This has been an on going fascination i have had with Finless surfboards for a few years now. As a Surfer well into my 50s it’s no longer about the performance side of surfing it’s more like the experimental and fun factor I’m looking for now.
About a year ago i decided to try my hand at Finless surfing just to broaden my knowledge on the dynamics and to be honest try and re-captor that initial buzz you get during the early years of surfing. So i set about building my first Alaia and tried it out last summer, basically after a few sessions i realized that this was not going to as planned. I could catch waves easily, go backwards, sidewards but not forwards, to be fair i had no clue so decided to shelve it and do some more research.
This year i built myself a new design based on the Hawiian Alaia, i decided to put some small keel fins on the tail so i could get used to the board and get the feel of the ride before i tried with no fins. Immediately i was really impressed with the board although it was just a rough hand shaped prototype it was really fun to ride but felt a bit to big so i set about shaping the board above the 6ft 4″ Alaia with future fin boxes on the tail so i could use some stubby keels till i get used to the ride.
Here it is, I love it actually can’t get enough of it. I’m not going to lie it’s very hard to ride at first it’s tiring compared to a normal board. I ride it with the small stubby fins in still as its so much fun, the ride is more like Snowboarding a wave than surfing you go forwards and sideways at the same time, I am starting to get used to it now and making a few turns but far from an expert but the buzz is back and i can’t wait to ride it again.
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