what do you prefer?
i'm just about to order a new board from Chris at Oceanline.. he reckons I should go the round tail.
he gave me one to test and it was pretty good.. just not as sharp turns as a squash tail.. although the day i took it out was only waist to shoulder high sets.. and i plan to mostly use it for slightly larger surf (3-6' range) as i have my MR swallow tail for small days
what do you guys reckon from your experience?
long power carves, extra hold on rail, barrels - round
release tail at end of carve, slide, off the tops, basically throwing the tail around - squash.
just depends how you surf...I reckon most "average" surfers are better served by the round. Dont always go by what the pros ride - they are freaks.
Canuka - Steve Del Rosso...nice.
Totally agree with default, the round tail also lets you surf over more of the board through turns. i have a 6'1 round tail and a 6'1 squash, the round i surf when its hollow or you need to draw out your turns a little more. The squash is great for 2-4ft fun, punchy surf. Hpoe that helps.
Thanks for the input! Went the round tail!
It's replacing my Clearwater squash tail (which is just a bit wide for my liking).. But I can always use it if I want to ride a squash.
Gday Sham, just out of curiosity, does Chris still handshape his boards? And what's the damage on a newy from him? been thinking about getting another board off him but gotta get some cash together first
As far as I'm aware he shapes everything by hand!
Mines costing 680 (I think) including a pretty simple spray.
He is definitely the best shaper I've been to as far as taking the time to go through everything with me, looking at my current board and talking about what changes I want & he recommends! Really nice guy and easy to talk too!
Also gave me a board to test out that was almost exactly the same as what we were talking about shaping!
I think you have made the right choice Sham....I have been toying with round tails for awhile now and have found them to have very smooth rail to rail transitions...but nowdays it seems tail shapes go in and out of fashion so to a point,its what you like the look of...if its shaped well...it will go well....to say "what tail should I get?", is just a fraction of the overall design of the board....you could get a nice looking round tail with terrible rocker distribution and wonky rails, and end up saying I dont like round tails....what I'm trying to say is any shaper worth his salt in the shaping bay will produce a functional shape the rest is up to you...if round tails are pleasing to your eye, your half way there IMO.
Chris has a good operation up there in Wangara. Great shaper and some of the best crew in WA working on the boards. Another one of those undervalued local setups as more and more people think they have to choose a national or international brands to get what they are after.
just picked it up! came up awesome! will be perfect for my png trip next month!
glad i got the round.. have surfed two of my mates ones in the last 3 weeks.. loving them!