I was looking at Joe Blair sup designs and his board models lacked tail rocker. He says it is faster and with his wide pintail designs, they surf awesome. My current board (slingshot Rant 9') has lots of tail rocker. I know I can't keep up with my partner on his Naish Mana 8'10" but I thought it was because he is 50pounds lighter.

Makes sense. Thank you

Tail rocker also helps when paddling onto a wave. If the tail is too straight or flat it will get buried in the wave whereas a good rocker will drive the board onto the wave.

rockmagnet said...
Tail rocker also helps when paddling onto a wave. If the tail is too straight or flat it will get buried in the wave whereas a good rocker will drive the board onto the wave.

A lower rocker line carries more glide sped and less yaw, therefore allowing you get onto waves easier

There is a small secret about catching waves,
if your not in the right spot to catch a wave your not going to catch that wave.

It does not matter whether you have less tail rocker or a large paddle.
You have to be in the right spot to catch a wave

Much depends on the type of wave. Ocean waves or North Sea waves have quite a different power, wave face, buildup and period between waves (3-5 seconds is normal).
Most of the boards from ocean shapers (most big 'A' brands) have too much rocker for North Sea waves. A flatter rocker for the same board length (8 to 10 feet) will give more chance to catch a wave on North Sea.
This results in the problem that people who have paid themselves the most expensive boards ('A' brands) catch less waves on North Sea than people with cheaper boards. And they don't understand as they are blinded by the marketing of the big 'A' brands (whose shapers have probably never seen the North Sea)

For short SUP: listen to Colas as he is most experienced. My short SUP (7'4") had little rocker too.

Ya know, for as long as I have been surfing, I have never spent a lot of time analyzing every aspect of a shape....

but there is one thing that I have been particularly aware of on SUP's...

A nice rolled up tail rocker makes a board very easy to turn on a slow, soft shoulder. Just the kind of wave that we tend to surf a lot.

Without a lot of power, you can just "swoop" back and forth in the hook, and generate speed for a bigger move when the wave jacks a bit more.

My 9'5 Mana is a perfect example... I can just stand back and carve tight small turns on an otherwise boring section of a wave.... or use the rocker to carve a good solid turn on a steep wave.

I look for a nice "rolled up" tail rocker in all my boards now.