Surfing Waves

I've been noticing as I progress in riding I find that I got that old speed bug from when I was downhill skating. I've watched a few vids here and there with people riding shortboards and doing checks on toe and heel side and thought to myself "I wanna do that" but, Galveston surf doesn't really let that happen especially on a shortboard. so I looked into a fish but read that they can be restricted to mellow to a lil bit bigger waves and figured I'd do that till I saw a hybrid! the one I was a 7s slipstream and the sale pitch was nice and all but I wanted to know more about this paticular board. from what I gather on reviews that it's almost an all in one board built for speed in both small and big waves. I've been itching to ride soemthing fast on the tanker waves in the channel in Galveston and tear up those forever on going waves. Does anyone have any experience with these boards? I'm not looking to buy not with in the next 7 months or so till I know I can handle bigger waves so I'm trying to get ideas of what I should go for. I just want thst all in one board that can ride small and big waves but be quick and nimble.

For speed you need a fast breaking wave. Then a board that you can ride in fast breaking waves. The fish should work fine in fast waves. You are working of the inside rail entirely to gain speed. And you go up and down (back foot to front foot not heel to toe) not side to side like a skateboard so a shorter board will allow quicker turns and can generate more speed by turning and ultimately this is what gets you to maximum speed but a good long board will go pretty fast without turning much because it has a larger planing surface and can get more push from the wave. A fish is wider so helps with the flotation and paddling though it may be more difficult to go rail to rail however to get speed it's all one rail.

A fish should also be good for waves as big as they get in Texas. I am not sure how it would do for riding tanker waves.

Alright cool but now back to the hybrid part. I'm really fond of the way the 7S slipstream is designed but my only concern about it that it wouldn't do well in the Texas waves here. I could see it do pretty well in the tankers but the others I'm uncertaint

Looking at the shape etc. of the 7S slipstream (I haven't ridden one), it'll be fine in 'quite small' waves (but it hasn't got the volume and flat rocker of a 'proper' fish suitable for tiny waves) up to 'quite big' (but it hasn't got enough rocker and is too wide for large/fast waves).
So it's a compromise and it'll suit the middle-ground nicely without being particularly great at either end.


Any board can be ridden in (almost) any conditions by a good surfer, but most of us have a bunch of boards to get the best out of the waves. Is this a good compromise? Possibly (although I don't know the texas waves), but you might want one board for the small beachies and another for the tanker waves.

Can I ask a question? - what are tanker waves? I'll sit back down now and play with my dunce cap

The 7s Slipstream looks like a floaty shortboard. It has floatation in the middle which should make it easier paddling. It has a narrower tail than a fish so should be easier to go rail to rail. The question is would it matter at all to you on the waves you are going to use it on? I have no idea.

And Jester a tanker wave is waves from the wake of a supertanker. They will break on shore near where the tanker is moving or in shallow water out a little from the tanker which requires a boat to get you to them.

the way the channel works where the tankers role through, the waves carry forever. some vids of some people on YouTube riding them out for about 3-5 mins straight non stop. the factories usually dump dirt, sand and other such martials all through the channel so they constantly come when a tanker roles through.

There's a beautiful irony in there somewhere!

here is a youtube of tanker surfing

the videos just doesn't do them justice

drowningbitbybit wrote:So it's a compromise and it'll suit the middle-ground nicely without being particularly great at either end..

This is the answer. There is no 'one board suits all conditions'; but mid length boards (7ft give or take) with a bit of volume are the boards that arguably do nothing exceptionally well but do most things pretty well, except at the top and bottom end (of waves and performance). They are the Camrys of the surfing world... (and I say that with love, being a mid length surfer myself).

Looking at tanker surfing on line, its looks to be an ideal longboard wave. They aren't very big or steep, nice fat crumbling waves. But something high volume (lets say 50L) would be reasonable as well.

The 7S series are good hybrid boards, other possible similar boards are a McCoy Nugget or a Firewire Addvance (<- this one in particular is often thought of as a fairly direct 7S 'competitor').

The other option is general 'funboards' or minimals (which probably suit fatter waves better) eg a Walden or something in the shape of a Miller Powerglide or Bear's Fat Arse Wombat <- these are Australian boards so you wont be able to get them in Texas, but look at the shape.

If (big 'if'!) you wanted my opinion based solely on watching youtube videos. ...something like a 7ft powerglide or wombat would be the ideal board for the tanker and normal waves; but they might be a tad slower than the 7S and wont turn as quickly because of the bigger nose. I know those are Australian boards but I am absolutely positive there will be similar boards made in the US (the Walden mini mega magic is pretty close). Wide nose (wider than the 7S), pulled in tail, thick and wide across the upper/middle.

If you want pure speed on not very powerful waves then you either have to go quite small and wide (groveller boards - requires a bit of skill and I'm not sure tanker waves would suit) or perhaps look at different fin set ups eg quads are usually regarded as the fastest set up.