Bourton "Tow Designs"
TOW DESIGNS 2006
Perhaps the most diverse sector of board design, tow boards vary radically from shaper to shaper, country to country.
In fact, it’s becoming a small wave pursuit as well and the hardcore elements deem it necessary to own a ski and use it for whipping into beachies and any where else that is fair game. Jet skis are not welcome at most breaks, so long lost back beaches are where they all end up. Of course I am referring to Northern NSW and Southern QLD, but as we know the southern states have all the real serious tow destinations.
Surprisingly enough there seems to be not a big difference in the size of the boards guys are using in big and small conditions. The reason being is that in the smaller waves they are still needing a design that handles high speeds because they are whipping in at ridiculous speeds, and the aim is to keep pumping the board and run as fast and far as you can.
Due to the very low volume of these almost snow board designs, you cannot break the speed in small waves coz the board is gonna sink and bog, however in the big grunty reef stuff you can break the speed and get it back again simply because the power in the wave will not let it slow down where it bogs.
LENGTHS, WIDTHS AND THICKNESSES
The tow boards are getting smaller every year due to the gnarly waves being tackled and the high speeds at which they are being launched into them. Six foot is almost considered to be too long these days and 5' 9 seems to be an average for anything from 6 ft to 20 ft.
At these lengths 16 ½ to 17 inches seem to be ball park, but not a millimetre over since water pressure on the bottom of the board at high speeds is the hardest demon to control - assuming one understands that the reduction of this pressure means more control up and down the face on these monsters.
Thickness is also to a bare minimum for exactly the same reason. In addition to this, the thinner the board means you are lower and closer to the water giving you more confidence and control. You just gotta think of a water ski coz there’s not much volume in them and it’s not needed when you’re being pulled around at 35 mph and likewise when you’re being whipped in at 50 mph or being squirted out of a 30 ft barrel at Jaws.
 BOTTOM ROCKER
Imagine an 8 foot board with zero rocker and how hard it would be to take off and manoeuvre then compare that to a 5 ft board also with zero rocker, it is easy to understand why the shorter board would be more manageable coz it would fit into the curve of the wave easier. The rockers in tow boards are not zero but they are much flatter than the normal high performance boards of today, and they need to be to hold the speed required of them to make some of the life and death sections put in front of them. Considering that you are strapped in and the curve of the face on a big wave is a flatter curve than a small wave the straighter rockers are an okay fit and reasonably easy to control. On a 5' 9 tow board, 4 inches nose lift and 1 ¾ inches tail lift is ample.
LATERAL BOTTOM SHAPES
In the tow boards I have been working on the last year or so I have shaped 9 ml concaves right through which lifts them up and makes them fly.
When on rail they are on more curve because the rail line has more curve than the stringer line and the result of this is they are looser on rail and also have extreme bight due to the low rails and extreme concave. This bight takes some pressure off the fins allowing one to keep the fin sizes down.
The concave keeps the board running more than any other bottom contour due to the massive lifting forces going on and these forces allow the design to be extremely narrower and thinner than the norm.
FINS
I have always said that fins are 30% of the feel and performance of any board, but in the case of tow boards and the high water pressures going on, I think that percentage needs ramping up.
The foils need to be more 60 30 otherwise the flats inside normal front fins create too much pressure and tend to lift the tail up and out of the water.
The shortness of these boards encourages them to want to turn too shorter arcs but if the front fins are towed more parallel to the stringer the board will track more and longer lines can easily be drawn and monster sections can be raced. The fin cluster remains almost the same as a normal board depending slightly on the tail area of the design.
The best tow fins are made from compressed 2 oz cloth and delicately foiled to precision. The stiff twang of a tow fin is the sensation most sought after and to obtain a set one would need to see his bank manager.
GLASSING WEIGHTS
The smallness of these boards means that they would be normally bounced all over the park out on those outer reefs, but by making them extremely heavy, they sit down and mow through anything that comes their way. More importantly the benefits of this extra weight is the quick inertia gained on the drop and the capacity to keep it running, something a small light board could never do. Most local stuff we do a triple 6 oz top and bottom, and for Hawaii we will put plastic pipes inside through the middle that can be filled with buckshot to increase and regulate the extra weight needed. If you tend to knock em around on the ski a lot then glassing with carbon is the answer but will add another $200.00
QUADS VS THRUSTERS
If you are not aware of what has been happening in tow world then it may come as a surprise that the quads are dominatingin the line up in Hawaii and northern California. By all reports the quads are heaps faster due to the fact that quads have more fin on the rail and tow boards spend more time on their rails because they are so narrow and are always in drive mode.
Included in this feature is an example of one of Tony Ray’s tow thrusters and an example of one of Ry Craikes quad fin tow boards.
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