7'6" Bluegill Style Board

7' 6" x 20" x 2.5" more or less.  EPS free blank from a friend with 4/6 top and bottom epoxy glass job, mahogany fins, cedar rails salvaged from my 1950's garage door frame.  I'm saving the clear western red cedar panels for use as skins for a future hollow board.

New 5'6" alaia for belly riding

I really love riding prone.  I do it more than regular standup surfing.  Its a whole different world when you are on your belly, your nose just inches above the water.  And every day is big!

 This board has a built up nose and rails, which give it some nose rocker that helps with a steep drop in.  The rolled rail and the tail board give the board a bit of stiffness, so they don't break as easily as a flat alaia.  

When the glue is set, the side rails get chamfered on the inside and the thickness will be zero at the tail.  The nose block gets lots of shaping on the inside, so that there is a smooth transition from the deck to the nose and tops of the rail.  Because of the thicker rail, I'll put two tiny half moon fins just to give the rails a bit more bit in a steep face.  

This is the original model which got reshaped 4 or 5 times until i was happy with the rails.  I ended up with some pretty wide chined rails in the nose section. You can see the nice curves that the nose and rail have where they meet the deck.  This board developed stress cracks where the top rail has a joint.  The new board has a one piece rail to eliminate the joint.  

New 5-6 alaia for belly riding

I've been riding 47" long belly boards for a long time now.  They are super fun and fast in small surf but I wanted something longer that I could get my hips and knees up on to, and that would maybe work a little better in bigger surf.  The nose is 18.5", hips 16.5" and tail 19.5", length 5' 6".  Thickness is 1/2" - 5/8", so its really flexy.

I'm finding it to be really fast across a steep face.  Fore to aft balance is pretty critical for staying in control.  Too far back the tail slides out and too far forward the nose does the same thing.  But if you find the sweet spot it is quick and maneuverable.  

 Cedar with thin mahogany stringers

 Rough shaped

Mule Mods

I knew the bottom shape of the Mule was not ideal and it was apparent when I rode it.  There was too much volume in the first third of the board and I felt that the rails were way too thick there too.  Because of this, I had to stand really forward to have any control on the board.  I had some directional control standing up, but not a lot.  I could bellyboard it just fine, but standing up was really tricky. As it is a prototype, I had no problem taking the planer to the bottom and reshaping it as I would a foam blank.  I reduced the volume and thinned out the rails, giving the entry a much more conventional shape.

 Big difference on new and old rail.  

I'm hoping this will improve it's behavior. Next time I try a radical shape, it is going to be in foam and not wood!

Ron's Alaia

I made this 5-11 alaia for a friend who had never ridden one but wanted one for the summer.  I tweaked my shape a little by widening the tail, narrowing the nose a bit and moving the wide point a little close to the mid point.  This one is cedar with three redwood stringers.

Hollow Alaia Interim Curves

I could not resist posting a few pictures of the bottom planking for the new hollow alaia.  I love the curves that are starting to show up.

Sort of Alaia...

I've always liked the simplicity of the wood plank alaias.  The biggest problem is of course, they are hard to paddle and get into waves with.  I've always thought it would be fun to make a hollow wood alaia.  Not necessarily a kook box, but a board that has the same bottom contours and chines of an alaia.  I had forgotten about this idea for a couple of years until I saw what the wood board guru Tom Wegener was working on.  His brother Jon has been making very cool alaia-like boards with small twin fins (his Bluegills), but Tom shaped up some very cool foam alaias with enough thickness to be pretty easily ridden.  Tom calls them Seaglass.  Anyway, I got all excited when I saw pictures on the web and immediately started thinking how I'd do this in wood.  I've never shaped in foam, so I thought I'd give wood a go for this shape.  My shape is 6'6" long, 22" wide and about 2-7/8 thick, with slab sides, a chined bottom and a deep long center channel.  After making some preliminary drawings, I realized it kinda looks like Tom Morey's famous foam creation!

 The beginning of the channel.  The bottom will need to be planked in separate stages for the chines, channel and flat front entry.  

 One of the slab rails going on. 

 Obviously the deck is down, and I've kept it dead flat to simplify the build.  Besides, flat is fast.  

I replaced the conventional solid keel with a really simple stick truss beam which will be much lighter and just as stiff.  

More to come!

6-0 Thin Alaia

Here is the latest 6 foot, 5/8-inch thick alaia.  For  me, this is  the most succesful shape, as it paddles well and does not feel like you are trying to ride a 2x6. 

A deep single channel in the last 1/3 of  the board along with hard chined rails and some flat bottom sections work really well.  You almost forget that there is no fin! 

Channel Bottom

7" 11"

Nice little bottom channel

7-2 Tear Drop Alaia

 

Here is the latest redwood alaia, 7'2", 17.5" wide and 1" thick.  Enjoy it Stu!