Bottom Contours
Surfboard Bottom Contours
Surfboard Bottom Contours are the particular shaping of the underside of the surfboard. The surface that the water flow will follow. Depending on the design, the water flow direction can be controlled underneath the board and with it, more speed or more maneuverability can be encouraged. There are different types of surfboard bottom contour variations, which are often combined along the different parts of the surfboard. For example, the front half of the board can be a single concave bottom contour design, in order to achieve more paddling power, while the midpoint could be a double concave design for accelerating and trim adjustments, and the rear half for maneuvering could be a vee bottom. So in this described example, the board would have three different surfboard bottom contour designs combined. To understand the differences of the bottom design variations, we break them down as follows:
Concave Surfboard Bottom Contours
Concave surfboard bottom contours are generally accepted as the fastest bottom contour, usually encouraging more speed and less maneuverability as the channel in the middle of the surfboard bottom results in more rail grip and security. Summary in bullet points:
- Fastest bottom contour
- more speed
- less maneuverability
Convex Surfboard Bottom Contours
A convex surfboard bottom is almost the entire opposite of a concave bottom. You can think of this bottom as a belly underneath the board across its width. Convex bottoms encourage the board to a rail-to-rail rolling motion and therefore is more maneuverable, but therefore create more form drag which results in slower performance. A convex bottom can reduce the hold and tracking of the board down the line which can easily result in the board slipping side to side and dropping out of trim. In short:
- more maneuverability
- less speed
- can be slippery due to less tracking
Flat Surfboard Bottom Contours
A flat contour was once the standard, before much thought, had gone into the surfboard bottom design. A flat contour lands somewhere between the concave and the convex surfboard bottom contour design. No specific benefit or loss will occur.
Vee Surfboard Bottom Contours
The vee surfboard bottom is a radical maneuvering board bottom. Similar to the convex bottom the vee bottom will direct water out to the rails which will compromise the lift for down-the-line speed, but therefore will allow for lighting fast rail-to-rail response. This surfboard bottom design can be an advantage in bigger waves where it can help the rider maintain control at high speeds by creating less overall lift. In smaller waves, though it can be of disadvantage.
Double Concave Surfboard Bottom Contours
There are two side-by-side channels that run by the length of the surfboard. They follow the same principles as the single concave surfboard bottom contours. The difference from a single concave surfboard bottom contour are:
- it does not track with the same security and speed due to the v running between the two concaves, which will increase track overall
- but therefore better rail-to-rail response during a turn
Channels Surfboard Bottom Contours
Produce a similar and often stronger effect than a concave with a more angular design. They are normally found in the tail of the board around the fins and aid in speed generation by directing water out of the rear of the surfboard.