Shapes and Colors
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Nose
The nose is the tip of the board whose shape varies widely depending on the board type or performance characteristics desired. In general, wider noses facilitate greater paddling ease while thinner nose facilitate higer performance moves. Often shapers prefer to keep the nose dimensions in close alignment with their template and don't allow for discretion on this.
MidPoint Dimensions
The midpoint is the widest point on the board as measured from rail to rail and has a significant affect on the perfromance characteristics of a surfboard. Boards with smaller midpoints are better for high performance while wider boards are more stable in smaller waves and easier to paddle.
Tail Dimensions
Tail is the measurement of the width of the board at a specific point up from the end of the board. Often shapers reserve this measurement (do not disclose it) to keep it in close line with the template and highly dependent upon other measurements such as midpoint.
Board Thickness
Surfboard thickness in one of the most important aspects of surfboard design and how your board will perform in a variety on conditions. For beginners, the thicker the better for added floatation. For more advanced surfers thickness can change in countless different ways along the surfboard template each affecting the surfboards performance in different ways.
Rail
The outside edge of a surfboard. Fuller rails carry more foam. This helps provide floatation when leaned on edge. Thinner tapered rails carry less foam making them easier to sink and lean on edge. Now the harder the rails edge the cleaner the water breaks away from the board which contributes to speed and looseness. Hard rails penetrate the water poorly at high speeds and resist being leaned on edge while softer rails provide a smoother more forgiving response.
Tail Type
The tail type is the end of the board and where water exits from your board. Tail types affect the stability and turning characterstics of a board. Following are the most common tail types:
Rounded Pin: Rounded Pin Tails are very versatile and smooth rail to rail. They hold the surfboard in the pocket and transition well from rail to rail.
Pin: Primarily for larger waves. These tails have the minimum amount of area and hold in well at higher speeds in big surf.
Round Tail: A very smooth turning tail that has a bit more area than the rounded pin tail. The extra area makes it more suitable to smaller to mid range surf.
Square Tail: The square tail contains the greatest area of any tail design. The square tail design will carve the sharpest most pivotal turns and be most responsive.
Squash Tail: A rounded version of the square tail. Its still responsive like the square tail but less so. The squash tail is the most common shortboard tail.
Swallow Tail: The swallow tail is basically two pin tails side by side. The swallow tail shifter to the other rail there is a hesitation from one side of the tail to the other. The gap allows water to flow freely between the two pins and hold well when banked hard for maximum water flow.
Bat Tail: Two side by side crescent moons cut into the end of a squash or square tail.
Moon/Crescent Tail: One crescent moon shape cut into the end of a squash or square tail.
Wings (double/single/more): Used to step down the width toward the tail of wider boards. "
Fin Setup
Fin setups have a large impact upon the performance characteristics of your board. Following are the most common setups.
2+1: A fin set up utilizing a single fin box complimented with two small side bit fins. Most often used in longboards
Keel: A lower profile version of twin fins with a wider fin base equaling more surface area in the water. This style of fin is often used on fish style boards.
Quad: The quad is an attempt to correct the looseness of the twin fin while maintaining the speed and drive. The design is becoming increasingly popular with big wave riders and shortboarders. The extra set of twin side fins really adds speed and drive and helps stabilize the surfboard in the absence of the center fin and its associated drag.
Single Fin: The single fin is where the surfing fins started. It was first put into use based on the keels on sailboard to stabilize the surfboard. Its increased size is due to the use of only one fin. Since the fin is located in the center is tends to tighten up the board thru turns however it will hold well in the large surf.
Thruster or Tri-Fin: The thruster is the staple of fin set ups in surfboard production. It was invented by Australian Simon Anderson in the early 80s. The thruster simply added a stabilizing center fin to the twin fin set up and suddenly the surfing became much smoother thru the turns and transitions. And the idea has stuck to the present and is widely recognized as the standard fin set up for most stock shortboards.
Twin Fin: The is a design popularized with the fish type surfboards. The twin fin set up tends to loosen up the tail of the surfboard and allows it to remain stuck in a straight line and then turn quite loosely. Once you get a feel for the twin you can really drive down the line and carve thru turns easily.
Twin with trailer: Standard Twin fin set up but with a small center trailer fin adding more stability…often used in Hybrids.
Twinzer: A 4-fin board where the fins are configured as a layered twin fin. It is similar to the C-5 but without the trailer fin.
C5: A 5-fin board blending the performance characteristics of a quad and thruster. The front, side fins are small and oval shaped which work to aid the larger side fins by keeping the angle of entry into them more consistent by directing the water into the leading edge of these larger side fins (like a quad). This allows the foils on the main fins to work more effectively."
Foam
Foam is the material for the interior core of your board and the shapers canvas for creating. Options for foam have grown quite a bit lately. For purposes here there is standard foam (the traditional foam used for most boards), Epoxy (lighter and more bouyant than traditional foam), Parabolic Rails/Parabolics have the stringer located just inside the rails rather than down the middle of the board and are rapidly gain acceptance. The latest entry is Bio Foam which in an effort to be more environmentally friendly uses about 50% agricultural by products in the manufacturing process.
Fin Sytem
Fin Systems are the types and/or brands of systems used for your board. Examples include Futures, FCS, Lokbox, and glassed on.
Finish
There is a choice of how you want your board finished. Its really a choice between shiny and smooth or a rougher non shiny finish. The most shiny and one that brings out any color is Gloss/Polish. Basically its one extra coat of different resin resulting in a shiny look. On the other spectrum is a Sanded Finish. This type of finish is not shiny. Generally, a sanded finish is preferred by those that prefer clear boards and that value performance over appearance. The lack of an extra coat of resin results in a lighter board.
Stringer
Stringer is the small balsa wood strip running down the middle of the board. When you have a custom board made, the shaper will often put the name of the person they shaped it for along the stringer.
