New surfboard Vanguard wall mount. They look more wakeboard than surfboard. More tech than soul. At a glance, it looks like an alien craft from the distant future. But then again, looks can be deceiving.
The man with the vision.
The board is called the Vanguard, a new design by Australian shaper Daniel Thomson, and because of its peculiar outline, many surfers aren’t sure what to think of it. But Thomson stresses that his design has nothing to do with fashion and everything to do with function.
“I didn’t shape the nose like that just to look weird and catch people’s attention,” he explains. “Having this nose allows you to straighten the rail line and have the leading edge of the board parallel to the water. Basically, the goal is to reduce drag and increase speed.”
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According to Thomson, chopping the nose may leave you with a much shorter board, but the wider nose and tail offer the same volume and keep as much rail in the water as a regular shortboard. In addition, the parallel rails allow water to flow in a more streamline path around the board. But if that is the case, why doesn’t every shaper take a handsaw to those last few inches? The pointy nose of a surfboard must have some purpose, right?
“You can definitely go without a nose,” explains Thomson. “The top 6 inches of the board do nothing in terms of performance. My aim is to break down a board into its most functional elements and get rid of its least functional elements. The diamond nose profile is really functional because it has so little swing weight. If you think of a pendulum, when it swings, there is a moment of delay before it changes direction because of the weight. The weight at the nose of your board acts similarly, and when you cut down that weight, the board transitions between turns more quickly and efficiently. The board also fits in a tighter pocket, which allows for some different lines.”
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