Width

Wide Point Will Dictate Your Turning

 A surfboard’s wide point is a critical design feature. One of the best possible things you can do for your surfing is to sit down with a shaper to discuss which board you should be riding. Your new ambassador to performance will take into consideration your athletic ability, your style, and maybe the most important, the type of waves you ride. This last piece of information will allow him to shape a board that will be conducive to that type of ride. In doing this, you will have to pay attention to the location of the surfboard’s wide point.

The location of the wide point influences the way a board will turn in the water. According to George Orbelian, author of Essential Surfing, the wide point will be located anywhere from eight inches ahead of center to five inches behind center. The location depends on the waves to be surfed and the surfer’s style. Wide points placed further ahead of center will cause a board’s turns to become longer and more drawn out. The further back the wide point is placed, the quicker and sharper the board’s turns. You can now see how big an impact wide point location has on personal style.

One last, but very important effect of wide point placement is paddling power. Wide points pushed forward will increase the surfer’s ability to paddle into waves. Two great examples of this point are the fish and the gun. The fish is a wider board typically used for smaller, mushy waves without a lot of power. Having the extra push paddling for a wave will turn below average surf into a great day in the water. On the other side of the wave and board spectrum is the gun. The difference between paddling into a 15foot wave and getting hung up on the lip is vitally important. To make sure these big wave warriors get into waves as early as possible their guns also have wide points ahead of center.