Spudster is a small wave quad option board I've been
tweaking for a year or two.
The idea being to create a fast versatile board that can handle the small days.
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| Spudster 6'0 x 21 x 2 3/4 RT volume 36.80 litres |
I'm 100 kg and this board is 6’0 x 21 x 2 ¾ coming out at 36.80 litres of
volume which is not a lot for me. So far have surfed this only twice as a Thruster
and once as a quad in small waves and find I like it best as a quad.
The quad format seems to be fast across the wave face and dynamic in turns off
the top.
Also on this wide fish style roundtail the quad fins get it up more on a rail at
the critical time in the turn which feels nice.
Will have more feedback soon but wanted to share with you some thoughts on
volume and fins for fish type small wave boards.
I ride normally an XFC 6'6 x 20 ½ x 2 ¾ RSQ volume 36.30 or a Fusion 6'5 x 20
5/8 x 2 ¾ at 36.60 litres.
Going back a year or so I made an early Spudster prototype at 6'1 x 21 ½ x 2
7/8 similar shape to the one above but with volume at 40.15. This board was good
but at times felt a little big, not too long, but a little cumbersome in some
surf. The surfing experience with fins choice was similar to the 6’0 feeling better as a quad in small
surf.
The 6'0 board of today feels a better overall board, more pure thru turns and
zippier, but I think if I lived at Manly and surfed waves with not as much
punch generally as say Narrabeen and South Avalon I think the better board for
me would be the higher volume 6'1 older Spudster.
So I have come up with a formula for volume ratio to fit small wave boards.
That is if you are fit or light on your
feet or a good surfer, when you go for a fish style board you can have the
same or a touch more volume as your normal all-rounder and even a touch
less volume is going to work.
But if you’re an average surfer, older, not fit or not surfing regularly, or in
a soft small wave area, then look to get the fish style board beefed up in volume 2 to 4
litres more than the volume of your normal all-rounder.
Fins
My formula for quads is - surf your normal preferred Thruster side fins, probably
with inside foil, and then for the quad back fins use 1/4" smaller double
sided foil fins.
You can also use even smaller quad back fins to loosen it up further with up to
1/2" smaller fins for very small weak waves.
Some surfers prefer flat inside foil back fins or 70 30 foil fins at the back,
this is fine and increases speed and life, but lessens control.
There is a lot you can do to give your board more spark by matching fins to your
board and the waves you surf.
You will also need to take into account the way you surf, your ability,
physique, technique etc to get the most suitable combo.
Don't just assume that what you have in the board is as good as it gets.
In the 6'0 Spudster board, (see photo), I have Simon red SA2 forward side fins
and white Soar 70 30 back fins, the SA2's are 4 ⅝" deep, the Soar 70 30
are 4 5/16 deep.
So this is a small wave set up for me, normally for more solid waves I would
have the same SA2 forward side fins and M3 size double sided foil back fins at
about 4 3/8 deep.
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