MyPaipoBoards Forums

Hi,

just let me intruduce myself: I'm Tom, usually a whitwater kayaker from Germany but need some new things to do with water at the oceans First I thought about buying a bodyboard, but then I found this forum and I'm infected. So I will have to build a paipo or two or so... Now here comes my first task and I need your experience and suggestions: my next stay at the sea will be in Belgium ( in fact the next ocean is 600 km away) Unfortunately there are usually only little waves (usually less than two feet), so my first Paipo should be designed for that. I looked around and found some interesting designs which I mixed up into these shapes. What do you think: which shape might work best under these conditions? I plan to build these with Paulownia, no rocker and an oil finish.
What do you think?

Cheers, Tom

Hi Tom,

They will all work great. Each design may have subtle differences, but probably very subtle. Pick which one you like best; not really sure if there is an advantage to a tail design that is not square - watch out for points, they can hurt you. Super choice in wood.

Tom,

As Spudnut says. in weak 2' waves a noticeable difference in performance isn't that likely. The board on the far left is a classic design, you go a bit wider with it though. The sculpted tail is unlikely to make much difference either, performance wise.

Bob

Thanks for your advice, then I'll go with no. 2 or 3. 4 seems a little to wide. Looks like I will be in Brittany in summer, may be there will be larger waves. So I'll stick to that bat tail, like that design pretty much. I'll post some pictures, when the board is finished... Any additional tips or tricks? Cheers, Tom

One of my friends likes the alaia length for those small weak waves that we have on the USA East Coast... more of surfing feel riding prone than a bodysurfing feel on smaller boards.

Hi, I'd go for the second one from the right with the square nose. It will give you more surface area. It would be like a 45-46 inch board.

Hi, well I'm limited to 1100 mm to get the board in my trunk

make them all.

Great idea. Will be just a small stack

You didn't tell us if you'd be wearing swim fins in the small surf, or if you were going to simply "jump start" into the wave. For now let's just look at "jump start" designs. Traditional British boards have parallel rails or just a slight taper back to the tail. This makes it easier to keep both elbows on the board, and you don't lose your forearm leverage. So if we make the elbow zone even more important, then the tail should be wider than your handholds. This can be done with pear, peanut, or guitar pic shapes. Another option is to have a really short board that can be held by the nose on a jumping takeoff. This design allows you to apply downward pressure on the board during takeoff, and still have a lot of control over the nose.
This board is half the length of your 110 centimeter designs, but might have a similar footprint with the wave on takeoff. Keep in mind that your combined length is part of the equation when catching a wave...from your toes to the front edge of your board's footprint on the water. So when we look at combined length, there isn't much difference between a rider that holds a small board by the nose and a rider that holds a longer board halfway down the rail. I like both, but prefer the shorter board for closeouts and shorebreak.

All about water wrote:Thanks for your advice, then I'll go with no. 2 or 3. 4 seems a little to wide. Looks like I will be in Brittany in summer, may be there will be larger waves. So I'll stick to that bat tail, like that design pretty much. I'll post some pictures, when the board is finished... Any additional tips or tricks? Cheers, Tom

Bretagne in the Fall would be the real deal. Some nice spots along that coast when the Fall swells begin to move in... and into the Spring.

P.S. Any good paipo spots in Augsburg?

I vote 16x43.5

Hey guys, thaks for your replies and your ideas. I wasn't thinking of short boards for swell, but i understand your point. Good idea, so I will ad a shortie, too. What started just to fool around seems to becoma a full time job. But I guess you expected that Nevertheless I will pack my fins, too.
Paipos in Augsburg? well there is a whitewater channel called Eiskanal you migh know. but I'm pretty sure there has never been a paipo. do you know hydrospeed? it's running a river with a extra large bodyboard made of closed cell foam, about 20cm thick. the hardest part is staying on that board because it's got a lot of volume.

I think Eef is worth mentioning here, because he rides the North Shore of Holland:

http://www.pineappleluv.com/2010_10_01_archive.html

That´s amazing. Next month I will be in Holland exactly where Eef lives - in Alkmaar.
I guess I have to start the first board next week
Eef is the first boarder I´ve seen wearing a PFD.

All about, I will be in Augsburg next September for a few days. No surfing planned but thought is might be worth a wandering by to check out -- I can only visit so many churches and cathedrals before needing a cold one or other distraction Checked out the Isar in Munich during a visit many years back. Most of the folks traveled a lot to Portugal, Spain and France to surf and to beyond spots.

rodndtube wrote:All about, I will be in Augsburg next September for a few days. No surfing planned but thought is might be worth a wandering by to check out -- I can only visit so many churches and cathedrals before needing a cold one or other distraction Checked out the Isar in Munich during a visit many years back. Most of the folks traveled a lot to Portugal, Spain and France to surf and to beyond spots.

Your absolutely right, the next spot is a few hundred miles away. except a spot in Munich, the Eisbach, which is a small green wave which is pretty fast. here is a video http://youtu.be/GvJKIsg6GCI
I guess it's the only urban surfspot in Germany, so might be worth visiting. Anonther wave might be in Plattling, depending on rain and the melting of snow. http://youtu.be/jlDhSleX78Y

Options abound:

Both with what board to build (too many) - roll a dice and see if you are happy with the choice; as well as river waves.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/River_surfing

http://www.surfertoday.com/surfing/5305 ... -the-world


Bob

ClanB wrote:I vote 16x43.5

I love the shape of your avatar board. Any details and closeups? I´m just curious

Hi,

I guess it´s time for an update. I had some problems getting 60cm wide Paulownia so I started with the 40cm board left. Shaping took me less than an hour, it´s really easy to work with that soft wood. I left the board nearly flat, just some very slight rocker on the first 15cm. Yesterday I finished the design (o.k. I spent most time on figuring out, what kind of design I would like) and today it will get it´s finish.