obvious it's not the board it's you.

[jaffa1949]

The board is a dog and check out the wet suit!

[Big H]

What's the volume of the door?

I could do that but I'd need it in EPS construction, probably set it up as a quad to get a little more run and hold on vertical walls....also with a flat rocker like that it'd mean rail to rail so I might have to go to a 36" wide door rather than the 32" to allow for the 50/50 rails..........wonder about the glassing on that....he's probably able to ride because he's gone with 6oz top 4oz bottom with foot patches....sacrifice a little strength for weight reduction.....got a strong feeling that the bottom is most likely double concave all the way out the tail giving a keel old school twinny feel....I'm not sure but I think Mark Richards had a door like that....can't beat the classics.....


He's surfing a door!!!! Awesome! I'm not going to futz with equipment at all anymore!!! I'm not worthy!

[oldenglish]

All of it makes a difference. I can tell the difference between all my shortboards. All of which are within inches in measurements. Some are heavier for bigger windy days. Some are less than 5 lbs. for small days where I want no swing weight at all.

I can say that my heavier boards carry a lot of momentum when paddling and actually catch waves easier than my light boards. The light boards are just easier to flick around when trying to do foam climbs and small lip hits to connect sections. Many people I know line heavy boards on small days where momentum counts and like lighter boards on big days. It's all personal preference. But pretending that the difference of half an inch is not noticeable is wrong. Pulling a board in by half an inch changes the entire outline. Now the nose will be pulled in as well. The concaves will have less width. The tail will be more narrow. This drastically changes the way a board feels.

[oldmansurfer]

Ok so I appologize apparently I am wrong about that. Surfers who aren't very good can tell the difference and feel hindered by minor aspects of board design