MyPaipoBoards Forums

Hi there, a friend forwarded on the paipo forum, and I got all nostalgic thinking about growing up bodyboarding before I started stand up surfing. So I decided that the next board I'm going to design will hark back to those days, and see if I've learned anything in the 29 years that I haven't been bodyboarding. So here goes...

I saw that a thought of this Pat Flecky Bonzer

It looks like its gonna be low on the volume size (depending on your weight) so its gonna be on the harder end for wave catching, if you want life easier get some more volume in the centre maybe. but should be good as it is on peaky beachies with some power.

Uncle Grumpy wrote:I saw that a thought of this Pat Flecky Bonzer

Wow, just goes to prove there really is nothing new under the sun! Amazing resemblance and thank you for sharing!

krusher74 wrote:It looks like its gonna be low on the volume size (depending on your weight) so its gonna be on the harder end for wave catching, if you want life easier get some more volume in the centre maybe. but should be good as it is on peaky beachies with some power.

Thanks for the insight. I searched all over for the volume of a typical 44" - 45" bodyboard, as in the old Mach77 that I used to have. I can't find anything about volume for bodyboards anywhere. There are some posts that mention volume as being important, but then say nothing more. In surfing it's like THE thing to discuss, and there are charts and calculators for Africa talking about volume.

My minimum these days for surfing is 27 liters. My calculation on the board was this paipo design is about 2/3 of the length of my normal shortboard, so it should be about 2/3 volume. So it is hovering around 21.5 liters.

I weight 150lbs on a good day (68kilos), and am very surf fit, so I'd love to hear some volume insights?
Thanks again!

The degree of flotation is a sort of personal thing (Sean Ross surfed pipeline on small ply boards). At 68 kg and fit, 21 litres should be fine.

I was out in some softer topped sort of waves that went from deep to shallow water and standup boards were getting the waves. If yo're surfing waves with a nice lip/peak or something to launch from, your volume shouldn't be a problem. Volume of course is just one factor. Two boards of equal volume can have quite different potential when it comes to catching waves.

godspeed wrote:

Uncle Grumpy wrote:I saw that a thought of this Pat Flecky Bonzer

Wow, just goes to prove there really is nothing new under the sun! Amazing resemblance and thank you for sharing!

Especially true in the surf world.

godspeed wrote: There are some posts that mention volume as being important, but then say nothing more. In surfing it's like THE thing to discuss, and there are charts and calculators for Africa talking about volume.

Volume is crucial in standup surfing, I agree, but in prone surfing it is different, mostly the planing surface is. I surf french beach breaks on a thin plywood board (47'x16' , neutral flotation, flat rocker), and I can catch the same kind of waves that mini malibu stand up surfers. The thing is, we have the advantage of using swim fins, that gives us this extra push. The technic is different than in bodyboarding though, you need to push the board forward when paddling for a wave instead of beeing already laying down on it. Once the wave is caught, the volume doesn't matter as the board just skims, then you can jump on the board, it won't sink, just like water skis.
If I would be able to shape myself an expoxy board, I would just reproduce the same basic template than my plywood board: thin, long, narrow, flat = fast down the line !

godspeed wrote:

krusher74 wrote:It looks like its gonna be low on the volume size (depending on your weight) so its gonna be on the harder end for wave catching, if you want life easier get some more volume in the centre maybe. but should be good as it is on peaky beachies with some power.

Thanks for the insight. I searched all over for the volume of a typical 44" - 45" bodyboard, as in the old Mach77 that I used to have. I can't find anything about volume for bodyboards anywhere. There are some posts that mention volume as being important, but then say nothing more. In surfing it's like THE thing to discuss, and there are charts and calculators for Africa talking about volume.

My minimum these days for surfing is 27 liters. My calculation on the board was this paipo design is about 2/3 of the length of my normal shortboard, so it should be about 2/3 volume. So it is hovering around 21.5 liters.

I weight 150lbs on a good day (68kilos), and am very surf fit, so I'd love to hear some volume insights?
Thanks again!

You should be fine for a high performance board at 21L , i'm 170lbs and us around 23/25L in weaker that cali waves. Strangely it seems to be totally over floated if you put your normal stand up L's into a paipo.

Typical bodyboards are in the 41/42" range. (44/45" are for the 300lbs guys if you can even find a board that big) 150lbs would put you on a 41" bodyboard. Bodyboarding has kinda devolved, 20 years ago you used to get dimensions. length, width at widepoint, widepoint distance from nose, nose width, tail width. But its hard to find dimensions other than length these days. its seems a huge percentage of the bodyboarders just arnt interested in dialing in the equipment. Basically 95% whether there 5.4 or 6.5 140lbs or 220lbs ride a 42" its basically like they all bought a 6.0 short board and just do there best with it. But with a bodyboards there isnt the design extremes of stand up boards. you dont get from a 4.8 mini simmons to a fry fish, to a 5.10 comp board to a 9ft log. basically bodyboards just cover the equivalent of 5.6 to a 6.1 comp board.

The paipo world does however have the equivalant full gamut of standup boards being ridden. In fact hardly any of us ride similar boards. I think we are more like the surfboard diversity of the 70's

FWIW, I once modeled a 42" Morey Mach 7-7 in Aku and came up with 20L of volume.

The water-ski analogy is great. Sitting in the water with ski on and tow-rope in hand, I have to rely upon the flotation of my ski vest to keep me at the surface, while manually keeping the tip of the ski attached to my foot above water. As the tow boat accelerates, the planing surface of the ski begins to lift and me with it. Eventually, there is enough speed to generate the lift required to have me skimming along the surface. If the tow boats slows down, the lift provided by the ski is diminished and I begin to sink back into the water. Water ski beginners use two wide skis, effectively maximizing the available planing surface, which makes "getting up" (rising up on plane) easier. The wider planing surface also allows for slower towing speeds. More advanced water skiers, having mastered the act of getting the ski to plane, prefer a single, narrow-tailed ski which enhances turning performance. However, due to the reduction of planing area, the single, narrow ski requires more speed to maintain planing.

Surfers are propelled by the linear movement of the wave towards the beach and the force of gravity, pulling the surfer down the face of the wave. Much different than being towed but, the principles of planing are the same. The human body does not plane very efficiently, but the human body on a piece of plywood planes much more efficiently. Add a little buoyancy to that plywood and it planes even better. Buoyancy enhances planing, although in terms of overall performance, I find it to be more of a curvelinear relationship; increased buoyancy increases performance up to a point, after which further increase is actually counter-productive.

Wave speed and size must always be considered. Less planing area (and less buoyancy) is required in more powerful waves, than in slower, less powerful waves. Less planing surface can actually improve overall performance by increasing control. Conversely, more buoyancy/more planing area helps to maintain planing in the absence of wave power.

So in the final analysis, there is no one design spec that serves all surfers in all conditions. Each builder must take into account this very interesting (some would say complicated) relationship between volume, buoyancy, planing area and wave power or intensity, and the riders physical size, ability, and even the style of performance desired, when building a prone board. Easy to see why there is such design variation on this site....

OOOOOOOOOO sha sha

I agree that in terms of maneuverability, the floatty bodyboard for instance is far superior to plywood boards. I like to go fast down the line on small waves, so I am willing to sacrifice maneuverability to the benefit of pure speed (or at least the feeling of it), I think that's why I am happy with my flat plywood "longboard" paipo. But someone who rides bigger waves, who do a lot of cut backs and manoeuvers, would probably need something more technic with more volume. So all in all, it is definitely a matter of personnal preference, the kind of waves you ride and the kind of feeling you seek