Gliders

Had the pleasure of meeting Grant in March when he was over here for the Waipu fish fry Top Kiwi bloke

Hello to all

Thanks to all the contributors to this glider thread. Such a wealth of knowledge and perspectives.

Allow me to introduce myself before posting, since this is my 1st post here and i feel my introduction might hopefully enrich the discussion.

My background in surfing has been one of letting go of assistance as age catches up. A windsurfer in my 20-40's, open ocean surfski next and SUP'er in my later 40's. Now, in the 50's, surfing traditional, no help from sail or paddle, just my bare hands to propel onto the wave and trimming from there on. I also prone/knee paddleboard for distance or downwind. I currently surf a high volume 9'6 longboard, knee to chest mushers.

I'm very interested in acquiring a glider, most probably shaped locally. Beyond 10' longboards, haven't seen gliders here. There's two breaks locally, one 500 mts offshore, which i reach quite easily on the floaty 9'6 lb, and a host of outer reefs, some over 1 km offshore, which feature mushy waves on deep bottom, chest to head high with the possibility of long rides.

My needs are, a nice glider for the far away mushy waves, that is easy to paddle both prone and on knees for the outer reefs, specially on the return to shore, which sometimes is against the wind. Maneuver wise, I'm happy with standing and gliding on the sweet spot, the longer, the better.

I feel that a belly entry, narrow outline, pin tail and low, continuous rocker might be a starting point. What about rails, bottom contours, fin setup ?

All ideas and suggestions are welcome, thanks in advance, be well !

Select to expand quote

obct said..
I'm a fat old guy who can't surf to save his life, so you can take my advice with a grain of salt, but here it is anyway.

The rail profiles you need may not be too different from the sups you've owned. You mention nothing about wanting to nose ride, so 50/50 rails won't be needed.

The rail at the nose can start off evenly rounded and then from around 15inches back, they could start to drop to a down rail, not a hard edgy one, just a nice subtle rounded one.

The rail woul need to get harder at the rear, but you probably would not notice it start to happen until around 16 inches from the tail.

The tail is where I differ a lot from conventional wisdom, most modern boards has a slightly squared off or boxy tail, it's to induce speed vai a phenomenon with a weird name, I don't subscribe to it for a longboard with a single fin, I like a heavy foil that thins away to a sharp edge at the back. I feel it gives me the feel of having multiple fins in a turn.

For the bottom I prefer a very sallow bouble concave stating jut behind half way and running out to a slight vee tail.

Template would be pin tail for decent turning on a big board

I'm not sure about the entry I doubt you'll need a concave, but then, I've never enjoyed riding hullish boards. Maybe flat, with just a hint of a conc

Thanks for your input, obct.

I forgot to include in my details, that i don't intend to noseride, my 9'6 already fits this purpose, at least, for my shaky attempts at the forward quarter. Also, i weight 80 kg and no wetsuits are needed here (Puerto Rico).

I prefer a bellied nose instead of a concave because of the smooth paddling experience with my prone paddleboard, a Bark Commander. That thing just motors against any chop and wind ! And glides like a damn torpedo. I can surf it on very small swell, downwind or on the summer flats, but on knees.
On the other hand, my 9'6 longboard features a wider nose with a concave and chines. And it slaps quite a bit whenever the chop shows up, specially when paddling back to shore against the ever present and early rising wind.
Since the outer reefs i plan on surfing on the glider are way offshore, i would definitely prefer a great paddling board to get there and leave the concave nose board to surf the inner reefs.

Do you have a picture of the foiled to sharp edge tail design you favor?

I concur with you in that really thinned out tails work wonders for reducing drag and enhancing glide. This is a picture of the tail on the prone board i have. It glides beautifully, and does initiate a turn. It is a really narrow board, at 20" wide, the tail tapering to maybe 6 or so inches. There is not a sharp edge in this bottom, other than a crest that starts behind the fin box and ends at a very sharp tail. I love pintails, no doubt.



Regarding the bottom, and making reference to a nice sup i once had, an 11' Alii Takayama, that board had no sharp edges anywhere, had a rolled bottom in the midsection, and the rails, started to become more defined (not sharp) in the rear, around the sidebites area, just as you explained. That board was an excellent glider, but, at 28", too wide for a prone paddling glider. Had to let it go when i hung up the paddle. I would prefer something in the 23" width.

You mentioned a subtle concave, in the midsection. Would be interesting to know more about this feature, regarding depth, how wide, if chines come into play, etc.

I really appreciate your wisdom in this aspect, since, as i said, i've seen no long gliders here.

I believe that extracting design features from other craft, such as the prone paddleboard above, might help in the design process, but it might also not...it's a gamble.

Thanks, be well.






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Thanks a lot for the pictures, obct, there's a wealth of information just by looking at them.

Yes, very few boards locally in the over 10' range, in my side of the island. Maybe if i go to the west part, a surfing destination, some gliders may show up. But no pictures of them as of now among the surfing community.

YES !... absolutely, we're talking about prone paddle surfboards. Sup, even though it's pretty popular here, and i did it for a couple years, i started to dislike it for surfing around a year ago, and since i was already paddling prone/knee on my Bark paddleboard, i quit the paddle and the sup with ease. But that's another story....i'm one of the very few locally who moved away from sup and into traditional prone surfing.

I have the chance to make an order for one of Mickey Munoz's Surftech 11' or 12' Gliders. But something in me tells that i should research the subject, then sit down with one of the local shapers and discuss this glider concept with him. I feel i can get a better board, for my particular weight, purpose, style of paddling and surfing locally. I don't doubt Munoz's shaping credentials, and have seen some very good opinions on his Gliders. If the local shaper declines the project, or if the price goes through the roof, there's only one other shaper left in the west part of the island, with experience to spare, in the longboard department. If those two, don't work, it'll be a Munoz then.

The yellow board in your picture features a very nice smooth and thin tail, but, the one on the 2nd and 3rd picture has a beautiful double concave, and a very interesting shape in the deck. If my eyes don't fail me, there's some kind of slightly down turned rail at the very end of the pin tail.

And the Munoz on the fourth picture, even though it features sharp rails, i feel the square tail is a lot of foam to sink into a turn. Possibly, because of this, you can't turn it well. And i'm only 80 kg ! Maybe with a cutaway fin and higher aspect side bites, it could get to start a turn, but, again, it has a very thick tail and lots of foam.

I don't have issues with a heavy board. My prone paddleboard is close to 28 lbs and it helps me to build fitness for the long paddle out. In fact, i would prefer a slightly heavier board in chop and wind.

It's been a pleasure, thanks so much for the pictures and taking the time to share wisdom.

Be well.

No worries!

I believe there's no Robert August here beyond the sup boards made by Surftech. And I'm not looking there!

There's a few well reputed surfboard shapers here and a bigger sup and kite surfing board shaper. Other than that, importing is the solution. Imagine, there's only around 10 prone paddleboards that I know of!

I do have faith in those few local shapers. Will have a nice glider by summer.

Be well

So smooozzzzzz!!!

Great clip....

Awesome surfing..