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Front fin(s) ?

Posted: Thu Feb 07, 2019 11:11 am
by zensuni
On my long and narrow plywood paipo, when I turn, I feel like the pivot point is at the front of the board, the back of the board just reacts by "drifting".
This is when I ride on a very forward position.
It doesn't always turns this way (in a gently drifting move), sometimes it just side slips (so the pivot point is more the middle of the board) and then re-bite the face.

So I was wondering if some small fin(s) on the front on the board would help for these kind of drift turns.
I know it would probably won't work (otherwise it would exist already from a long time) but I always welcome the technical explanations.

Re: Front fin(s) ?

Posted: Fri Feb 08, 2019 11:02 am
by GeoffreyLevens
I think maybe better performance if you can figure out prone weight shift to engage the rail more. Not sure if easier or harder to do prone vs standing but here's a really nice standing version, I may have posted previously somewhere here

https://youtu.be/UvYqok4jrW0

Re: Front fin(s) ?

Posted: Sat Feb 16, 2019 9:09 pm
by nomastomas
Fins in the front will cause the tail to slide out as soon as they engage. Board will follow path of least resistance,

Re: Front fin(s) ?

Posted: Sun Mar 03, 2019 4:24 pm
by bgreen
Have you worked this out.

The solution is more in body weight distribution and keeping the rail engaged. This probably happens most in fat waves.

Re: Front fin(s) ?

Posted: Wed Mar 27, 2019 2:17 am
by zensuni
I haven"t tried it, it was more a wonder than a project :D .

I have another "project" in mind which is to kneeboard my paipo, or even better, to "drop knee" it.
At my latest session there was a bodyboarder riding "drop knee", I though it looked fun but the classic bodyboard doesn't seem to provide planing enough, I'm sure a plywood board can do better.
The board is long enought I think but it is quite narrow so I m not sure it is possible, maybe I need to make another board, wider.
Another funny project is to add plywood to an existing pair of swimfins that I have. These are very confortable beginner bodyboard fins, relatively small (good for drop knee), but too soft to be really efficient. So I plan to pimp them up a little bit with a piece of thin plywood.

Re: Front fin(s) ?

Posted: Tue Apr 09, 2019 4:33 am
by krusher74
zensuni wrote:On my long and narrow plywood paipo, when I turn, I feel like the pivot point is at the front of the board, the back of the board just reacts by "drifting".
This is when I ride on a very forward position.
It doesn't always turns this way (in a gently drifting move), sometimes it just side slips (so the pivot point is more the middle of the board) and then re-bite the face.

So I was wondering if some small fin(s) on the front on the board would help for these kind of drift turns.
I know it would probably won't work (otherwise it would exist already from a long time) but I always welcome the technical explanations.
You are basically describing the drawbacks of having a long narrow board. (they are great for going fast in a straight line but not turning)

The bodyboard has been a very similar length to width ratio since it started in 1972. (if it was not right they would have made big changes by now)

I made a thin wood paipo the size of a bodyboard and is turns fast and tight just like a bodyboard


As your making boards from ply which is very cheap to experiment with I would suggest just trying normal bodyboard dimensions, 42" long 21" wide with some curve to the template. if you wanted to keep it longer try 45" by 19", I think a simple board like this will show you why the long board you have is surfing the way it is.