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Surfboards are long, buoyant decks used in the activity of surfing. They are relatively light, but strong enough to support an individual standing on them while riding a breaking wave. Like the sport itself, they were invented in Polynesia.
Originally made of wood or balsa, the first surfboards were often over 15 feet in length and extremely heavy. The major advances over the years were the addition of one or more fins on the bottom rear of the board to improve directional stability and a change of materials.
Modern surfboards are made of polyurethane or polystyrene foam covered with layers of fiberglass cloth and polyester or epoxy resin. The end result is a light and strong surfboard that is buoyant and maneuverable. A few specialty surfboards are made out of hollow carbon fiber or aluminum for added lightness.
Long-boards as the name suggests are longer (9+ft), and also thicker, wider and with a more rounded nose than a short-board. Short-boards are shorter (5-7ft), thinner, and have a more pointed nose. They are not as wide as long-boards and are typically more maneuverable. Other variants include guns, mini-mals, fish, eggs, and tow-ins.
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Design
In order to discuss board design, it is helpful to have basic knowledge of the vocabulary used to reference each part of the board. Here is a labeled diagram of a surfboard: *
Nose - The front tip of the board. This can be pointed or rounded.
Tail - The back end of the board. The shape of the tail affects how a board responds. Tail shapes vary from square, pin, squash, swallow, diamond, and so on - each one in turn having its own family of smaller variants.
Deck - The surface of the board that the surfer stands on. Surfwax is applied to this surface.
Bottom - The surface of the board that rests on the water.
Rail - The edges of the board. A rounded rail is called 'soft', while a more squared off rail is called 'hard'.
Fins - Fins create stick and drive on the wave face. They keep the board from sliding sideways on the wave uncontrollably. There are countless fin designs. One of the most common fin arrangements is named the thruster, whose invention is commonly credited to Simon Anderson of Australia. It consists of three fins, one at the tail of the board and two slightly further towards the nose. However, as Surfer magazine documents, "Over a decade before Simon Anderson introduced his revolutionary Thruster in 1980, Duncan and Malcolm Campbell had already produced a functional triangulated-fin system." That system, a shortboard called the Bonzer Board, is documented to have been frequently used and erroneously claimed credit for by others. The bonzer's two ventral fins are angled inward slightly, and convey exceptional speed and agility. The Campbell brothers subsequently improved upon that design by turning out a faster, five fin setup.
Stringer - A thin piece of wood running from nose to tail that increases the strength of the board.
Leash Cup - An indentation in the deck of the board close to the tail that contains a small bar that a leash can be tied around.
Leash - A stretchy cord running from the leash cup to the surfer's ankle. This keeps a surfer from losing his board when he falls off.
Rocker - This refers to how much curve the bottom of the board has from nose to tail. Increasing the rocker improves maneuverability, but this is at the cost of speed - a steeper curve creates drag.
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Construction
Surfboards are usually constructed using polyurethane foam. They are made stronger with one or more small pieces of wood going down the middle of the board called a stringer. The foam is molded into the rough shape of a surfboard called a blank. Note: Recently, the largest producer of these blanks, Clark Foam announced its closure *. This move drastically affected surfboard production and has become known to surfers as Blank Monday. Once the blanks have been made they are given to shapers. Shapers then cut, plane, and sand the board to its specifications. Finally, the board is glassed. Glassing is basically when the fiberglass is put on. It is during the glassing that the fins, or boxes for removeable fins are put on and the leash plug is installed. Another method of making boards is using epoxy resin and polystyrene foam, instead of polyester resin and urethane foam. Although boards are usually shaped by hand, the use of machines to shape them has become more and more popular over the years.
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Modern classifications
Egg - * Modern hybrid board (6ft to 8' 6") using a more rounded longboard profile and round tail shape. Surfed in smaller waves with any fin set up. Also known as a 'funboard' as they are more about having fun then high performance or tricks. They can be easier to ride for beginning surfers and generally perform well in surfing conditions where the more traditional long and short boards might not.
Fish - Radically short stubby board (under 6ft) created in the 1970's by Skip Frye and popular in smaller waves. Primarily Twin Fin set up with a swallow tail shape. Re-grew in popularity in early 2000's, a trend which was kicked off by legendary surfer Tom Curren. Note, any type of board (such as shortboard or mini-longboard) can have a fish tail, and these are commonly referred to as a "fish", but they lack the other properties of a fish as listed here.
Gun - Big Wave Board (7ft to 12ft). Thin, needle-like template with Single or Thruster Set up. It usually looks like shortboard but at a longboard size. Used at such big waves spots as Waimea Bay and Mavericks.
Longboard - Primarily single finned with large rounded nose (c. 9 to 12ft) Also called a 'Mal', which is a shortened version of Malibu, one of, if not the most popular longboard wave.
Mini Mal (or Fun Board) - Based on the longboard's rounded template, but reduced in size (7 to 9ft) to provide more maneuverability. Either Single Finned or a three fin 'Thruster' set up can be used.
Shortboard - The most popular and versatile of the smaller boards. Characterised by a slender pointy nose and generally smaller dimensions. Surfed with three or five fins in a thruster or Bonzer style set up, but other set ups can be used.
Tow-In - Very small profiled specialist board with foot loops (c. 5ft) Allows the surfer to be towed behind a jet ski at greater speeds and catch waves not accessible to 'paddle-in' surfers. Generally used by the elite in huge surf.
The sizes given above are approximate overall lengths and are intended for guideline purposes only. Similar to the approach of surfing waves, there are no hard and fast rules for the board that you use to do so.
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See also
Jeffreys bay Surfboard
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Resources
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Manufacturers
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