What is a Longboard?

Aranel · Joined: 10 Aug 2005 Posts: 53

I'm asking this not as a newbie who's figuring out what all the different types of windsurfing boards are, but as someone trying to get his mind around the category. Here's what I was wondering:

Does a longboard have certain min/max dimensions? For example, can a longboard be more than seventy cm wide? How about eighty? What about length? Is any board over three meters a longboard? Is there a ratio of length to width that draw the line between the two?

Does having a daggerboard automatically mean a board is a longboard? There are some boards I would categorize as short/wide boards with daggerboards that are sometimes called longboards, like the Starboard Rio or the Exocet cruiser. I don't agree that these are longboards, but it makes you wonder. (They don't sail like longboards.) Of course there are some Kona “longboards” without daggerboards, but I certainly wouldn't call these shortboards.

Is there a volume limit? Does a longboard have to be more than, say, 170 liters? The Kona 9.5 is 120 liters, so can you even use that in your definition?

Perhaps it's sailing style? Longboards do sail differently than other boards. This definition probably has a lot to do with the length/width ratio I was speaking about earlier.

I wanted to do a blog post on this, but I realized I didn't know enough to write intelligently. Can some of you more experienced folks post on your thoughts or opinions?

-Ian

www.hudsonwindsurfer.blogspot.com

haterrater · Joined: 03 Mar 2009 Posts: 217

Aranel,

this is just one person's opinion (mine),
but I'd say the traditional bottom line for a "longboard" would be roughly 11ft. in length and >160L of volume.
"Back in the day," most boards that were 340 or shorter were considered "transition" boards or "funboards," whereas longboards were generally longer than 11'. Longboards were demarcated as either "raceboards" or "cruising" longboards, the distinction often being comfort and the ability to go upwind and/or plane. That being said, there are plenty of boards out there shorter than 11' that "feel" like longboards (some of the newer 10'6" SUPs come to mind).
The starboard rio might get classified as a longboard due to its glide characteristics when compared to, say, the start, but I'd agree with you about its not being a longboard.

Maybe the characteristic that distinguishes a longboard from a "funboard," "transition board," or "hybrid" would be the glide factor. Does the board "glide" in non-planing winds? Even here you can run into semantics problems (for instance, does the mistral prodigy, the bic hybrid, or the RS:X glide?). But I think it's probably the best indicator, as glide characteristics also run parallel to intended usage that relate back to the traditional roles longboards play (i.e. light-med. wind cruising and/or buoys racing).
Putting too many boxes around a particular "style" of board can be quite limiting, as our perception of what is or isn't changes with time and technology. For instance, Maybe we'll find that there is a way to produce a 320cm, 85cm wide board that glides as well as the old leschners and goes upwind just as well.

but that's just my two worthless cents in the pot.
-the haterrater

bred2shred · Joined: 02 May 2000 Posts: 305 Location: Jersey Shore

Traditionally, a longboard was defined as any board with a centerboard and a shortboard was any board without. This nomenclature worked pretty well up until relatively recently as boards with centerboards were naturally longer than boards without.

Nowadays, there tend to be two catagories of "longboards." Boards with centerboards would still be classified as longboards, but SUP boards (with or without centerboards) are also commonly referred to as "longboards" since they take their roots from longboard surfing. To add even more confusion, many people do not consider Formula boards to be classified as "shortboards" and they place Formula (or wide-style) boards in a class of their own. Likewise, boards like the Prodigy or RSX are classified as "hybrids."

So with all the various types of boards that are currently available, many cross over between the traditional designation of long or shortboard. If you're talking to someone about a particular board, it's really best to be overly specific in your description as simply saying "longboard" or "shortboard" may not tell the whole story.

sm

speedysailor · Joined: 11 Sep 2007 Posts: 463

Does a rose by any other name smell the same?

isobars · Joined: 12 Dec 1999 Posts: 5171

speedysailor · Joined: 11 Sep 2007 Posts: 463

What is windsurfing? Isn't board sailing a better term as opposed to kite surfing? Until I started to look to buy, I wasn't aware that a formula board was wider than my wide-style board. I see DanWeiss and Oneup coming around the corner to stink up the place. By any other name will they still smell as bad?

pueno · Joined: 03 Mar 2007 Posts: 797

pueno · Joined: 03 Mar 2007 Posts: 797

bred2shred · Joined: 02 May 2000 Posts: 305 Location: Jersey Shore

Aranel · Joined: 10 Aug 2005 Posts: 53

I appreciate everybody's feedback on this. I'm curious about where the definition is, and where it isn't.

I'm definitely not a troll, believe me. I'm an English teacher who happens to love windsurfing, and I get quite enough of those kinds of remarks in my classroom. It's too bad the trolls ruin good discourse. I always enjoy a good conversation, especially when I'm learning something. If I said something inaccurate, then I stand corrected.

I'm curious about that Bic Calypso. I've seen advertisements of board like that, in the 150 liter range, with daggerboards. They almost seem like a “mini” longboard. That would be a neat all-around board if you didn't want something as big and floaty as Kona or more traditional longboard. Do you have a picture?

-Ian

www.hudsonwindsurfer.blogspot.com