Don't know much about concs but I do know that paddling slightly in the direction of the ride helps me avoid nose dives.

good explanation mac.

Must remember that.

Paddling on an angle is the key to late take offs or really quick waves. Sure a bottom turn generates speed but sometimes if you do a full bottom turn you will get caught behind the lip. Secret is to pattle on an angle- say 30 degs do the beach , get half a bottom turn in as soon as possible and start your turn before you get to the bottom , then get back up on to the face as soon as possible. On a mal you should have instant speed.
PAddling is the key here though- this wont work unless ur entering the wave at max paddle speed.

Concave is another story- I gotta do some work , stay tuned

All correct kearnsey but I still think mac makes a good additional point by saying that the fuller the wave the straighter the paddle and maybe not just for the speed of the bottom turn.

The fuller the wave the harder it will be to paddle on to it so the straighter you need to be to get the required speed.

When you think about it, most really full waves aren't going to close out all that quick anyway.

Yes, I have noticed that, the bigger the board the less omph it seems to have after the bottom turn.

Ps. everyone have a good weekend, I've got no internet at home until Monday so this will be my last look at the web.

Should give me the time I need to knock over that MP book

Gave paddling side on a crack on the weekend. It sort of worked, was tough going as there was a 20kn SE trying its best to stop me getting onto the face before it closed out.

I will persevere however, one thing I did learn was to drink plenty of water during the session as got a cracking headache after about 2 hours

Ok - in my experience the concave under the nose will create some lift but it has much less bearing on the board than the concaves through the bottom and out the tail. A single concave will usually make the board a lot faster and can create almost a suction effect on really big waves which can be good if you are only screaming down the line trying not to get killed, but it can be hard to break the board loose for critical or fast turns on this type of board. This is why most shapers put some double through the tail - to allow the rider to keep a little looseness in the tail and make turns easier. So I guess thats why the most common bottom you will find on any board is a single into double concave and also becoming more common now on mals are also single with some vee through the tail to allow the board to transition better from rail to rail. I am certainly no expert on the finer details on bottoms shapes/contours - I just kinda try to keep it as simple as I can.
As for angle on take-off, I reckon it depends a lot on where you take off as to how much angle you have when you paddle in. If you take off right in the pocket then you wanna have heaps of angle and heaps of speed or you are gunna get eaten most times. Take off further out on the shoulder and you can get away with going a bit straighter perhaps but obviously the suckiness of the wave is going to dictate how you paddle in. I believe the most critical thing when paddling in is having enough momentum paddling and you are better to take two more paddle strokes than two less paddles as it can mean the difference between pulling yourself onto the wave face and getting pitched into the abyss !! If you are going to take off late on suckier waves you really need to be prepared to take off almost sideways and stay low on the board holding your outside rail until you have enough open wave face to stand and set yourself up a bit better. Its fun to practice this in fast little close out beachies and get it wired before tackling heavier waves - then it will be second nature to you and your confidence will just grow and grow. Hope this helps.

I find the fin se-up will make a bigger difference. With a single fin on either a mal or short board you can take off late almost sideways and the board will gently slide a bit before getting traction and you are going. Do the same with a thruster and you are more likely to get pitched.

oops, my bad!

I just realised the future system only applies to the side fins, the centre fin shoud be a normal fin box and I think I've already got a spare 9.5" fin at home.

I still may have a look around for another one with a more bulbous tip.

That seems to be what most guys have when they use a single.

Buggered if I know why it would be better but I reckon they know more than me so I'll just go with the flow.

As Lacey would say cheers. Yep its 9.3x23x3 may take delivery this Friday
Could you explain why the Razer needed taming down
I spoke with Jackson last year in relation to the board he was riding and he said it was a Razer with a couple of changes. I ordered one and it didnt go so well for me

mac

/

I hear what your saying with the fireball. Gonna give it a good test next weekend down south. Will be my first trip to the South West on a Mal. In fact havent really surfed down there much, used to hit Rabbits on the booger. Hopefully Yallingup is not too big for it (ME). Taking a mate in the know so lookin forward to it. Hopefully get some pics