Fish?

[t_11!]

Currently i have a 7'2'' mini mal which is great fun but i want something smaller. Ive got a 6'7'' nsp but thats crap, i can get up on my younger brothers 5'10'' egg, i surf about once a month but will be doing a lot more during the summer. Im 5'10'', 140 pounds. Im thinking maybe get a fish rather than a shortboard as i dont get around to surfing loads and that would give me a bit more stability as they are wider. Thinking somewhere in the 6'4'' region?
Or do you think i would be ok with a shortboard? as theres a 6'4'' shortboard going cheap locally? Cheers for any advice.

[drowningbitbybit]

6'4 aint a fish.
Fish aren't more stable.

Okay, now we've got the basics covered...

If you're only surfing once a month, then you'll never get the paddling endurance etc required for a proper shortboard, so you're probably right to be thinking of something fatter. So get a funboard or fatboy shape, or a hybrid fish (which I guess is what you meant by a 6'4 fish)

But dont buy into the "my board must be a short as possible" cr@p - the goal is to catch waves and have fun riding them, not to surf something shorter than you are tall (although everyone has to do that once, just for the experience). If I were you, I'd be looking at around 6'6 x 20 x 2 3/4 with a rounded outline.

[IB_Surfer]

Well, I agree with all except that retro fishes ARE more stable. Shortboard fishes aren't, but they aren't really fishes anyway, just shortboards with a swallow tail.

6'6" would be a super easy board for your weight, it will probably paddle as good as your mal but way outperform it. The thickness and width suggested is spot on (wider if you want it more stable) but you could go smaller, even down to 6'0", just remember that smaller is harder, and since you only surf once a month I would hate for you to get skunked once a month. Keep it bigger, have more fun, let the ones that go surfing daily ride the potato chips

[t_11!]

thanks for that advice, it was really helpfull, cheers