The ‘dead vertical’ rails seem to be helping for stability. I have another downwind shape that is 25" wide at the top but slopes to 17" wide at the base. This board is 21" wide at the top and 21" wide at the bottom and appears to be as stable but faster through the water.
What I have found with making a board is that the “IF” statements add indefinitely to the design and ultimately the weight. IFI want to turn . . IFI get hit by shorebreak . . .IF I put it down on a pebble . . . IF I want more stability . . . IF I want to flatwater start . . . .
This board now has 3 sister boards. Made with the exact same template. 2 were built with EPS, and now one with XPS. They all have chines, mine does not. I left a square rail. The 1 problem with the square rail, and light fiber, is that any bump concentrates on a right angle. The next board I will build would have slightly more rounded edges. Somewhere between a pencil and a ‘sharpie’ pen rounded ~ 3/8" diameter.
PS: One pro-level winger stated that the square edges would catch on touchdown and “track uncontrollably.” But what we are finding with these shapes is that touchdowns almost don’t matter. The board touches, and its nearly unnoticeable, they just keep moving. No skip, no drag. The Gong guy described it as indiscernible between glide on the water and flight.
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