Everyone,
I might owe you guys an apology... Last week, my shaper and I got together and had a brainstorming session before he shaped my next board.
We tossed around all kinds of design theories as related to what we were trying to accomplish this time.
As the 7'11" had performed as well as (or even better than) we had expected, where did we want to go with it now? Did we want to go even shorter?
Could we do that without adding so much thickness that it would actually hinder it's performance?
We toyed around with the idea of a shorter, wider and thinner board. We figured we could drop maybe 6" in the length without it being too much of an flotation issue. After much discussion, he pulled out some foam and started marking it to cut out the blank. Suddenly, he stopped...
"Jon E.B.," he said, looking as if he had just received a revelation from on high, "what if we have been barking up the wrong tree - I mean, as far as going shorter?"
I asked him what he was getting at. He went on to say that, perhaps shorter was not the answer.
I was puzzled because, up until that point, he had been right there with me on the shortSUP thing. "Realistically," he said, "7'11" seems to be pretty much the reasonable limit for a shortSUP."
I felt like I was a punctured tire with a fast leak. I could not say anything. He said that the best shapers in the industry had opted for more volume for a reason and that we might be remiss for not doing the same.
He went on to say that it had just struck him that the answer was not the length but, rather, the shape.
If we utilized the basic ratio and simply blew up a shortboard to a larger size to compensate for the lack of flotation, then I could have the performance while on the wave, and the stability while paddling.
I tried to convince him otherwise, but he was adamant. Reluctantly, I agreed, and he went about re-marking the foam.
I watched for a while, and it was not long before he had the basic shape planed-out. I had to admit - it looked good! I thanked him and left.
~
I just got the board today! Woohoo!!! The airbrush artist went a bit wild, but other than that, this shortboardSUP rocks!
Check it out:

DavidJohn:
Yep, I am somewhere in that bush... plotting against the colonialists!