A STUDY IN ASYMMETRY: UPDATED 13/9/24

October 16, 2018

LIVING IN AN ASYMMULATION - ONO NIHA BOAT CHARTER, BANYAK ISLANDS, NIAS.

Words by Ryan Glover

"I'd been on a five year short boarding sabbatical. I was loving the bigger boards in bigger waves and working on mostly getting barrelled. Last year after a two week stint stuck in Canggu surfing the sandbar peaks on fishes and midlengths, getting frustrated at the short dumpy waves (which should have been incredibly fun), I got the itch to jump back a more performance type board. I brought up my asymm file now 5 years on and slightly dusty and started tweaking. The original asymm being 5'11 at 29L harking back to dimensions burned into my brain from my early 20's shred era, needed a revamp. I ended up on 6'1 x 20.5'x2'1/2' @ 31.5L. I kept the rails super refined and hid the volume in the belly and the width.

It sat in my factory for a long while before an okay Island day turned up. A bit small for any serious barrels so the perfect opportunity to try the new whip.

First wave I judged myself too deep but went anyway. The board took off with the first pump, adjusted easily around a section, locked me in, adjusted line again in the barrell, then drove out easily onto the shoulder. Holy crap I'd forgot how good it felt being able to adjust in the barrell. I was used to 7-8ft boards, setting a line and being able to nothing but try and slow down, often without much success.

Photos by Rambo Estrada.

This was fun. The volume was perfect for me. Easy to catch waves and no trouble getting in early. Unfortunately this board decommissioned itself in a freak accident out Omanu on a 2ft day. I came off the lip and it flipped. Falling onto the bottom with my head and shoulder, the fin slicing the side of my neck. I very close call which ended up worse for the board, luckily. So I replaced that one with the same, and having a Banyak Boat trip locked I thought I nice tropical punch colour lap was fitting.

Here's some insight into who it went on the boat trip.

From Instagram 3/9/24

"Tropical Punch Parallelogram 🍍🌴

6’1 x 20’1/2’ x 2’1/2 @31.5L

An on going experiment. RG “Because of the twin/quad fin set up and the increase speed it’s taken me a lot longer to calibrate my surfing than expected. I don’t short board much which hasn’t helped, so a boat trip in the Banyaks was the perfect opportunity. I also have a bad habit of getting too excited and speeding through sections or just loving the fast feeling of a high line. Initially I struggled with timing. The board had so much speed I’d do these drawn out bottom turns and by the time I got to the lip I was all over the show. Near the end of the trip things started to click. I found the right lines. I found being in the twin heritage it was super important to get your foot right back. Also because of the rail curve the 6’1 is the equivalent to more of a 6’4, which is a lot of rail in the water. Staying more relaxed and up right with shoulders back, made for a more responsive ride. Just letting the board do the work and not over surfing it like you can a thruster. I like all boards so my next experiment might be a thruster set up with this rail combination. Thrusters do release a lot easier. But I expect the quad/twin to be a lot faster. Burch rides these super narrow too so maybe I will have a play with that. Overall this board was so fun and I’m enjoying the challenge. Bagus from Nias. 🇮🇩”

So there we have it. I have a bunch of ideas I'm looking forward to trying. Different tail shapes, volumes for performance, and fin set ups. Will keep you posted.

Cheers

RG. 13/9/24

A STUDY IN ASYMMETRY

Original Post 16/10/2018

A high performance asymmetric surfboard design by Ryan Glover. Inspired by the work of Ryan Burch with Carl Ekstrom. Three factors considered: rail, tail and fin set up. The toe side rail leads into a broad flat tail simulating a twin swallow, and implementing the broad planing surface and speed one generates from the twin keels and mini-simmons hulls we have been enjoying lately. The fin set up on this side is that of a twin fin with a classic early seventies fin shape and size. The heel side rail flows down into a rounded tail similar to that of a high performance thruster. The fin setup on the heel side is that of a quad with a normal sized performance fin and a slightly smaller trailing fin. The final result creates an off-centred thruster. The idea is that one has all the speed and benefits of a twin fin, coming off the toe side bottom, or high line, but then transitioning the board onto the heal rail one has the response and reliability of a normal performance board thruster.

Board construction uses eps carbon technology and epoxy lamination to achieve a light and responsive feel. We look forward to developing this model and keeping you updated. Any questions don't hesitate to ask.

UPDATE 6/1/2019:

Ryan Glover Testing his Big Sun Asymmetrical. Film Still by Kent Belcher.

"Incredibly happy with the outcome of the asymmetrical. The board is lively, responsive and very, very fast. It has all the high line jazz of a twin fin on the toe rail, but combined with the reliability and response of a thruster on the heal. So far I've tested it in 1-2 foot slop, along with 4-5 foot barrels. Unbelievably it works just as well going left just as much as going right. The board really likes to turn with the rail engaged in the wave. I found myself being drawn to more arching turns as they feel so good, rather than trying to release the fins out of the lip.

I only found one part of the wave that the board didn't respond well too and that was speeding out in between sections with neither rail engage, board flat, and when I leaned forward to pump, it suddenly bucked me off. My thoughts on this are two things: Firstly, the board responds better to a more upright position, shoulders back with a healthy amount of weight on the back foot placed nicely over the fins - I think this is an inherited quirk from the twin fin. Secondly, the asymmetric rails, the asymmetric fin set up, are designed to respond to the curve of the wave, the design elementents perform best here, as does the best surfing. I have a bad habit from my performance surfing days of racing way out trying looking for a punt on the next section. Many times I should have been doing turns to generate speed, keeping in the best part of the wave, and let the section come to me. What I'm saying is, it's probably not so much the board as more it's a part of the the wave I shouldn't be.

My first board at 5'11 x 19' x 2'1/4 @29L rode smaller compared to my equivalent thruster (which makes sense as the shortest rail is more like 5'9 ft). So I went straight back and shaped a 6'1 x 18'3/4 x 2'1/4 @ 29.5L as a step up. Looking forward to testing this out in the 4-6ft cyclone swells we can get at this time of year. I can't think of anything more exciting than getting these boards into good surf with large open faces."

If anyone wants to try a Big Sun Asymmetrical board please get in contact with us. Ryan's boards are regular set ups. We also have shaped a 6'0 x 19' x 2'1/4 @29.8L goofy set up for people to try along with a mini-simmons hybrid 5'4 x 22' x 2'5/16 @31.5L.