New shortboard advice

[bones]

Hi guys,

I am in the market for a new board and keep getting different advice, so I was hoping you might be able to help.

A little bit about my surfing;

I can do some basic manoeuvres and pump speed, I surf irregularly (in the uk mostly) although hopefully next year I will be getting in the water more, and travelling a bit. My current board is a 6'2" swallow tail 20", which is now a twin fin as the back fin snapped off on a reef and I never bothered to fix it. I want to get something a bit more performance so I can start getting some bigger turns in. But not so much that it's too small/light for my standard. Also want it to be overall and work in most conditions. I am 5'8", around 75kg.

One main question I have is what concave would you recommend? I have been told single concave is better for uk waves, but then I have been told that single to double is better overall.

Any other advice would be much appreciated.

Cheers,

Bones

[drowningbitbybit]

My current board is a 6'2" swallow tail 20", which is now a twin fin as the back fin snapped off on a reef and I never bothered to fix it.....One main question I have is what concave would you recommend?

If you snapped your centre fin off a thruster set-up and then didn't notice the difference, I don't really think that the concave is going to make much of a difference...

A 6'2 x 20" x ? should be perfectly capable of pulling turns... if you have all the fins in place. Don't bother getting a new board. Just put the right number of fins in your current board.

[bones]

My current board is a 6'2" swallow tail 20", which is now a twin fin as the back fin snapped off on a reef and I never bothered to fix it.....One main question I have is what concave would you recommend?

If you snapped your centre fin off a thruster set-up and then didn't notice the difference, I don't really think that the concave is going to make much of a difference...

A 6'2 x 20" x ? should be perfectly capable of pulling turns... if you have all the fins in place. Don't bother getting a new board. Just put the right number of fins in your current board.

I did notice the difference but quite liked it, also the ends of the fin were stuck inside the holes, and as the board is on it's last legs anyway I just left it till I get a new one.

I can turn on it, but it's full of big dings and very old, so I need a new one anyway.

2 1/2"

[waikikikichan]

"( I )keep getting different advice, so I was hoping you might be able to help."

So you maybe talked to 10 people locally and got 10 different opinions. So now you put it out to an international forum and will get 20 more different opinions. What matters is what you like and don't like. You won't know if you like a single or a single to double better unless you try them for yourself. So you might say You don't have the money to buy two boards, well try your friends board. Take notes on the boards you try.

Some people say it must be Michael Jordan's shoes or Tiger Wood's clubs that make them so good. Good surfers can ride any board. Learn to ride the wave, not the board.
( One word of advise, if you do not even care about replacing a replaceable fin, then stay away from swallow tails. The tips always get shatters or cracks from putting the board on its tail )

[bones]

"( I )keep getting different advice, so I was hoping you might be able to help."

So you maybe talked to 10 people locally and got 10 different opinions. So now you put it out to an international forum and will get 20 more different opinions. What matters is what you like and don't like. You won't know if you like a single or a single to double better unless you try them for yourself. So you might say You don't have the money to buy two boards, well try your friends board. Take notes on the boards you try.

Some people say it must be Michael Jordan's shoes or Tiger Wood's clubs that make them so good. Good surfers can ride any board. Learn to ride the wave, not the board.
( One word of advise, if you do not even care about replacing a replaceable fin, then stay away from swallow tails. The tips always get shatters or cracks from putting the board on its tail )

Yes, and then I can make the most informed decision.

Obviously if I could try a mates board I would, but I live hours away from the ocean, and want one for a trip at Christmas.

"Learn to surf the wave not the board" blah blah has anyone got anything useful to say? OFCOURSE learn to surf the wave and try different boards etc. but I want the board that is most suited to me at this time, and one that I will get the most out of. Like I said my swallow tail is fleshin' anyway so I left it how it is as I'm getting a new one.

I would appreciate it if there was anyone with any real advice and not just nit-picking irrelevant things I have said.

[oldmansurfer]

I will give you my opinion and a story. I learned to surf long ago when there were only single fins and no board leashes. I resisted the change because I was happy using what I had. I didn't see a need for a board leash so I didn't get one for several years after they came out. I resisted multiple fins because my boards with single fins did everything I wanted. Then I quit surfing for 11 years and when I restarted all that was easily available were multiple fin boards so I bought a used big wave thruster because I figured it would float me well and I had no intention of riding a longboard (I was a shortboarder). It was ok but then I ran into the wife of the guy who made all my boards before. My shaper had taken ill and quit shaping but his wife said there was a nice used longboard available that would be better than the board I currently had so I go that board. It had a long center fin and 2 side fins. That board was just what I needed easier to get into the waves and it turned well compared to the gun. I relearned to surf on that board and noticed it turned different from my old boards. The difference is I think that concave surfaces push the board out of the wave which makes it go faster but makes it harder to hold a turn. Anyway my neighbor had a fish shape board made by a shaper that I had met before. He let me use his board and it was great so I got in touch with the shaper and had him make me a board. I just told him where I was at physically and what I wanted the board to do and let him make me what he thought I needed and he made me an 8 foot quad fun gun. Now this board turns different and rides different form the longboard or my previous boards and some parts I really liked , for instance I could do floaters immediately with a high success rate, when the wave broke underneath me I could stand up ride the foam down the wave and most often get around the section that broke. The problems with it was I couldn't do a cutback reliably and when I took off on larger steep waves if I turned at the top I would get caught up in the lip and wipeout. I learned to not turn at the top on steep waves and instead to do a trim turn where the board is still facing straight down the wave but I push the inside rail into the wave so that when I get down to the curvy part of the wave the nose of the board will start the turn as it pushes into the wave. I learned to do cutbacks by not cranking really hard like I used to until I set the rail. Anyway my point is that different boards may work differently and the only way to learn is to see how they work for you. I think board design isn't entirely scientific, they don't exactly know all the variables and how they affect how a board works but for newbies it is much simpler because 20 different boards will all work the same for them but for really good surfers 20 of the same boards will each work differently. So you can spend 20 years talking to people about what board you want or go surf and find out what board you want. I would say if you want to be a good surfer then you need to develop a relationship with a shaper and get them to make you boards that work for you. So one more different bit of advice from me.

[waikikikichan]

We are "trying" to give you the best advise. NO One can tell you what board will be the most suited to you at this time. I can't tell you what you should order at a restaurant. If someone tells you "yeah, you need to get this board, it's perfect for you" he is just guessing. Like all the rest of the people you already asked for advise, too many cooks spoil the pot. Just ask one surfer or shaper you trust that seen you surf and knows your style.

Even if you narrow it down to the length-width-height-rocker-rail-tail and you go with single instead of double, it still might not work for you. You can give those dimensions to 10 different shapers and each board will ride differently.

"blah blah has anyone got anything useful to say?" - "I would appreciate it if there was anyone with any real advice and not just nit-picking irrelevant things I have said." - Dude, you got a lot to learn and I am trying my best to HELP YOU.

You want advise, I will give you advise. Go with Single to Double concave as that is more "standard". I feel it will be better suited for going from rail to rail.

You said you want the board for a Christmas trip, So I guess you're not getting one custom made in time. Are you buying from a shop off the rack ? Can you post some photos of maybe three boards you think might work for you. That will be easier to give advise on which will work better for you.

[drowningbitbybit]

"So you maybe talked to 10 people locally and got 10 different opinions. So now you put it out to an international forum and will get 20 more different opinions.

Yes, and then I can make the most informed decision.

"A man with one watch knows the time, but a man with two watches will never know the time"

[jaffa1949]

There is no such thing as a UK wave or a hawaiian wave, etc, it varies from beach to beach and reef to reef. What are you going to surf
If you are asking that sort of question then where are you on the foodchain?
You shoot the messengers who are offering you good advice, no-one has taken the mickey out of you all the advice has been pertinent .
Look at the track record of the people who are offering advice, if you feel you know better choose a board you think you would like and take your chances.

[thedrip]

I am assuming you have very limited experience and hence won't be surfing huge waves. For you height and weight, a 5'10" fish/fun shape or a 6'2" shortboard should do. I would think the fish would be far more versatile for you. Single into double concave. Rounded pin or squashtail. Go for more volume than you think feels sexy. Make it a thruster so you can learn about your back foot.

Everything the people previously said is true too. If there was one perfect board, then we would all ride it,but they all go differently for different people. And good surfers make bad boards look good. The board(s) i outlined should be forgiving in wave catching ability and neutral in performance. Three boards down the track we can start discussing nose widths, tail widths, rocket etc...

Just make sure you don't lose too much volume, if any, because you sound like you still need it.

A 6'2" x 20" sounds almost perfectf btw, and any limitations are your ability. That is NOT a big board and should be eminently snappable (vertically snappable).

[thantthein]

bones, ill try and chime in since i'm somewhat close to your size. i'm a bit smaller at 5'7 150 (65kgs) and when i was progressing to a shortboard i rode a 6'4 22" forgot the thickness it was 40L. when i was going down from there i went to a 6'1 19.75 and 2/16 i think at 31L. After that i went down to a board around 25L but same model. The 6'1 board was good to start doing more performance oriented stuff on so your board being at 6'2 20" 2.5 and you being bigger your board should be at a decent volume at your level to still do more maneuvers. And the shape seems like it can handle it.

Honestly the best thing to do is to talk to a shaper near your area. they can give you the best advice whether it be about concaves or getting you a board thats more performance oriented because they know the breaks the best and can match your ability to the board

good luck.