Surfing Waves

Hey guys, need some advice.
I started surfing almost a year ago on a Circle One Minimal 7'6. The guy I bought it from said it would be a little trickier than your avarage minimal because it has slightly more rocker to it. However I've gotten quite used to it now and am popping up most of the time and am riding the unbroken wave. Maybe I'm been too eager here but I feel I'm ready to go shorter as I want to eventually progress to a performance shortboard. I got talking to a guy the other day and he suggested I go for a Rusty Piranha. I did a bit of research on this board and it sounds good to me. My question is - what size should I go for or should I go for something else.
I surf in the west of Ireland where there is a huge range of conditions although I haven't really ventured past beach breaks.
I'm 5'6 and 10 stone (63 kg). I'm quite fit and like to get stuck in!
Cheers.

hey, im in pretty much the same position as you, i came off a 6" 10 bic, and bought a 6"3 fish surfed it today and althogh i had i bit of trouble at first ive nailed it so go around 6" 4 ish on the piranha, ive seen the bords there pretty nice so yeh, you may have a bit of trouble for a while but its cheaper than going for a bigger trnsition board, ive bin urfing about three times a week for 6 months so that gives you an idea, im not the most qaulified but i hope this helps you , joe

Joe, thanks for the reply. Think 6'4'' might be the one. Gonna mull it over for a week or so and then get it.
Anyone else got any input?

Bigger yes. But rusty piranha IIRCis an 80s template which should be easier to ride than a nweer design. I was really close to buying one and wish I did. I bought a chanel islands sahimi and it was a siiiick board but has a steeper learnign curve. As far as beach sv. eref. Go to the reef beraks man. Its 10000 times easier. especially if the wind is cooperating. Just dont ipck the shallowest ones.

SSSurfer, what do you mean by 'Bigger yes'. Do you think I should go bigger than 6'4''?

Actually I dont remember what I meant by bigger. lol. sorry. I just did the math of 63 kg to 138 pounds and a 6'4 piranha should float you just fine depending on width and thickness. Shoot it might even be hard to duck. But dont worry about that. I would say go for it. And hunt down the reefbreaks.

Thanks mate. Much appreciated.

Forgot to ask - thruster or quad?

Hey man I just moved down from a 9' longboard, I originally tried a 6' shortboard which was tough. I caught a few waves after a while but then found a used 6'4" Rusty Piranha and decided to pick it up. I took it out this morning for the first time and loved it, so I would definitely recommend it. Mines a thruster, I don't really know how noticeable the difference is with a quad but in my opinion while you're still learning it doesn't really matter. Once you're more experienced you'll be able to try out different boards and fin set ups and pick what you like. Hope you like it bro!

Hey guys. Thanks for all the posts.
I was about to go for the Rusty Pirhana but when I got in touch with the local surf shops none of them had the size I wanted in stock and wouldn't have it for a number of weeks. Been the impatient little fecker that I am I couldn't wait and decided to check out a couple of second hand websites and found a board going for 180 euros. (Pirhana was 450). So I bought it! Its a Klimax Black Rhino from Peru. 6'3'' x 19.5 x 2.65. I haven't gotten to use it yet cos I got a job and its been flat when I'm off! If I find its too small for me I might go for the Pirhana anyway but I'm gonna stick at the Klimax for a while.
Thanks again for the help.