Board Trachting
asymmetricalDesign Tracht in the middle of a layback Story by shawn tracht
your passions out there into the world, you are putting your passion into someone else’s hands. As a dad and husband, Finely nourishes his family’s passions with care and enthusiasm, and as a shaper, he does just the same. So when this tall, Zen-like hippie methodically
N
begins to explain why he’s going to shape you this unorthodox stick that is a completely different board from one side of the stringer to the other, you will be wary. However, you can trust me. After working with shapers like Robert Weiner, Fletcher Chouinard, Nick Cooper, Jeff Hull, Dave Johnson, and PJ Wahl this year, to name a few, I will attest that this dread-locked shredder makes a great surfboard.
Shaper’S Take: Have you ever run down a steep hill as fast as you can? Have you ever tried to run down that same hill backwards? I’m pretty sure the results would be drastically different. Our bodies are designed to move in particular
directions more efficiently than others. When we are in the water it is no different. A backside wave needs to be surfed differently than frontside. Our knees, feet and piggies have a large part in enabling pressure to be ap- plied or released off the rail in a more efficient manner when going frontside. Backside surfing is more of a balance of leaning off
the center of gravity with control over how much rail and fin is engaged. Design basics that help with this are a straighter rail on the toe side and more full curved rail on the heel side. Fins are another universe of explora- tion and shouldn’t be confined to the symmetrical box either. All together, I believe that I am drawn towards asymmetricals because they are fun, and with a limited amount of money I can get two boards packed into one.
54 DEEP SURF MAGAZINE November/December 2011
ot only is Paul Finley of Sojourner Surfboards a dynamic shaper, he’s a great dad and husband. But why is this important at all? Well ... trust. In life, when you are putting
Obviously symmetrical boards work and plenty of
surfers shrederate on them, so I don’t really think that one shape or design is the answer. But alas, I am not anywhere near a mondo shrederator, but more on the side of a mega fun-erator. Fun is why I surf, so when I go out I want to be on whatever surf-craft is going to help celebrate the fun-eration of surfing.
Surfer’S Take: I rode this board in all different conditions, from 3- to 10-foot surf. I also messed around immensely with fin design, ending with a concoction that Paul came up with. One normal fin, one fat stubby fin, and one curved fin that completed the trifecta of weirdness. Te idea was to couple the rail design on each side of the board with a fin that helped that template both drive and release best for its style. My toe side edge was shaped straight with a
harder edge, like a classic fish. Terefore we put a normal, stiff fin on this side, so that the board would have optimum hold and get to top speed as quickly as possible. Conversely, on the heel side edge, which was the curvy/shortboard template side of the board, we put in this weird curvy fin. What happened was that when I transitioned from the toe side rail to the heel side rail, I went from a fast, stiff swallow-tail rail/tail combo to a loose, quick pivoting shortboard rail/tail combo. Tis allowed me to surf more radically than a flowing swallow-tail fish would usually let you ride. So what I ended up with was speed and flow on my toe side, transitioning in one fell swoop to my heel side for pure high performance surfing. Te thing was radical! Was it the best of both worlds? Yes, because I liked
the two individual boards that were built into the design. Tis is the main reason why you’ll want to dis- cuss your surfing style and the waves you surf regularly with Paul, so that he can fit your favorite two boards into this mutant machine.
Fins for all seasons. SojourNer SurfboardS
SHAPER: Paul Finley
BOARD SHAPE/DESIGN: Asymmetrical fish/shortboard
HOW TO ORDER: Easiest way to order this board is to talk directly to Paul either in person of by phone at his shop in Morro Bay.
THIS BOARDS SPECIALTY: Loves lined up waves of between 3- to 10-foot the way it was ordered.
FINS: Tri-fin set up. Your fin set up is going to get wacky and fun with this board.
THIS BOARD IS PERFECT FOR: Surfers who are willing to make calculated experiments to up the fun factor and exhilarate stoke.
SURFBOARD TESTER, SHAWN TRACHT’S NORMAL SHORTBOARD: 5’10” x 18” x 2’
TRACHT ORDERED THIS BOARD: 5’7” / toe side & 5’5” / heal side.
SHAPER’S CONTACT INFO: Phone: (805) 904-5079 Web site:
sojournersurfboards.com Email:
paul@sojournersurfboards.com Surfers Blog:
stsurf.com
Finley getting asymmetrical.
PHOTOS FROM LEFT: JASON RATH/ TRACHT
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64