What makes a board great?

I read this form everyday and really enjoy it. I went on the big guy demo day and had a great time trying a bunch of boards. It is great to follow Surfdads projects. Dennis has let me demo a few of the Walker boards and they are great to ride. Yesterday I demoed a board that made me re-think what makes a board a great board. After going to the Big guy demo day I thought The Walker boards had all the answers. They made it easy for a big guy to ride and seemed to be "the"answer.

Yesterday I demoed a Calibrated board. He makes a few skim style boards. I weight 250 pounds and they put me on a 57 inch skim board with one fin that was less than two inches long. I would never have believed I could surf on that board. It was completely different from what I believed would be possible.

What makes a board great? Shape, thickness, fins, style or what?

Bottom Line The Shaper With experience he will combine the volume, rocker ,the thickness ,concave, the tail, the width The fin system ,materials & the purpose of the shape & the performance of the board that comes from shaping alot of boards then he can shape the board for what works best for you & conditions you will surfing the board in

Yeah...nothing like a custom board. Personally I think the definition is completely subjective. We've ridden 10' longboards and cut down sheets of plywood, a skimmer with a hyrdofoil attached (well riding also being subjective ) and every incarnation of a board I could imagine. Ridden tandem, single, two boards and just a single board. All of those boards were GREAT...they ALWAYS make me go THAT WAS A BLAST! That changes for me. When I haven't tried a combination of materials and shape THE GREAT board is the one that works using those materials and shape, but only for that one session as I'm on to the next combination...even if it rides like crap, because I learned something. Or that first ride on that first garage shaped board - there is NOTHING better than that maiden voyage, until the NEXT board...but that first board shaped from your own hands will be the sweetest ride ever. All boards are great to someone, somewhere at some point and probably with the right crew and the right session all of those boards are probably great to all of us at least for one ride.

A great board, IMO, is the one that gives you that STOKED feeling...even if it's crap

For me it's a board that no matter what the conditions are you can still get out with a smile. My last ocean board was a 6'3'' fish twinzer. I road that thing for prolly 5yrs. It was BEAT up! I road that board in head high hurricane swell all the way to summer thigh high mush........BUT always had fun. That was a great board. My new board that I have is a 6'6'' swallow tail thruster and it's the same way. I always exit the water with a huge grin. I know that this has nothing to do with wakesurfing but its the stoke factor as Jeff stated. When you find the perfect or great board you'll know instantly. A great board isn't defined by shape or size, its what it does FOR YOU.

I guess you are all correct. The first time I had that feeling was when I went from a Broadcast to a Red Tide. The Walker boards were another upgrade from the Red Tide. I am not sure the Calibrated is an upgrade or rather just a different style. It was a blast and such a shock. I had no idea I would like it as much as I did. It kind of makes you think what do you tell some of these people who ask for recommendation. I think the best thing you can tell them is try as many boards as you can behind as many boats as you can.

The simple answer: Speed.

If the board is fast, it's easier to keep in the pocket. So, if the board has any rails or grooves, or whatever, on the wetted surface, avoid it. If it has a ton of rocker, leave it.

i think the shaper's passion and experience with wakesurfing makes the biggest difference. like surfdad has mentioned a bunch, wakesurf boards are their own thing, they arent just small surfboards. the boards need to be made for wakesurfing.

other than that i think construction and materials are extremely important. two boards that look identical but made from different materials or of different construction will totally change the board in my opinion. like Flyboy's sandwich construction just feels so lively under foot. it doesn't feel dead like some other constructions ive ridden. with wakeskating i have learned a lot about this. integrity wakeskates has the same 41" team shape for 4-5 years but just changed the construction and/or materials ever year and the board changed dramatically.

from my waterboarding experience i have learned that visually simple shapes work. you dont need channels, a handful of fins, crazy tails, and other gimmicks that look high end and next level. a lot of times those work against you. this includes wakesurfing, wakeskating, and wakeboarding.

what makes a board great?

my hands

board has to be wider than regular surfboard (around 20") - you dont sink and therefore it don`t slow you down
also tail is wider
almost flat central part of rocker - more speed
well trimed position of fins and good fins
sizes that fit your height and weight

This is our old long board from a long, long time ago, back when I had hair, lots of the stuff. I'd never heard of SUP. Poco was a good dog.

Great pic 'show! What year? 70ish?