rodndtube.com's (OLD) MyPaipoBoards Forums. Reading but no posting on the OLD forums.

[Spudnut]

Hello to everyone. I have been reading through a lot of posts here and the paipos sound like a blast. I love riding alternative surf craft. Currently I am riding surf mats. I used to ride bodyboards but my back really took a pounding. I am counting my days left in my 40's! I have some questions that I have not been able to search out as of yet:

1) I am told that a paipo is a planing hull & a bodyboard displacement, what makes them different?

2) When surfing in the pocket, on a bodyboard I took some real poundings but on a mat I never do, I just pop out super fast. Where does a paipo fall in?

3) Austin type vs HPD type of paipo. How do they compare and contrast from an objective point of view?

4) I am in Ventura Ca so if there is someone in the area I would love to meet up and see them first hand.

[Uncle Grumpy]

Aloha Spud!
Keep in mind; paipo means something different to every surfer you ask.

My 2 cents.

1) Sort of misinformed, These drawings are boats, but the theory is the same.
Planing hulls ride on top of the water, displacement hulls move through the water.
Simply put, planing hulls are generally flat bottomed, displacement hulls are generally round bottomed.

Planing Hulls


Displacement HULLS



2) I find myself getting worked the worst riding a mat; go figure.

3) Austin is a mini surfboard, like an old school belly board, a couple inches thick and floats enough you can sit on it.
HPD is about 1/2 inch thick and has barely enough flotation to float itself. You swim it like a chunk of plywood.

4) Nels Norene is up there somewhere.
http://www.mypaipoboards.org/interviews/NelsNorene/NelsN_2010-0316.shtml

Welcome Aboard.
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Prone to ride.

[mrmike]

First welcome on board .most paipos are just a piece of wood some thick some thin I like the thin flexey ones defiantly a planing craft the thick ones can be one or the other by the shape of the bottom I love my mat on a hard beach break and my paipos on a better shape wave. but I find the mat the fastest thing on the water in the right wave, and the paipo has more control. try makeing a simple one out of some 1/2" ply ($10) cheep try different shapes seen on this site and see what works for you because every one like something different. that is the great thing about paipo boards there is no wrong way. so have fun with it and don't be shy about asking ? MRMIKE

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PAIPO ON
blog http://mrmikespaipos.blogspot.com

[ted]

The Austin and HPD are very different craft. I've taken beatings on both and had great rides on both.

Here are some HPD rides: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3QAhEAdyTk

And an Austin ride: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oCq_PB7jjSg

If you're on the Big Island, you can paddle out and try both!
http://www.youtube.com/user/PaipoTed

[kage]

Everyone here probably knows I am an HPD partisan, but I have to say if you are trying to avoid the poundings you might go to a more displacement type hull. Something with a little more bottom curve. I like the HPD flat bottom for speed and I guess it matches my type of surfing. But in the pocket with a lot of turbulence and big drops . If there's a little keel below you I think it dampens the bounce up and makes the landing not so much of a slam.
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No! it's not a f@cking boogie board.

[bgreen]

Another consideration - depends how your back is. I've ridden a few different types of boards and I'd say you will feel it more in your back with thin, flexy style boards.

If you go a paulownia style board I'd recommend going slightly thicker. A fibreglass board may be a good starting option, but a thin planing paipo is worth trying just for the speed. Also, compared to what you are using to riding, your may end up riding a board with much reduced flotation. This has some advantages but you may find you have to work a bit harder getting out and around.

Then there is the question of finned versus finless boards.

It can all a bit perplexing, especially with no local source of advice. There are guys around CA and an annual hook-up. Experiment and enjoy the ride.

Bob

[Soulglider]

yo, i ride both types and still like an old school "boogie board" the flexible type. I have a bad back, knees and shoulders and have converted from a 45 year vet of the kneeboard ranks. Had I been a stronger person who didnt mind peer pressure i shoulda rode paipos a long time ago. anyway. I have 3 displacement hulls. 2 are from 5'6", 4'9" Klaus Jones in oxnard, ventura area and a 4'11 one from BJ, Fineline Surfboards in Canoga Park. the Fineline is a modified hull and is great in all around waves. big, super small, fat, lumpy, glassy etc. the Klaus Jones is a traditional hull in the Greenough sense. all are single fins and really fast. the Fineline is easier on my back because its thinner (1 1/2" thick) than the KJ's. My favorites boards are of the 1/2" birch ply type i make from home depot. they cost like mr mike says, around 10 bucks but are really flexy. i have stumbled across an outline that works like a spoon. it has the same type longitudinal flex! its called the fungly (fun-ugly) on my site. I also have a few from Jeff McCallum here in san diego that are awesome. a spoon, a 4'5 black magic, a 4'6 x 1 1/4" twins and a new 4' stinger quad that is super fast and very easy to turn. it rides high in the wave, does great bottom turns etc. I love it! but still, i love the 1/2 ply even more! if you're ever down we can get together and you are welcome to try any thing i have.

i have to say, the spoon is a great board to ride prone. they actually feel very close to a mat but with more control. remember what Greenough says in his video on mat riding, listen closely, the "perceived" speed of the mat is very fast, as it is in all prone craft! Good luck on your new venture.

soulglider

ps if you go to the http://www.klausjonessurfboards.com/gallery.html website and look at the second row, first 3 pics, you will see my kneeboard. the paipos look very close to it but, with the wide point back....
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soulglider
http://soulgliderpaipo.blogspot.com

[Spudnut]

I want to thank everyone that has been posting here. I definitely want to try a paipo out. The idea of a more neutral buoyancy board intrigues me the most either the HPD or making one myself from wood. I am not too worried about paddling into waves as I use stock UDT fins when I use my mat. The closer to the water I am while riding a wave, the more more intense the feeling is to me. Please keep more info coming, it is very much appreciated.

[geoffreylevens]

Soulglider, about that Fungly, intriguing... I'd love to know some of your body dimensions, esp distance from say level with the center notch of your collar bone to the level of the front bump on your pelvis (ASIS - anterior superior iliac spine, for all you anatomy students). Maybe also distance, across, between the left and right ASIS. To me those seem most relevant in sizing a prone craft to the individual's body...

I have some scrapies lying around and may have to carve out one similar to toss in the trunk when I finally make it out to the coast. I'll have a whole quiver of new stuff to play with and see what I like best...

[ted]

Soulglider,

Your Stinger quad looks like fun! How thick is it?

[Soulglider]

g, i'm 6'4 and weigh 240 lbs. dont have the dimensions you're looking for but, these are the same dimensions of boards that mr mike and i think ogazan has made for himself and i'm a whole lot bigger than them.

the sting quad is only an inch thick down the center the rails are more like 2ish. there is a nice little simmons type concave in the bottom as well that photos dont show that well.
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soulglider
http://soulgliderpaipo.blogspot.com

[geoffreylevens]

Thanks SG, I am quite literally less than 1/2 your weight and over one foot shorter!!! 5'3" X 116 lbs so you can see how that might have an effect on the riding dynamics. Used to drive me nuts before I started getting customs from savvy shapers as all my friends were riding 9'6" or 9'8" and they just felt like, well...logs to me! Now I know why... There are logs and then there are Sequoias...

[Spudnut]

After lots of various discussions the decision made is that my son and I are each going to make a plywood paipo! Not only will we get to ride them together but we can build them them together too. Of course we will have more questions with regards to the design of them, should we ask here or start a new post in the design section?

[mrmike]

Ask away. I would start with 1/2" birch ply from the home depot or a lumber yard the yard would be a better slection the cost would be cheep enought for 2 boards would be less then $40 so start there, then we will go over shape and finish. everybody has there own favorite shape. but there is no wrong way.the only tool you would need is a plane. jigsaw, sander with 60, 120, 220, 400 grit paper for the sander. so go out and have some fun with your son.
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PAIPO ON
blog http://mrmikespaipos.blogspot.com

[geoffreylevens]

Would not be quite as "clean" but you could do it without the planer, just a sander and it would work fine! Planer is just faster, easier, cleaner lines...