I've been doing some research from various podcasts, interviews, and forums and my current understanding is a great modern board has the following attributes:
- enough volume, -10 to +10 depending on local conditions
- width of around 20 inches, allows for easy take offs
- length of 6-6.5 feet, more glide and tracks better off foil
- volume in the nose, allows the rider to stomp the front of the board during board pumps and not sink the nose
- enough board rocker, facilities board pumps
- angled chines on the bottom of the board, easier recovery during touch downs
- as thin as possible to prevent corkiness
Anyone agree/disagree or have anything to add?
Deck pad goes all the way to the edge of useable space.
Boxes are correctly positioned forward for most brands.
Rolled vs flat vs varying levels of deck concavity suited for each riders preference.
Considering volume and length, these mid lengths tend to be used in stronger wind conditions when chop can get quite large and difficult to manage. Going too small can lead to frustration and lots of missed starts.
I'm on the North Midi equal to my body weight, it's good but sometimes I think one size bigger may have been a better option.
What are thoughts on foil base parallel to deck or flat tail rocker kicking in to more rocker after the foil box. I think Jimmy Lewis and KT boards look nice in ML shapes.
Wwf your list is almost perfect in my opinion but you didn't mention weight.
i ride the army 75l 6'1" me at 65kg.
I love how easy it is to balance and build speed and how well it pumps and releases. It surfs amazing in the bumps for its weight. The deck grip is amazing.
It's bloody near perfect except for the weight. I am sure that it could easy be 4.2kg with the inserts removed and a little attention to construction without sacrificing strength as it's not bomb like the weight might indicate. Give me the kalama construction in this shape.
I have been thinking lately that the downwind board has become obsolete for me. I am definitely past the learning period in pwing and now I can get up in about 15 knots on my midlength with a big foil. The big foil I have is also so much more fun for our local light wind days where the bumps are small and slow. I prefer to be on a bigger foil, bigger pwing and smaller board in those conditions. The smaller board really maximises the glide and surf ability. If the wind is too light for pwing I can just grab my inflatable and have a good session. Much rather be winging on my mid length in light winds than on the downwind board trying to milk non existent bumps.
I am also wondering if pwing boards really need to be very narrow? My current mid length is 21 wide and 6'2 long. Nice and stable. Most of the time when I get up it's more of a pump up that doesn't require a ton of forward speed. The mid length being a lot lighter than my DW board sometimes feels like it actually gets up easier.
I remember from a podcast a while back james casey saying a 20 wide board will turn better than an 18 wide board because the extra width allows for better leverage. Also the really narrow boards are very thick, often with flat decks. I find that off putting, really ruins the connection to the foil.
