alaia tips

[carpet]

hey,i thinking of having a go at building an alaia board,my daughters boyfriend is a builder by trade is keen to give it a go with me,ive done some research and paulonia seems to be the timber of choice,so ive found a place that sells cut out blanks for $120,but they are 6foot10in long.So my question is does any know from experience weather this will be long enough to float my 6foot 95kg size,any tips welcome,cheers

[Cpt.Caveman]

I've never ridden one, but I've heard paddling alai's is meant to be like pushing around a piece of driftwood on your chest.

I think if you want it to paddle you well you should glue about 38 litres of XPS foam on to it

[Moore]

Float, in the normal senses of the term, is something that doesn't really come into surfing an Alaia in my opinion!

I'm 6'1 and 82kg and have ridden a 6'10 x 17 x 3/4" traditional Alaia a bit. You don't so much paddle the board as swim it. However, once you paddle onto a wave and are in the right place, the flatness and planing area will suddenly kick in and you will get moving. Quite a weird sensation, I think. The lack of fin will make the board squirm about under your belly, too. The experience is fun, but humbling

A lot of the Wegener Alaias are quite narrow, I notice. I think there's some merit in making it around 19 - 19 1/2" actually, as I reckon this will help get you planing a bit earlier.

As for paddling about and getting momentum up while paddling, then unless you are planning on making a really long one, then forget it.

[carpet]

thanks for the advice,im gonna do it,sounds like too much fun,cheers

[pridmore]

extremely challenging and it is the paddling and catching the waves that is the hardest bit imo, once up like Moore said above, they plane well and go surprisingly well. I am 74 kgs and have had several goes on ones around 5'11" x 17" x 1" and they do not float me at all, you need a snorkel...I'd keep as much floatation in it as you can, better to make it longer and wider I reckon, you can trim it back but you cant add it back on....have fun and post pics if you can ....