This is our flagship noserider. In our attempt to get longer and longer nose rides we have used the basic principles of a traditional 60's plank with its flat rocker line added to a few modern tricks that we have learnt along the way.
The Saunton Foil at a glance
SIZE RANGE: 9'.0" TO 10'.6"
TYPICAL DIMENSIONS: 9'.6"x 19"x 23"x 16" x 3 ¼"
ROCKER: Almost zero nose, a little tail kick
RAILS: bladey up front, 50/50 throughout, up rails in tail
BOTTOM SHAPE: deep nose concave, rolled vee
IDEAL CONDITIONS: small and clean
BEST SUITED TO: intermediate to experienced
The design in detail
The Saunton Foil combines a modern foil with an enormous nose concave and a parallel rail line to give a wonderfully sensitive and precise noseride. It is glassed quite heavy with a rolled vee belly so that you get that sooth glide that is so essential for a traditional feel to your ride. The added weight also makes catching waves super easy. The tail kick is added to help make the turning arc smooth.
But let's not get carried away talking about turns, this board is made for perfect trim and hanging ten toes over the edge. One of the ways we achieve this is by placing a large fin as near the tail as possible combined with the up rails in the tail. As a result the water is forced to work harder to release from the tail, literally grabbing the tail down, meaning you get more time on the nose.
The Saunton Foil also allows us to bring together our very best handcrafted skills. From traditional resin work, art detailing and polishing the Saunton Foil sets an industry standard in performance and manufacturing.
Saunton Foil by Chris Preston
The Board in the photos is my 9'4 diamond tail noserider. It was a custom order back in 06 and has been my "daily driver" for small waves ever since. The concept was based on a few different noseriders i had owned, taking the bits i liked, changing a few things, adding a bit of jool's shaping magic to produce a magic board. The template is one of those that make up the "Saunton Foil" range. It has a medium wide nose and a wide tail at 16 inches, a big nose concave, hardly any nose rocker and a decent amount of tail kick. The rails are 50-50 all the way, nice and round in the middle and pretty pinched at nose and tail, just how i like them! My board has a double gloss coat to give it more weight as i like the glide of heavy boards. The glass job is superb, with the exception of a couple of dings from dropping it in the car park (duh!) it's exactly as it was when i collected it.
So how does it surf? Well, smooooooth, the video probably speaks for itself but i can say it is an awesome traditional style log. It will noseride in the pocket, sucking in well, often buried past the stripe in the wave when you are on the nose. It will also noseride well in less well shaped waves because of the nose width and concave, Once you get your weight over the fin it turns smoothly with a nice traditional feel. I like the swept fin and diamond tail combination but it if you like a more "pivoty" feel go for an upright fin and a square tail.
The best thing about it is that it is easy to surf whatever the conditions, clean or messy, i always know i'll have a great surf on it and so it spends more time under my feet than any of my other longboards. I have several "big name" californian noseriders which are awesome on the nose in clean surf but as soon as the waves lose their shape or speed, these boards become hard work and the GS shines, seeing as the clean days can be few and far between this is the ultimate Saunton (and anywhere else) everyday noserider. If you can't hang five on this you might as well take up knitting!
Thanks a million!
