Kitesoul Magazine #21 International Edition

The scoopline is related (usually but not always)
to the board length, in fact short boards
can have flatter scoops because their reduced
length already helps when manoeuvring.
SPEED IS EVERYTHING
A fundamental concept to fully understand the
overall operation of a wave board is the surfing
SPEED which may depend on the relation
between sail size and wind intensity, but more
often on how steep is the wave and how much
it pushes: it is the main differentiating principle
for the various board models and it is truly
and practically perceived only by connecting
it to the actual increase of the speed. "Generous"
boards in terms of shape or size tend to
become less controllable the more the speed
rises. Vice versa, more aggressive boards, with
more rocker seem unruly and unusable at low
speeds while they are basically irreplaceable
from a certain speed up.
If used on powerful waves the board won't need
any intrinsic speed qualities as those will be
provided by the wave, in fact it will nearly be
necessary to slow down, therefore the shaper
will focus on the grip and manoeuvrability;
on the other hand, on small and not so powerful
waves, very manoeuvrable board would be
pointless if unable to use it for lack of speed,
therefore the shaper will make a fast board,
that speeds up and runs smoothly even if the
wave does not "pull" ...