A surfboard is a personal thing. When a surfer finds one that feels perfect, it's magic. When a pro surfer finds one that's perfect, it can make their career.
That alchemy can be hard to come by: A surfer's height, weight and style matter as much as the conditions they're paddling into, from the wave's shape to its power and size. Variations on a board's rocker, concave and fin setup add further nuance to how a Magic Board comes to life.
Here are a few -- but by no means all -- of the elements of a board's shape that have made some magic in 2014.
Rocker: Less vs. More
Rocker is the curve a board has from nose to tail when looked at from the side. More rocker in the nose is generally used to handle big, steep waves. The extra curve helps keep the nose from pearling at reef breaks like Teahupo'o and Pipe. The downside? Increased rocker decreases a board's paddling ability. These boards tend to be longer than a standard performance shortboard to make up for diminished paddle power.
That being said, Kelly Slater (USA) has been experimenting with shorter-than-average boards in the heavier reef breaks on the WCT. Could that be his secret?
A board with less (or flatter) rocker has greater benefits in smaller, beachbreak waves that require more effort to catch. Tyler Wright's (AUS) Magic Board from the Vans US Open of Surfing is a great example.
Lost Sub-Scorcher II: Tyler Wright's magic board from the Vans US Open featured lower rocker and a wider nose for mushy surf. - WSL / Morris
Less rocker -- usually seen on longboards, fish and stubbier high-performance boards -- increases a board's paddling speed. It also helps boards cross flat sections like those at Huntington Beach in the summer.
Concave: Single vs. Double
Concaves are sections of scooped-out foam on the board's underside and are used to increase and control speed. The concave generally starts around where a surfer's chest lies on the board when paddling. A single concave is sanded into the center of the board, from the chest through the tail. The design is especially common among Tour surfers who perform a series of maneuvers on a wave and transition continuously from one rail to the other.
Cases in point: Jordy Smith's (ZAF) Magic Board that helped win the Hurley Pro at Trestles is a Channel Islands Girabbit model, and features a single concave. As does Gabriel Medina's (BRA) Pukas Da Freak Kid model, which he used to win in Fiji, on Cloudbreak's huge drops.
Gabriel Medina secures his second win of 2014 with this 9.87 in the Final over Nat Young.
A double concave is more commonly used as a speed generator, while creating a looser feel in the tail. It incorporates matching, hollowed-out sections on each side of the board's stringer. Boards with this design often start as a single concave in the front of the board to maintain paddle speed and transition to a double concave in the back half of the board. This helps surfers push their tails through turns in weaker waves.
Mick Fanning's (AUS) Magic Board for the 2014 Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach was Darren DHD Handley's Ducks Nuts model, which has the single-to-double concave. That magic helped earn him a victory at the Australian event, which saw softer waves than some of the Tour's other stops.
The reigning World Champ belts a 9.43 on his last Semifinal wave to advance into the Final.
Australian Stephanie Gilmore also found magic on DHD's Ducks Nuts model for a handful of her six World Titles.
Fin Setup: Thruster vs. Quads
The thruster setup, famously introduced by former Tour surfer Simon Anderson (AUS), allows surfers to use three small fins instead of the large, single one popular in surfing's early days. Thrusters allow boards to make sharp turns while maintaining stability.
More recently, WCT surfers like Slater and Fanning have been turning to four-fin setups on barreling waves like those at Pipe and Cloudbreak. They're sticking with their thruster setups for performance waves like those at Trestles and Margaret River.
Kelly Slater talked ASP's Ross Williams through a Channel Islands quiver built for the sometimes challenging surf of Western Australia.
A four-fin setup, also called a quad, features two standard-size forward fins and two smaller trailer fins, positioned on either side of the board's stringer and slightly ahead of where a center fin is usually found. The setup helps hold a board on the faces of the Tour's infamous tubes because two fins are fully submerged in the water on the steepest part of the wave. With no fin in the center, water flows faster through the back of the board, which increases drive to beat the foam ball.
Goofyfooter Owen Wright (AUS), on the other hand, isn't convinced. He discussed his thruster options in his Tahiti Board Breakdown.
See what the Aussie barrel king brought for the heaving tubes at the 2014 Billabong Pro Tahiti.
The quad fin setup also helps with airs and fins-free turns, as the placement of the trailer fins allow water to pass more freely over a board's tail, for a looser feel. Slater was riding a quad when he pulled off his historic 540 in Portugal.
Stay tuned for more Board Breakdowns and Magic Board discussion as the world's top surfers continue to take their equipment to the next level on the 2015 World Championship Tour.
What Makes a Magic Board Magical?
WSL
A surfboard is a personal thing. When a surfer finds one that feels perfect, it's magic. When a pro surfer finds one that's perfect, it can make their career.
That alchemy can be hard to come by: A surfer's height, weight and style matter as much as the conditions they're paddling into, from the wave's shape to its power and size. Variations on a board's rocker, concave and fin setup add further nuance to how a Magic Board comes to life.
Here are a few -- but by no means all -- of the elements of a board's shape that have made some magic in 2014.
Rocker: Less vs. More
Rocker is the curve a board has from nose to tail when looked at from the side. More rocker in the nose is generally used to handle big, steep waves. The extra curve helps keep the nose from pearling at reef breaks like Teahupo'o and Pipe. The downside? Increased rocker decreases a board's paddling ability. These boards tend to be longer than a standard performance shortboard to make up for diminished paddle power.
That being said, Kelly Slater (USA) has been experimenting with shorter-than-average boards in the heavier reef breaks on the WCT. Could that be his secret?
A board with less (or flatter) rocker has greater benefits in smaller, beachbreak waves that require more effort to catch. Tyler Wright's (AUS) Magic Board from the Vans US Open of Surfing is a great example.
Less rocker -- usually seen on longboards, fish and stubbier high-performance boards -- increases a board's paddling speed. It also helps boards cross flat sections like those at Huntington Beach in the summer.
Concave: Single vs. Double
Concaves are sections of scooped-out foam on the board's underside and are used to increase and control speed. The concave generally starts around where a surfer's chest lies on the board when paddling. A single concave is sanded into the center of the board, from the chest through the tail. The design is especially common among Tour surfers who perform a series of maneuvers on a wave and transition continuously from one rail to the other.
Cases in point: Jordy Smith's (ZAF) Magic Board that helped win the Hurley Pro at Trestles is a Channel Islands Girabbit model, and features a single concave. As does Gabriel Medina's (BRA) Pukas Da Freak Kid model, which he used to win in Fiji, on Cloudbreak's huge drops.
A double concave is more commonly used as a speed generator, while creating a looser feel in the tail. It incorporates matching, hollowed-out sections on each side of the board's stringer. Boards with this design often start as a single concave in the front of the board to maintain paddle speed and transition to a double concave in the back half of the board. This helps surfers push their tails through turns in weaker waves.
Mick Fanning's (AUS) Magic Board for the 2014 Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach was Darren DHD Handley's Ducks Nuts model, which has the single-to-double concave. That magic helped earn him a victory at the Australian event, which saw softer waves than some of the Tour's other stops.
Australian Stephanie Gilmore also found magic on DHD's Ducks Nuts model for a handful of her six World Titles.
Fin Setup: Thruster vs. Quads
The thruster setup, famously introduced by former Tour surfer Simon Anderson (AUS), allows surfers to use three small fins instead of the large, single one popular in surfing's early days. Thrusters allow boards to make sharp turns while maintaining stability.
More recently, WCT surfers like Slater and Fanning have been turning to four-fin setups on barreling waves like those at Pipe and Cloudbreak. They're sticking with their thruster setups for performance waves like those at Trestles and Margaret River.
A four-fin setup, also called a quad, features two standard-size forward fins and two smaller trailer fins, positioned on either side of the board's stringer and slightly ahead of where a center fin is usually found. The setup helps hold a board on the faces of the Tour's infamous tubes because two fins are fully submerged in the water on the steepest part of the wave. With no fin in the center, water flows faster through the back of the board, which increases drive to beat the foam ball.
Goofyfooter Owen Wright (AUS), on the other hand, isn't convinced. He discussed his thruster options in his Tahiti Board Breakdown.
The quad fin setup also helps with airs and fins-free turns, as the placement of the trailer fins allow water to pass more freely over a board's tail, for a looser feel. Slater was riding a quad when he pulled off his historic 540 in Portugal.
Stay tuned for more Board Breakdowns and Magic Board discussion as the world's top surfers continue to take their equipment to the next level on the 2015 World Championship Tour.
Gabriel Medina
Best clips from Gabriel Medina, Tatiana Weston-Webb, Yago Dora, and Italo Ferreira over the 2024 Championship Tour.
Featuring Gabriel Medina, Tatiana Weston-Webb, Vahine Fierro, Caroline Marks, Sawyer Lindblad, Ramzi Boukhiam, Ryan Callinan, Kanoa
Featuring Barron Mamiya, Molly Picklum, Gabriel Medina, Tatiana Weston-Webb, John John Florence, Erin Brooks, and Macy Callaghan.
Featuring Gabriel Medina, Griffin Colapinto, Yago Dora, Leonardo Fioravanti, Erin Brooks, Ethan Ewing, Tatiana Weston-Webb, and Rio Waida.
Gabriel Medina is mathematically in the hunt to make the WSL Final 5 still and goes excellent in the Opening Round to begin his charge in
News
The now-Central Coast competitor Jack Van Wagoner is back in familiar waters, this time in Pismo Beach, looking for his second-career win.
The 2023 finalist Chloe Coleman is back after her rookie year among the world's best and looks for a second-career win heading into Pismo
Jahly Stokes and Keijiro Nishi Finish Runners Up as Jinzun Harbor Turns on Pumping Surf For Finals Day and Kerr Wins Second QS 5000 Event
Women's Top Seeds Dominate Round of 32 -- Stage Set For Potential Finals Day in Taiwan.