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glossary : d

Date
The date of a surfboard's construction is usually an estimation, since shapers rarely date their work.
Claims of design firsts without current published documentation must be treated with suspicion and many retrospective articles have errors.
Note that books, magazines and films have a lag time due to production difficulties.
In the case of books and film this can be as long as twelve months.
For glossy magazines it can be three months between a design being documented and it appearing on the news stand.
Historical exception : 1965 advertising campaign for Mickey Dora’s ‘da Cat’ model for Greg Noll Surfboards (both USA) was begun before the board was designed.
In 1970 Tracks magazine put itself at the cutting edge by adopting a newsprint format and reducing print time to four weeks.
In the case of contest articles or footage the lag is not a difficulty because of specific dates.
English method (e.g. 1st February 1915) is preferred, general dating (e.g. Summer 1914) should be avoided because of possible confusion between Northern and Southern hemispheres. The Hawaiian season has difficulties because it spans the new year.
*It is currently (1999) the fashion for shapers to mark the blank with a string of dimensions.
Apart from the fact that these dimensions are sometimes incorrect, a 6ft board today will still be a 6ft board in twenty years time.
Dating of boards would be far more useful information to historians/collectors of the future, if not for the shapers themselves.

Decal / sticker

usually a graphic logo or text indicating the manufacturer printed on rice paper and laminated onto the blank.
Decal is the preferred term.
In pre-factory production times riders would often decorate their boards with paint, often a name in decorative script, cartoon character or club logo.
In Australia the Surf Life Saving Club ‘Reel’ logo was popular.
First production logo credited to Outrigger Canoe Club (Hawaii) circa 1935
–paddle graphic over “O” branded into solid wood boards. Image 1.
Other variations included
metal medallion fixed by screws (circa 1940 – Tom Blake, (Hawaii),
laminated business card (circa 1947 x, USA),
external metal foil adhesive sticker (1960 Gordon Woods, Australia). Example : Image 2.
First rice paper decals possibly by Velzy-Jacobs (USA) circa 1955, first used in Australia by Scott Dillon circa 1958.
The Hobie decal, circa 1956, set a precedent in design, the highly stylised script and framing. Image 2.
In Australia, Keyo was one of the manufacturers that adapted the theme. Image 4.
Professional surfing in the 1980’s saw a preference for clear boards and prominent positioning of sponsor’s decals.

3. The Hobie decal, circa 1956, set a precedent in design, the highly stylized script and framing.

1. branded logo (solid wood board)

2. metal foil adhesive sticker

4. In Australia, Keyo adapted Hobie's
highly stylised script.

deck: top surface of the board that supports the rider, the term obviously deriving from ships. The deck can be described as a cross section or a profile.

deck grip – synthetic rubber non-slip mat glued to the deck, usually at the tail, as a substitute for wax.
First commercial product (probably) was AstroDeck by Herbie Fletcher (USA) circa 1976.
The first Australian product was probably the Dial-pad by Gorilla Grip, circa 1982.

Adhesive Deck Grip: Gorrilla Dial Pad, 1986

Adhesive Deck Grip: Gorrilla Razor Back, 1988.

deck patch / kneel patch : extra layer of fibreglass cloth to prevent knee dents in the deck of a board. Essentially a feature on + 8 ft boards of the early1960’s, i.e. boards that could be knee paddled, its use continued into the late 1960’s when often inappropriate. By the early 1970’s when kneel paddling had become obsolete ( sub 7 ft ) it was relocated to the more useful tail patch. See Patch.

Décor : any feature added to a board; excluding wax, fins and leg-rope plugs; for identification and/or decoration. Sub groups :
Markings, Decals, Colour (includes adhesive grip).

delaminate : separation of fibreglass cloth layers from one another or from the blank.
Most often occurring from depressions in the back foot area.
Decals and fibreglass fins are also particularly subject to delaminating.

Design : general features that proscribe a particular type of board, usually starting with the template. Design is a function of available materials and technology, the intended wave type, the rider’s skill and the designer’s imagination. Contrast Model.

Diamond tail –a straight edged pointed tail with distinctive hips. Also Rounded Diamond tail, with curved corners.

Dimensions : the external parameters of a board; specifically length, width, nose and tail width (measured 12” back), thickness. Other measurements may be applicable depending on the design, e.g. pod. A useful measurement is the Wide Point. There is no recognized method of measuring nose and tail lift.

ding : crack, fracture or hole in a board as a result of misadventure.

displacement : total weight of water displaced by the weight of the board, or the combined weight of board and its rider or load.

domed deck –rounded or convex deck, usually in cross section. Occasionaly in profile, see S deck , Camel deck

Dol–fin / Dorsal fin – 1960’s racked fin resembling the dorsal fin of a porpoise. Early use by Mike Hynson / Gordon and Smith Surfboards (USA) – ‘The Red Fin Army’.

Double ender –almost symmetrical nose and tail templates. See Sausage board.

double glassed /double laminated – two layers of fiberglass cloth laminated together on one side of a board, usually the deck.

Double Ski – large surf-ski designed for two paddlers/riders.

down rail –a low profile rail, either rounded (soft) or with a break away edge (hard). Originally in conjunction with a flat bottom.

Down Railer : 1969 design by Mike Hynson (USA) featuring a soft down rail. The rail design was initially exploited in the Side Slipper and went on to become an design standard.
In 1970 a advertisemnet for Bahne Surfboards had the heading "Many of our competitors have just introduced the full-length breakaway edge design- We're very flattered", the design attributed to Mike Hynson.

drag : the resistance to forward motion of a craft caused by the shape of the bottom, breakaway edges (rails) and fin/s.

Drag Shute
[parachute legrope]

Advertisement, right:
The Tracker Drag Shute

New product review by Craig Leggat.
Tracks n68, May 1976, page 31.

Far right: Drag Shute printed package.

.
.
Images kindly forwarded by Ray Henderson,
January 20016. .

Left:
Drag Shute package.

Right:
Tracker Drag Shute.

draw knife –small hand tool used in the shaping of timber boards. Some modern use in trimming wooden stringers in foam boards.

drift-(fin drift) –lack of forward thrust of the fin.
See Sideslip

Drifta – model name by Terry Fitzgerald / Hot Buttered Surfboards; rounded nose with distinct wide point and soft rails circa 1983.
Said to be based on 1970 Sideslipper design, most models featured a traditional (1972) Tri-fin setup (?).

dropped rail : see down rail

dry laminating, dry glassing
... a dry glass job ... the resin ... is sparingly worked out with a squeegee leaving only enough resin for proper saturation of the cloth and securing a good bond to the foam, here the glasser has to be very careful of drain-outs (little air bubbles in the weave) which becomes weak spots when the resin has cured, sometimes the cause of stress cracks, drain-outs are more noticeable in tinted glass jobs.
Another way to save a couple of ounces is, a small rail lap, you may have noticed over the past three years the decrease in the size of rail laps, once anything up to three inches was quite standard now three-quarter inch is normal with some manufacturers using the diminishing lap on the bottoms of their boards.

- Steve Core: Surfboards Today
Surfing World Volume 14 Number 4. Page 70. circa 1970.

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Geoff Cater (1999-2020) : Appendix- Glossary D.

http://www.surfresearch.com.au/agd.html