Surfing Waves

what are the shortboards people are riding ?

Do you go custom or off the rack for your shortboards?

Best fins with your shortboard?

thinking 3-7 foot waves..

What is the size brand model short board YOU are currently riding ?

What fin model are YOU using on that short board ?

I always recommend buying off the rack as you can see and feel and know what you're are getting. Customs "never" come out as you expect them to.

I don't currently have a shortboard. I have two step downs and a step up. I have been using my step downs as shortboards, but I am looking at getting a shortboard. I have a rocket wide, and ball tearer.. and also a sky rocket as step up which is really a daily driver with round tail.

My dilemma is usually the length of the shortboards eg fever, beach buggy, happy. They are all longer than i like to ride. my step up is a 6'2 round tail, I find it goes hard with the round tail in bigger surf as it is a little slower.

my last shortbaord was a custom black and white that i made slightly shorter because 6'3 was bit too long. As for fins I used to ride fannings.. but i sold.. still have am2s and performers.. also HS fins for small wave boards and MRfins.. The fanings make a board pretty steady so used to ride Sampler in big ish surf.. might buy a phantom or og flyer becuase the 6'1s are in my literage and length but id prefer a 6'0,, even then these are more daily drivers than shortboards, but i'm not keen on waiting and ordering a custom at $1000.. if I did i'd probably chop down a fever.. i'm 5'10 5'11 84kgs..

wondering if most the shortboards sold are customs or standard dims. I notice Noel Salas says rack boards are too long for him, and that fulla is tiny.. anyways what are your thoughts

one0one wrote: I notice Noel Salas says rack boards are too long for him, and that fulla is tiny.. anyways what are your thoughts

I think that your question is over my head and for most on this forum. I would recommend you ask Noel Salas in the comments of his videos to see what his thoughts are for you.

You and I have the same taste, I like a thumb tail, but unlike you I love my 6’2. I would try an epoxy if going down in size. My fav off the rack is a JS black box 2, but all shapers offer something similar like FireWire or lost. My last shorter board was 6’0 x 19 /1/2 x 2 3/8 epoxy custom, if you want particulars 3/4” rocker our back, 1 1/14 up front, double concave with hard rails. I’d go 2 1/2” thick if Polyurethane

My step up is a Firewire Midas in LFT 6’3” x 21-3/16” x 2-11/16” (40.1L). I love all the different design era's that Machado combined into this board. The Fluted Wings on the wide tail block were inspired from the 1980 MR Twin Fin and the Edge Bottom underneath was taken from a 1970's Greenough design that he calls his Board Eat Board design.

It glides almost like a hydroplane in bigger waves and still holds an edge like a much shorter board would. It uses smaller fins than usual because of the big edge around the planning hull... the edge almost acts like a fin of its own.

I mostly use a Solus Hatchet fin set from Futures.. The inside foil on the side fins really loosens up a wide tailed board and the hatchet cutaway fin at the center gives it release off the top. I've also used the Vector Fins version of the Hatchet (CH425) in the past but it's plastic and sometimes had a little too much flex in bigger waves

I also use the Elevon side fins in smaller/mussy surf sometimes because the unusual foil gives them tons of lift through flat sections of the wave. They almost looks like a smaller version of the old Cheyne Horan ‘Star Fin’ with those crazy wings going off in opposite directions.

@ib I had a bb2.. Was all good.. I only rode Eps in 3foot or smaller usually.. They turn faster.. I find they don't carry momentum the same way poly does in bigger surf..

That custom you mentioned sounds Onnnn.. I don't understand more than medium entry / exit rocker lol..

Hard rails sounds knifey .. Mean board

@78 that Midas is an interesting board.. Looks so different to the usual 'goodwave' boards.. And that back fins buzzy too.. Board looks fast

I have a 6'2 Baby buggy. I toggle between large John John and AM2 depending on the conditions. Why do you prefer shorter? To fit better in the pocket? I'm no expert, but I want to learn more about boards and fins:-)

I feel like I have to change my foot placement and the way I turn the board.. It draws longer arcing turns.. Isn't too bad a thing but sometimes it's fun to be able to turn tighter..

Also paddling into waves, I feel further back on the board if on low end of volume.. Especially on critical take offs.. I do like the length on a paddle back to the peak though..

I'm not surfing pipe or anything though lol

I think another problem is I ride my 511s 80 percent of time.. So 6'2 feels big.. But the extra paddle with volume is good..

I want a 6'0 or 6'1 so I can ride 30 percent of time then hopefully get used to the length of all 3 lengths..

one0one wrote:@78 that Midas is an interesting board.. Looks so different to the usual 'goodwave' boards.. And that back fins buzzy too.. Board looks fast

Yeah I was surprised they list the ideal wave size as 3-8ft on it. I've used it for 2-3' days and handled fine. Feels like it could handle waist high days really well also, if the waves are punchy. The rocker is pretty flat almost like a Groveler. It's my fav board and hoping I can make it my daily with the right fin setups.

Here's the Elevon's.. really good for getting lift through flat sections of the wave, but reviews say that it handles size well too.

those are the craziest fins i've ever seen. and 9 years old, don't know how I haven't seen those already..

one0one wrote:those are the craziest fins i've ever seen. and 9 years old, don't know how I haven't seen those already..

Yeah I had never heard of them either.. I guess it was never really adopted by the Pro's so it kinda fell by the wayside. But Rasta had really good things to say about them in that video.

I think theyre still the only fins to be rated outside of the standard ride number scale from Futures, 11. It's kinda hard to find them for sale, so maybe they never sold very well or produced many from the start.

I got money burning my pocket and I can't figure what to buy.. Part of me wants two second hand boards. The other wants to order a custom. The other wants to buy off the rack because I can't wait lol.. What to do what to do

The price of second hand boards seem to come down a lot this time of year. Might be able to nab a couple deals depending on where you live. New boards never seem to go on sale during the offseason

I've been debating a Seaside order for a really long time. They had like a 2 month back order after Covid.. that's a long time to wait for a board with stock dim's. I always went with something in stock or second hand.. but I still wish I had a Seaside

I've been debating a Seaside order for a really long time. They had like a 2 month back order after Covid.. that's a long time to wait for a board with stock dim's. I always went with something in stock or second hand.. but I still wish I had a Seaside[/quote]

did you buy a seaside?

one0one wrote:

Naeco78 wrote:I've been debating a Seaside order for a really long time. They had like a 2 month back order after Covid.. that's a long time to wait for a board with stock dim's. I always went with something in stock or second hand.. but I still wish I had a Seaside

did you buy a seaside?

Hey man, yeah i actually found one resale but it was a 5'6" (32L) and it wound up being a little below my zone. Tried it a couple times but it was more skatie than i was used to in bigger surf. And not enough volume when the waves were smaller. I think the 5'8" probably would've been much better for me (6' 180lbs) but it was worth a shot. Went back to a Rocket Wide for my daily.
Did you get a Seaside?

I just got this, a beautiful locally shaped hansel 6’6” second hand.
My go to boards are a 6’6” stuart x frap, 6’4” phantom and a 6’3” sub scorcher 2. This hansel has a little more float than those for another option, especially on days when Im feeling my age. Im 51, 6’1” and 94kg.

For fins, I use large and thats my main preference. I have a mix of fcs1, fcs2 and futures and usually find myself using mf’s which hold well, carver in neo glass which are lively and more forgiving and futures am2s.

My favorite a few months ago was this 6’4” dylan sumo, another local shaper. Its at the lower end of my liter range at 37L and I gained a couple kg in Aug when I was injured that are still slowly coming off. New board is like the okd one just a little longer and thicker so hoping for good things.