Surfing is a surface water sport
in which the participant is carried by a breaking wave on a surfboard.
There are various kinds of surfing, based on the
different methods or surf craft used to ride a
wave. The basic categories include regular stand-up surfing,
kneeboarding, bodyboarding, surf-skiing
and bodysurfing. Further sub-divisions reflect
differences in surfboard design, such as long-boards
and short-boards. Tow-in surfing involves motorized craft to tow
the surfer onto the wave. It is associated with surfing
huge waves, which are extremely difficult to ride and sometimes
impossible to catch by paddling down the face, due to their rapid
forward motion.
Surfboards are long, buoyant decks
used in the activity of surfing. They are relatively
light, but strong enough to support an individual standing on them
while riding a breaking wave. Like the sport itself, they were invented
in Polynesia, Where they were usually made of wood from local trees.
Originally made of wood or balsa, the first surfboards
were often over 15 feet in length and extremely heavy. The major
advances over the years were the addition of one or more fins on
the bottom rear of the board to improve directional stability and
a change of materials and shapes.
Modern surfboards are made of polyurethane or polystyrene,
foam covered with layers of fiberglass cloth and polyester or epoxy
resin. The end result is a light and strong surfboard
that is buoyant and maneuverable. A few specialty surfboards
are made out of hollow carbon fiber or aluminum for added lightness.
Most modern surfboards can be divided into two
main categories: Long-boards and Short-boards.
Long-boards as the name suggests are longer (9+ft),
and are also thicker and wider with a more rounded nose than a short-board.
Short-boards are shorter (5-7ft), thinner, and
have a more pointed nose. They are not as wide as long-boards and
are typically more maneuverable. Other variants include guns, fun-boards,
fish, eggs, and tow-boards. In order to discuss board design, it
is helpful to have basic knowledge of the vocabulary used to reference
each part of the board.
Here is a labeled diagram of a surfboard:
Nose - The front tip of the board.
This can be pointed or rounded.
Tail - The back end of the board. The shape of
the tail affects how a board responds. Tail shapes vary from square,
pin, squash, swallow, diamond, and so on - each one in turn having
its own family of smaller variants.
Deck - The surface of the board that the surfer
stands on. Surfwax is applied to this surface.
Bottom - The surface of the board that rests on
the water.
Rail - The edges of the board. A rounded rail is
called 'soft', while a more squared off rail is called 'hard'.
Fins - Fins create stick and drive on the wave
face. They keep the board from sliding sideways on the wave uncontrollably.
There are countless fin designs. One of the most common fin arrangements
is named the thruster, whose invention is commonly credited to Simon
Anderson of Australia. It consists of three fins, one at the tail
of the board and two slightly further towards the nose. However,
as Surfer magazine documents, "Over a decade
before Simon Anderson introduced his revolutionary Thruster in 1980,
Duncan and Malcolm Campbell had already produced a functional triangulated-fin
system." That system, a shortboard called
the Bonzer Board, is documented to have been frequently used and
erroneously claimed credit for by others. The bonzer's two ventral
fins are angled inward slightly, and convey exceptional speed and
agility. The Campbell brothers subsequently improved upon that design
by turning out a faster, five fin setup.
Stringer - A thin piece of wood running from nose
to tail that increases the strength of the board.
Leash Cup - An indentation in the deck of the board
close to the tail that contains a small bar that a leash can be
tied around.
Leash - A stretchy cord running from the leash
cup to the surfer's ankle. This keeps a surfer
from losing his board when he falls off.
Rocker - This refers to how much curve the bottom
of the board has from nose to tail. Increasing the rocker improves
maneuverability, but this is at the cost of speed - a steeper curve
creates drag.
