What rail type and why

[moya]

Can a few guys post up what kind of rails you use and why.
(On your standard shortboards)
Ta

[bro]

Mid becoz I'm too fat, old and unfit to rid a low rail and becoz it's an allrounder

[Cpt.Caveman]

I ride low boxy rails.

They're supposed to have a good blend of bite and little bit more foam to glide through turns more.

So far its turned out to be true, the board in general holds speed through turns really really well. I've tried it in big pointbreak surf to small beachy surf and so far its handled both pretty well.

My last board had pretty low sharp rails and it seemed to loose too much speed through really hard turns. You had to nurse it a lot more to keep speed and I love my really big turns so it didn't run well with me.

[me]

thin, low rails off a deck thats rolled, starting soft then sharpening from an inch infront of the fins to the tail ...so pretty, curvy, lovevley to touch...fong is right, the can be quite infectious

[Meataxe]

I'm a total slut when it comes to rails, I'll try anthing - no self respect

[moya]

Excellent stuff.

So iive id'd that i want to change my rails, ive been riding low and fairly sharp, hence the goods in long clean walls and contributing to catching rails more times then neccessary down here in custard junket.
My juices are flowing with -

Mid-soft rail up front, low-boxy in the middle, then nice and square with a sharp bottom edge just in front of the fins.

Q - When you request a specific rail arent you only really talking about the middle portion?
If i simply ask for low boxy rails will they just throw in the soft up front and sharp down back ( or will they be low and boxy all the way through?)
Do i need to be as specific as salty's chateu 'a blanc?

[loco4olas]

Mid-soft rail up front, low-boxy in the middle, then nice and square with a sharp bottom edge just in front of the fins.

I've found this to be the best in all conditions. If the rails are too soft mid to tail, you'll slide on late take-offs, and won't get as much drive off the bottom. If they're too sharp up front you'll find yourself catching a rail off the top.
.

Ditto all of that. Thanks, makes it easy.

Matt

[munch]

I have to agree with the fonger that rail shape / design is very important but I don't agree with him that it's more important than everything else. I tend to think that along the lines that you should design from the bottom up i.e. fins to deck and if you think along those lines it's easier to design/shape a board and to get the feel you want.

Admitably these days the fins choice can bascially be ignored because you can choose your fins after but placement is just as important but don't get into thinking about rails before anything else!

Choose your fin placement based on how you like to ride a board loose/tight.

Then choose what rocker you want base on waves you want to ride.

Then think about the base you want flat/double concave/reverse v.

Then decide on a plan shape.

And lastly I'd start thinking about rail shape and this should based on all the other decisions and I'd be thinking along the lines of the fonger here except for one thing the sharp edge should finish from about 1/4 to 1/3 of the way down the board give or take given the target waves. 1/4 for choppy waves, 1/3 for walls/barrels. And I'm not sure how to describe this but in this section the edge should be the furthest outside point of the board if the furthest edge is 50% of the way up the board it's going to skip around dig in and be generally crap.


p.s you notice these things when towing more than any other surfing because when you release the rope you really want everything to flow in the turns digging a rail or turning and losing 50% of your speed just isn't on cause you'll get spanked really really badly

p.p.s the titty fairy comes at about 3 months

[moya]

Wheres a good place to buy a good chili board in sydney?

[munch]

now theres a point....design your board from the bit that first touches the wave up.....kinda logical Laughing

I suppose you should start with the wave, then the fin ....

p.s a titty fairy i'd knock all me teeth out too get that under my pillow one nite

The titty fairy is more giving than the tooth fairy as you only have to make a small deposit and you get so much back in return

p.s no touching the titty fairy's deliveries

[Nick Carroll]

I think Fong is high. Rails the most important part! Frick! Like saying the tyres are the most important part of a car -- yeah, but only as long as the engine's working.

Perhaps it's just his sensualist side coming out.

Ahhh but seriously now ... what I've often felt matters most with rails is the foil, or rate of change in the rail - particularly from 18" back through to the tail. The rate of change -- in volume, in edge, in roll off the deck -- kinda tunes the board's engine parts (rocker and outline) and brings 'em together.

A rail foiled with an eye to rocker and outline will provide turning and control points at a wide range of places along the line of the board. Boards made with a nice rail foil will feel like they can turn accurately almost no matter where you're standing. A clumsily foiled rail will place those turning and control points at odds with the rocker and outline. You might've had boards that roll too far forward and dig the rail in bottom turns and cutbacks, or boards that refuse to turn one moment then almost spin out the next, or boards that only turn if you're standing EXACTLY in the Spot. Often in such boards, the shaper's wronged ya on the rail foil.

I reckon the kings of rail foil can be found in Hawaii, notably Dick Brewer and Pat Rawson, they're making boards for speed lines and it comes out in their rails, which fill just in front of the midpoint then drop away beautifully and gradually into the tail area. The rate of change is constant yet never abrupt and they don't make the common mistake of many Aussie shapers, which is an excessive focus on holding softness and volume into the fin area of the rail. Do this and the board feels squibby and restricted to short arc turns.

[tootr]

some good insights here (except from the usual suspects)

i have a coupla jim banks shapes that have the beautiful smooth transition nc describes

if the shape don't flow - u won't