Surfing Waves

Hi there,

I am relatively new to surfing (1 year or so) and am riding a Norcal Neptune 9'2'' - 22 3/4 - 2 7/8 longboard with a tri fin set up. I am 35, 86 kilos and 6' 1''. Standard wise, I'm not sure what I am, (although I know I'm not that great ha!), I can turn either way and ride the line comfortably but not much more, am starting to try and move up and down now too. I surf at Manly in NSW (beach break) and go everyday if there are waves. My board was bought as a cheap second hand, I had a mini mal previously and hated it and decided that longboarders seemed like they were having a lot more fun around me! I can't find any info on the board anywhere, the guy in the shop had never heard of it either, but am guessing that it's not great (it was very cheap) and don't even know if 9'2'' is a good size for me in terms of longboards.

What I wanted to ask (I know, I know I've finally got there!) is for some advice on board size. I would really like to get a new board that is a little more specific for me, but have no understanding of where to start? I've trawled these forums but can't seem to find anything about board size/style for someone my size. If from what I've written here, you think the board is OK then I guess I may not even need to get a new one for a while?

Any help would be really appreciated.

I have got some great info from here on fins, and am def thinking of a single setup so am off to local shop this morning to buy one so I can convert my Neptune as a start, but would love to know more about boards.

I will ask at the shop but have just found that between me and some friends info seems to differ which ever person or shop you speak to so I thought some advice from here would mean I know if I'm being hard-sold too!

Thanks in advance,

Guy

Hey Guy.

I know someone who is 5'6" and surfs a 9'1" and someone who is 6'2" and rides a 6'4". There is no set length for anybody, no matter what their height. My only advice is to go rent a bunch of different boards, in different lengths, and try them out, because only you can decide what board you like and want to ride.

Good luck on your search

Differing levels of skill , fitness and what you want to ride.

gpaterson - sounds like I'm at a similar level of ability to you, and size/weight too.

I bought a progresive 9'2" Laguna bay longboard setup as a trifin about a year ago ( 22, 2 3/4), harder to paddle into waves than prehaps a floatier squaretail may have been and its not going to be agreat noserider etc but as an all round performance longboard its great.

So go for somethin 9'2" - 9'4" and an all rounder with nothing extreem if you want to ride longboard.

(BTW I spend nearly a year messing round on an 8ft minimal too , waste of time).

Thanks Guys.
Literally just got back from the shop and was really lucky as there was a longboard expert in today. The shop is dripping wet (Manly or Bondi) and the chap was called John, and is normally in the Bondi shop. He was amazing, which is why I wanted to post back here immediately before I forget what he was saying! He is a regular competition long boarder yet loved the fact that I was relatively new to it all and just kept showing me loads of things and getting excited!


In terms of fins, he said that in and around Sydney a single fin setup is good, in that the waves aren't massive generally (beach break), He said if you go somewhere that the waves are more critical and bigger, a tri fin setup can give you that little bit xtra bite when taking off and turning etc which can make all the difference. I opted for a Dion dog cutaway 8" from his recommendation as a good all rounder. They had everything you could possibly imagine, and even really expensive ones in the same style, but he said this one was just fine – nice when someone doesn't sell you the most expensive thing unnecessarily.


So onto the board advice:
He showed me a great Robert August, 9'4'' 22 3/4 2 3/4, double concave at back, squarish tail, concave at front too, and talked me through all the subtleties and what they do. In terms of my size he said that 9'2'' was perfect, and no more than 9'4'' because you don't need it. After me describing my board whilst he didn't know the make he said the dimensions were perfect and that I should ride it until its knackered, or a couple of years at least. He also mentioned never going to thin with a long board because you loose too much kinetic energy when paddling because of the flex.

So there you have it, no need for a new one right now which is good news, and good to know I've found a shop on the level, telling me not to by a new board, and they have such great longboarding supplies.

Just need to learn footwork now, I think that, rather than board, will change my surfing experience more than anything! (any tips would be appreciated)

Cheers

Guy

heh footwork.

I'm shufling up & down like a kook but keeping the board abotu right, need to practice th crosstep:)

Good he says keep with your old board, sounds like it'll do you fine, I know mine is way more than I need and a lot more capable than I am with it.

One thing now though is I realy need a bit of size (3-4ft or so) minimum to progress much more.

On single vs tri - tri fin gives more lateral thrust at the back when turning, giving you sharper turns, single fin allows you to carve curve turns, not sure it makes that much difference when learning but I think I feel more stable on single's

Sounds like your ready for a board to improve your surfing. My suggestion is go Egg since you have your fundamentals down. Great Egg shape boards are the Dewey Weber Fastback, Bing Karma or the Harbour Revovler. You can get on a 8'0 or 8'4.

Hey Guy.

Sounds like you found an awesome shoppe, make sure you tell eveyone you know about how great it is and that they should check it out.

Good luck with your board.

Be sure to check out Real Surf.com for your Manly and Bondi surf report.

WS

Unfortunately you have just been talked into an outdated dysfunctional surfing philosphy based on the idea that arbitrary tricks are more important than the pure waveriding function. .. . ..

It's just a bunch of heavily marketed crap.

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Yeah, instead you should seek out some hippy dude making about 8 boards a year on the other side of the planet & buy into what he's selling...

Not necessarily, I'm just pointing out that the whole noseriding/cross stepping longboard enterprise is analagous to making cars with square wheels or something like that. . . it's a dysfunctional anachronism .. . . real flat earth society stuff.

Making longboards which are vastly superior to the current mass market designs is so ridiculously easy that anyone can do it at home by following a few very simple rules.


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If people want to noseride and cross step & have fun doing it, which to me looks as much or more fun than any of the waves I've seen on your boards, whats the issue?

Let me ask you this:

Why do longboarders develop a desire to cross step and do other dysfunctional tricks which inhibit their waverding capablities ?

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How does it inhibit waveriding.

Is that a question ?

No, statement. All those deluded fools on longboards (mals) having fun, its all retarded inhibited crap, set them free...

here we go

I see that emotions are getting in the way of a clear understanding of the hydrodynamic principles involved.


Noseriding and cross stepping are dysfunctional moves and boards which are designed to accomodate those sort of antics are much less efficient as wave riding vehicles than they could be.

Fortunately the whole noseriding cross stepping thing is become a stale sideline and will soon become unfashionable

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It became unfashionable in the 70's....

Roy your a star but riding a wave in the most efficient manner isnt what its about.

You own a car with square wheels then I take it?

Or possibly hexagonal ?

. . .. . .With the steering wheel in the boot ?

If you think that riding waves is a secondary consideration and that arbitrary dysfunctional poses come first then IMO you are not really a surfer in the purest sense, but more of a poser. . . .

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