I like to experience different shapes and design features so I don’t totally agree with this but entertaining nonetheless…
VIA – RED BULL
Talking to a shaper is akin to language barrier. Here’s how to negotiate your way to understanding.
Buy local: This isn’t just a hippy mantra! While you most likely won’t be able to find a good board builder at your local organic farmers market, you will find be able to find one online. Do some research and track down a local shaper that has good experience, but isn’t too big for their britches. Find one that knows how to shape a good rail and will actually listen to what you have to say. Speaking of which…
Be honest: Pack a few pounds lately? Not to worry. Not here, at least. Be honest with your shaper when disclosing your height and weight. Don’t tell them what you want to weigh when the board arrives, tell them what you weight right now. Because, let’s be honest, are you really going to hit the gym every day? Be honest, or else you’ll wind up wearing size seven shoes when you’re a size 11.
Be honest, again: We can’t all surf Pipe like Jamie O’Brien. Frankly detail the conditions that you plan on surfing to the mastermind behind your craft. There’s no shame in surfing 2-3 foot mush everyday, but there’s plenty of shame in surfing 2-3 foot mush everyday on a board shaped for Sunset Beach.
Don’t order Julian Wilson a board: He has plenty enough. Regardless of what today’s top pros are riding, order a board that’s true to you. What works for Mick Fanning doesn’t work for Jordy Smith and what works for Jordy Smith doesn’t work for Tiago Pires. And, trust us, what works for Tiago won’t work for you. Mull on that.
Bring your shaper Red Bull and doughnuts: Shapers are humans, too. Just like the rest of us, they’re bound to do more for you if you’re their friend. And how do you become a shaper’s friend? Well, start in the morning.
Or a beer and a sandwich: Same principle. It’s just that some guys like to work at night.
If it ain’t broken, don’t fix it: Remember that squash tail you loved a few boards ago? Get another. Don’t change things that have no reason to be changed. Look back on your historical quiver and consider what has worked for you and what hasn’t. And, drumroll please, order what has.
Get a 5-fin: Because they’re versatile and you can’t think of a good reason not to.
Don’t go overboard: “Let me get a crazy low entry rocker and a triple concave fading to a vee near the tail, oh and two wings off the back rail and pull the fins back a little bit.” That’s a run-on sentence that no shaper ever wants to hear. Give your mower some creative liberty when ordering a board – because there are some instances when the customer isn’t always right.
Order it: The more you hesitate, the longer you wait. Choose a shaper, heed this advice, order a board today. You probably deserve it.
Source
http://www.redbull.com/en/surfing/stories/1331653468184/how-to-order-a-custom-surfboard
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