francesca narea

My first shape was a 9’0” all-rounder. I called it “The Water Bender.”

I had little idea about the process of making surfboards but I knew I wanted to make one.

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I was living in a secluded beach town in the mountains of Northern California, and did not come across anyone in the community who was a shaper. I spent hours each night watching videos and reading articles about shaping/glassing from both professionals and backyard builders.

My first step involved gathering tools, a blank and building a wood surfboard sanding and glassing rack.

Using Shape3dx, I visualized the elements for my board and printed out a template.

Design Elements

• squash tail
  theory: blend of hold (through the rail line) and easy release (off the corners)
• true 50-50 rails
  theory: water wraps the rail, creating suction/hold and smooth transitions. smooth & stable trimming.
• a little bit of nose rocker
  theory: helps the drop-in on faster, steeper waves
• glassed in wood fin
  theory: heavy wood with no friction from a fin box == stable, drivey, smooth ride with less chatter
• fiberglass rope leash loop
  theory: bringing back old-school style and appreciating the art of glassing
• flat bottom
  theory: flat bottom == faster paddling and speed to balance out the steadier elements

Glassing

On the top lam, I took too long to saturate the e-cloth and ended up sanding the entire layer back down to foam.

I glassed in some flowers on the second round of top lam.

Then, I glassed in the wood fin.

I made my leash loop out of fiberglass rope.

After a hot coat and some wet sanding, The Water Bender took its first trip into the ocean.

For my second shape, I tried out a wider-nose version of my first board with a squared off tail.

I flipped the blank to give it a super flat nose rocker and a kicked up tail.

For rails, I wanted more bite. I shaped 60-40 rails all around until the last 12”, where I sharpened it up.

I shaved off the nose so that it was paper thin pre-glassing.

Lastly, I put in a tiny double concave from the midpoint frizzled out into the tail.

I grabbed an FCS fin from Fins Unlimited in Encinitas and had them angle grind out the bottom tab, so that I could glass it into this board.

Design Elements

• 7" square tail
  theory: crisp release off the corners = easy, snappy direction; the 7" width keeps some lift for stability and drive


• 60-40 rails, sharp rail 12" from tail
  theory: slice through water but still hold a line with 60-40 rails. allow water off the tail section to dig into the water and slide over without catching


• flat nose rocker
  theory: longer waterline (contact with the water), so glides farther per stroke. more stability while surfing, cannot smoothly drop-in on punchier waves since it won't lift away from the face (you can try to catch these by sitting further back on board to tip the nose perpendicular to the drop)


• fiberglass rope leash loop
  theory: bringing back old-school style and appreciating the art of glassing


• subtle double concave
  theory: centerline lift/acceleration for faster paddling and more glide


• glassed in fiberglass fin
  theory: no friction from a fin box == stable, drivey, smooth ride with less chatter

How it surfs:

• Picks up mush
• Paddles like you’re walking on water
• Glides and holds a line
• Nose will sink if you walk up

My third board was a gift for someone.

Its a 10’0” tank. The goal was a soft, stable surface. 50-50 rails, 60-40 at the tail. Flat bottom. Wide nose.

How it surfs:

• Stable tank
• Soft turns
• Slight improvement with paddle speed (nose rocker!)

After snapping the thin nose on my second shape, I set out to recreate it with a new goal: a board that handles steep, fast waves but still milks summer mush.

My surfing:

• quick paddling
• chasing peaks out the back
• trimming
• cross-stepping
• carving turns

For my dimensions and surfing style, I wanted a board that would be able to handle the ocean's speed and power but could also get the most out of summer mush.

Board goals:

• surfing flat waves up to chest high in variable wind conditions
• nose-rider
• easy paddling

This board is a 9’0” all-rounder. I used a Takayama template but opened the nose wider for more runway up front. The excess width allowed for more space to run up to the nose.

I carried over the same rails from my second shape: 60-40 transitioning to a bottom hard edge 12” from tail.

From here, I wanted to be done.

The owner of the shaping bay took one look and said what I was already thinking: “Spoon the nose.”

I took a planer to the underside of the nose. At this stage, one plane too deep would ruin the shape.

The planer went in, the sanding blocks followed, and when I looked down the underside I realized:

“I feared the spoon. The board didn’t.”

Before sending it off to Joe Roper's for a professional, heavy glass job, I sketched out some designs.

Then, I drew them onto the foam using a Posca pen.

Final Design:

5" square tail
theory: smaller pivot point to make sharper turns

60-40 rails, sharp rail 12" from tail
theory: slice through water but still hold a line with 60-40 rails. allow water off the tail section to dig into the water and slide over without catching

nose concave
theory: creates lift under nose and redirects flow rail-to-rail to stabilize noseriding. helps resist pearling.

flatter nose rocker
theory: longer waterline (contact with the water), so glides farther per stroke. more stability while surfing, cannot smoothly drop-in on punchier waves since it won't lift away from the face (you can try to catch these by sitting further back on board to tip the nose perpendicular to the drop)

fin box
theory: ability to move fin up/down for different conditions and change it out

fiberglass rope leash loop
theory: bringing back old-school style and appreciating the art of glassing

How it surfs:

That spooned nose is the secret to those waves where I’m already trimming ten feet in before the inside guy even looks up. As soon as the water streams through that spooned nose, it’s glide city.

That tiny, sharp tail combined with the sharp rails? It turns just as well as a mid-length.

This board has seen an open face as an opportunity to speed up, slow down and enjoy the ride.

I have a few ideas for future boards I would like to shape:

• 9’0” similar to Board #4 but with extra nose rocker (so that I don’t have to remember to sit back so far on the steeper drops)
• ~8’0” fish with glassed in wood fins
• 10’0” with a deep nose spoon and super heavy glassing

What do throwing pottery, 3D modeling, and surfboard shaping have in common?

I treat 3D modeling, surfboard shaping, and throwing pottery as inherently linked activities, each one a way to learn about the other.

Part I: Physical properties of sculpting

These three disciplines require a general understanding of the object's physical properties.

For surfboard shaping, the outline, bottom contours, and wide points of the board are partially determined by hydrodynamics and wave behavior. The other half of the shape pulls from a glimpse behind the curtain, an inkling of the wave rider themself.

3D modeling differs from surfboard shaping since you can choose to defy physics. But, in order to create a meaningful object in most games, the virtual models ought to be grounded by real world principles.

Clay is intensely reliant on its physical properties. Any ceramicist would explain to you that if you throw a bowl too thin at the bottom, it will collapse from the weight of its own form.

Part II: Pattern recognizition across skills

The artists in these fields emerge when they forge a path through the confines of physics and manifest a piece of their internal world.

While throwing pottery, I've played around with different forms. Some pots never survive the wheel. The clay will always find a way to remind you that the physical properties of dirt and water ultimately limit the imagination.

At the wheel, I catch myself comparing the movements of my fingertips to extruding in Blender. The resizing of a face in 3D modeling is the opening up and out in pottery. The tools I use to trim the bottom of a cup are just as important to me as the blade that shapes the mid-line stringer of a surfboard. Yet these sculpting tools are not as accessible as Blender's keyboard shortcuts.

I have been able to achieve some level of success within these three distinct sculpting crafts. I believe that my creative products demonstrate my ability to trace patterns across disciplines.

I use my previous knowledge to find a parallel route.

One form I’m especially drawn to is the moon jar. While not necessarily a jar, its fullness has the same effect as a closed form.

My moon jar (left) and vase inspired by the moon form (right)

It begins with a single, tall, straight cylinder. Most beginners struggle here: you must both center a heavy mound of clay and maintain patient, unwavering stillness while pulling for minutes at a time. One lapse of mind or body and the wall drifts off center.

The moon jar asks even more: pull the cylinder high enough for presence, yet leave enough clay for the final closing.

After the initial lift, you widen the walls.

Then, when the potter reaches their desired widest point, you collar them back in. Any crookedness is revealed here, and the form will fold along its uncentered axis.

You are lucky if you are one of the few to witness the instant a potter transmutes a cylinder into a globe.