Asymmetrical creations
…”but there is danger in equating truth and beauty with symmetry. Neither living organisms nor the Universe itself is perfectly symmetrical”
The asymmetrical side of surfboard design. It has been going on for a while. Personally, I've always been intrigued and inspired by watching surfers/shapers like Ryan Burch doing it; it just seemed right, and an exciting challenge to see if it really works. Over the last year surfing & shaping here in Byron Bay, my mind has been open to trying new and different shapes and ultimately searching for fresh feelings on the wave. There is a wide variety of surf craft and people drawing unique lines surfing. So I decided to take a dusty blank that was lying around in my garage for too long and just head to the shaping bay with the desire of creating something unique, something more exciting and challenging. Ended up playing around with some of my model templates and drawing the asymmetrical outline. 6'1 x 19 5/8" x 2 7/16" (don't ask how many lts).
Longer/straighter on the toe side: speed generation (something similar to a fish), with a twin fin. The heel side (backside) has a more curved and shorter outline, paired with a quad fin setup; which adds more control and hold when leaning over your heels to handle better that speed. From the wide point to the nose it's symmetrical, using the Pepe's Twin template which is performance-oriented, but still wide enough for good paddling and driving over weaker sections on average days. The rocker has the same concept, a moderate curve. Just enough to keep it agile in tight maneuvers, and flat enough to carry and maintain speed. Went with a flat deck and down foiled rails, something that I often like to shape into my boards, especially with this one since it's narrower than what I usually ride. It makes it easier to get into waves and feels more stable, adding some volume too.
The whole point and concept is that we surf asymmetrically. The way we apply weight frontside vs backside is very different; frontside is more sensitive, and going backside you can push harder but usually with less control. Hence, the asymmetrical shape design compensates for that, benefiting both ways of surfing.
As far as R&D, it's been almost the only board I've been riding over the last year, in a wide range of conditions from 3ft to overhead…and it’s safe to say it's the best surfing I've had yet. So I guess it was a successful experiment; it reminded me how expansive (both shaping and surfing-wise) it is to try something different, something fresh, that’s a bit off the usual.
