INTRO
I remember way back in the early years of the fibreglass surfboard industry in the US a shaper by the name of Bob Purvy came out with a shape that he by his own words deemed ugly but nevertheless surfed beautifully so he dubbed it “The Ugly”. Well, this model I am introducing has the same story.
Due to the upcoming popularity of the Twinsers these days I have designed a few left of centre models. Why? Coz I can is the simple answer. I have been a fan of the step deck principle for a while now, but to some it is maybe a step too far! Forgive the pun! So, in order to achieve the same purpose, I tried to incorporate a relatively flat deck with a sudden dip out to the rail then boxing out what was left. So, in effect what was left is indeed a real low boxy rail coming out from a board 3 ¼ inches thick. Many performance surfboards incorporate what they call a low boxy rail for the purpose of easy immersion and easy release. However, in this case there is a lot more foam above it. I have called it the “Ugly” coz it is unfortunately ugly in appearance but under arm feels very comfortable and serves the functional purposed intended.
PLANSHAPE
The Ugly is a forward centric design having a measurement a 12” down from the nose of 17 ¼” which is almost 2” wider than the tail. By the same token the tail is pulled in so the fin sets can be moved north to give the rider some sway over the very wide nose. The tail is a rounded pin which is the easiest tail shape to rotate.
ROCKER
The numbers here are nothing unusual bearing in mind this is 90% twin fin. So, basically a very low nose entry because of the wide surface area of the nose and the inclusion of the lifting effect of the cathedral hull. At the other end it is the opposite as I have lifted the rocker in the tail to facilitate a more forward fin set and the extra bight of the side bights.
BOTTOM SHAPE
The bottom starts at the nose with the cathedral hull the morphs into a subtle concave through the guts then into a longish vee through the last third of the board. I call it a con-vee which has almost become the norm in many of my designs.
RAIL SHAPE
As almost explained in the intro the specialty shaped rail is the overriding feature of this design. A step rail is the extreme way of reducing the thickness of a rail in a very thick board and this design has achieved the same mission in a more subtle way albeit totally denying the aesthetics which are a big reason for selling. The ugly does not care coz it’s totally a function first mantra with this model.
DIMS
6.8 X 21 ¾ X 3 3/16 = 49.12 LTS
6.10 X 22 X 3 ¼ = 51.92 LTS
7.0 X 22 ¼ X 3 ¼ = 53.73 LTS
7.2 X 22 ½ X 3 ¼ = 55.56 LTS