What Makes a Surfboard Fast? Speed, Flow & Modern Surfboard Design

Making a surfboard that feels fast isn't particularly difficult.

The basic principles have been understood for a long time. Go shorter and wider, carry a little more foam, flatten the rocker and create a planing surface that gets up and moving easily — particularly in smaller, weaker waves.

But simply making a fast surfboard isn't really the hard part.

The art of surfboard design is creating speed while still allowing the board to break its line, turn hard, hold a rail and then accelerate again without losing flow.

That's where things get interesting.

Speed Is Only Part of the Equation

A very flat, wide board can feel incredibly quick when you're travelling in a straight line.

But surfing isn't done in a straight line.

You want to come off the bottom, put the board on rail, redirect it through the pocket, drive through a cutback and come back out of the turn carrying speed.

If a board loses all its momentum every time you turn it, then having huge amounts of straight-line speed isn't particularly useful.

For me, a genuinely fast surfboard is one that can generate speed, use that speed through a turn and then release cleanly into the next section.

That's speed with flow.

This is where board design gets more complicated . Understanding theories that compliment and enhance the boards performance are crucial , often many shapers apply designs that make a short modern "fish" look cool but in fact the design often contradicts what it's trying to achieve.

Sure the board will go fast but once you turn and break its line often surfers struggle to regain control and maintain inertia, and surf smoothly in and out of the pocket .

Most flat fish style boards type surfing is done around the pocket, as the board can't hold its line in a steeper type wave. Or hold a rail through elongated turns , like coming off the bottom or driving through a cutback.

This is where understanding  and developing performance surfboards is super important and relative to the "fish" movement . As these days the crossover and hybrid models lines are becoming more blurred.

Jason , putting the USC Mutant model on rail. A hybrid modern day fish with a classy outline .

Why Are Fish Surfboards So Fast?

Fish and modern hybrid surfboards are a good example.

Generally, you're looking at a wider outline, more surface area, relatively low rocker and plenty of planing area under your feet. All of those things help a board get moving quickly, particularly when the waves don't have much power.

It's one of the reasons riding a good fish in smaller surf can be so addictive.

You suddenly have speed where your normal performance shortboard might be struggling.

But there can be a trade-off.

Make everything too flat, too wide and too straight and the board may absolutely fly — right up until you ask it to change direction.

That's where the relationship between rocker, outline, rails, bottom contours, tail shape and fins becomes so important.

Mic working the rail on his Premium Hi Performance model.

A Fast Surfboard Still Needs to Turn

This was really the point of the original article I wrote back in 2019, and after another seven years of shaping, testing and surfing different designs, I probably believe it even more today.

The challenge isn't creating speed.

The challenge is controlling it.

A surfboard needs enough release to accelerate, but enough hold to stay connected when you put it on rail.

It needs enough width and planing area to generate speed, without creating so much area that the board becomes difficult to transition from rail to rail.

The rocker needs to provide efficiency, but it also has to fit into the curve of the wave.

The rails have to complement the outline.

The bottom contours need to work with the rocker.

And then the fin setup needs to bring all of those elements together.

No single design feature works in isolation.

All our models are researched , tested and well thought thru . That is why every model is very different . We build each model from scratch . 

 

 

Two Small-Wave Boards Don't Have to Look the Same

A good example from our own Formula Energy range has always been the Convert and the Blend.

Both were designed with smaller waves in mind, and both use relatively flat rockers to help generate speed.

But they're very different surfboards.

The Convert carries a fuller rail and wider tail pod, giving it plenty of planing area and easy speed.

The Blend uses a more medium-style rail and narrower tail pod. It still generates speed easily, but the different rail and tail combination changes how the board transitions onto rail and how it feels through turns.

Same basic objective.

Different way of getting there.

That's what makes surfboard design so interesting.surfboard travelling in a straight line.

It's to build a surfboard that gives you speed when you need it, lets you put that speed into a turn, holds when you push it and then releases with enough momentum to go straight into the next one.

Speed is easy.

Speed with control, drive and flow — that's where good surfboard design begins.