Hey Curls............It did not take long for us to disagree again...........LOL

Also...knowing me by now......although 'I have shared my view' on why I think the the cut a ways can/do add value to the boards riding performance....... For yourself, rather than just making a blanket statement ......share some interesting theory to substantiate your view.
The thing that lingers with me, is that if such cut a ways worked well in the surf on a surfboard......it would be being used in the full scale boards......which it is not......?

SO !...even with myself and yourself tending to believe they may add to performance -The cut -a -ways "could also' very well play a significant part in self righting.

Just for the record Chimes protrude from a hull surface - the cut away could rather be regarded as a 'step' in the hull surface.


The Dude ( as with all Dudes) only rights the board through the first 90 degrees when the board is totally upside down. Once the dude is lying on the water surface and the board is at 90 degrees to the surface, what has to then happen is - for the board to 'sink into the water' deep enough to reach its Center rotational axis line ( usually close to center) when it reaches that point - the actual buoyancy of the portion of the board that is submerged, will be able to rotate around the center rotational axis and surface - completing the self righting process.

SO - by cutting away the thickness of the rail - the board will require LESS weight to submerge, as it will have less buoyancy - sinking down to the rotational axis easier.

If your board is TO BUOYANT - your dude will simply lye on the surface of the water and the board will rest on the rail - Hence I have spent so much time sharing the various calculations - demonstrating that a thicker board requires more weight to self right.

You could do a practical experiment by simply filling in the crescent cut away 'on one side' with some 1/4" polystyrene foam ( tacked in place)

Then place the fully equipped board in water and test the self righting capabilities compared to either side.

Chances are that the filled in side will not right - or - right some what slower than the cut away side.............

It could have been that perhaps due to a significant difference in overall weight from the 'original custom board' - to the 'production board' - the self righting was initially an issue for the production board, being more buoyant and lighter - so the easiest /cheapest thing to do was to modify the molds by adding in the crescents, to reduce the volume which would reduce the overall buoyancy...............

Bro ********. ...
Share the STOKE !