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The beak nose.
Something you'll see a LOT in my boards, some folk love it, other folk not so much. Personally i dig it..! I first came across the beak in Jeffreys Bay South Africa, for those that don't know, my good friend and mentor Mikey Meyer crafts some of the finest beaked nose single fin wave riding vehicles in the Southern Hemisphere, so it only seemed natural for me to learn the ways of the beak!
History of the beak..
From what I’ve been able to research (and if I’ve got anything wrong, please reach out, I’m always keen to learn more) The beak wasn’t invented by one single person. It seems to have evolved through the 1960s as board design progressed.
That said, it was heavily embraced by some of the greats of that era:
Dick Brewer, Skip Frye, Bob McTavish, Bing Copeland.. guys who in my mind were all pushing design forward in a big way.
The shaping...
Beak nose's are actually fairly easy too shape, essentially its an extension of the rail line, the main focus is in the last 5 or so inches from the nose, it requires a little bit of thinking ahead as you need too keep some thickness in the nose of your blank especially if hand shaping..
When handshaping I put the beak in first with the planer and then run my rail bands into it, the shape and type of beak (lots of different styles of beak) depends on the model and the rails/deck shape - for example the widowmaker has a downstyle rail in front 1/3 so i run the bevel into my beak and it all links in blends, where as my twin pin for example has a bit more dome in the deck shape up front so i blend the rail into the beak a bit more and round it out to fit the deck shape, or my Sunfish which has a downrail up front also but a much more blended out beak, to keep things softer..
When shaping cuts off the machine, i obviously design the beak into the CAD file, but i still put the beak in with a grinder with a hard pad right before i start screening/tuning my rails, and then i blend my rails into it with a soft shaping pad and then screen the rails as normal.
Why BEAK?!
Simple, Function over Form...
Lift up front
The added volume in the nose helps generate lift. That translates to easier paddling and ease of entry into waves. If you surf more off your front foot, you’ll really feel the benefit here.
Reverse Rocker
That extra foam can help hold you up slightly on steeper take-offs, reducing the chance of the nose diving. It gives you a bit more margin when things get critical holding you out the lip and the beak will too a degree counter balance a nose dive by lifting itself out the water rather than submerging.
"Aesthetically Pleasing Design, the beak nose adds a touch of elegance and style"
In the ever evolving world of surfboard design, the beak nose is a great example of something that blends form and function.. whilst it can be for style, I genuinely believe it adds performance benefits in the right context. More than anything, this is just a reminder not to fear it. When done properly, it’s there for a reason.
- HB
BOSsurfboards
#BuiltForSpeed
