Surfing Waves

Hello guys, I'm new to this site, so forgive me if this is the wrong forum, or if this has been asked before. I've recently really started transitioning from shortboarding into noseriding because it's so much fun, but am rather limited by the performance of the board I currently use, a wavestorm. Before I go out and invest in a nose-ride specific board, I primarily surf spots that can get super crowded on weekends, and would love a board that has the paddling speed to be able to beat the crowd. But, I still know that the board is only as fast as it's engine. Ultimately, is a noserider that much slower than a classic/ all-rounder, and is the nose-riding capability of a nose-rider that much superior than a classic/ all-rounder? Any models you recommend that are under 950$? Once again, I understand that it is largely dependent on the skill of the surfer. Thank you so much for your responses, it really is much appreciated!

So you want to be on the nose! A few facts will help, your height, weight and what you can do as far as surfing on your wave storm. Age is somewhat relevant too.

A longer board without excessive rocker will out paddle short boards in a crowd.
Thing to look at are less rocker good width 22'" or 23" square tail, I wouldn't worry about the round nose concave on the bottom ( it shortens the wetted area and costs some paddle power). Rounded nose and thickness, some where between 9'1" and 9'6" weight dependent.
Where you live and surf might also suggest a range of options.

Terminology will differ, but usually a true "Noserider" will have
1) concave under the nose ( which i feel does slow the board down on the paddle )
2) reverse rocker, where the entry is flat and the tail is kicked up
3) soft 50/50 rails so the water wraps over the tail, not sheets off like on a hard edge. ( again making the board stick to the wave more )

I would go with a All-rounder board first before going to a true noserider / Log. Especially if you don't have Cross-Stepping down yet. If you're Shuffling, a noserider won't matter.

A week and a half now since anyone replied (and maybe since anyone cared), I feel like you could find a board for a lot less than a grand to learn noseriding on. I just got a wonderful used longboard for $180 that I'm sure someone more coordinated than I could get up onto the nose with. There are certainly some shapes that will make it easier, but almost any real hardtop that still floats will be easier to learn on than a wavestorm.

RobSF wrote:A week and a half now since anyone replied (and maybe since anyone cared), I feel like you could find a board for a lot less than a grand to learn noseriding on. I just got a wonderful used longboard for $180 that I'm sure someone more coordinated than I could get up onto the nose with. There are certainly some shapes that will make it easier, but almost any real hardtop that still floats will be easier to learn on than a wavestorm.

RobSF, we do care, questions were asked so we could go further with our recommendations of board type the thread originator is yet to reply.
Briefly concave nose specific noserider boards are slower to paddle as they have less wetted area to give glide ( like a long board with extreme rocker fails to give glide) .
Nose riding is a skill not just coordination ( secret here is to learn to cross step not jump shuffle like many) .
A Moderator's comment; we often get one post questions that do not generate a lot of answers,
This is a forum so it is really great to great feedback to our replies and answers and sometimes we even get thank yous. We do care!

Sorry, Jaffa.

I was really just making fun of myself for joining a conversation ten days late. And yeah, it's actually very interesting to me what makes a good noserider. Someday I may actually start looking for one myself. (I can dream.) Not sure I'll have $900 or $1,000 to spend, though.

Cool sometimes Aussie/US humour doesn't fully translate

No, I feel you RobSF. We still haven't heard back from the OP in 10 days. It's really nice ( and good manners ) when we hear back from them.

I recently bought one of these:

Had it out in about 4 sessions, I like the board. I can't nose ride, my front foot is still a foot from the nose at best, I'm shuffling more than cross stepping but I'm having fun learning. I didn't like the fin it came with and got a longer fin with more sweep, I like having more drive than loose turning. It doesn't paddle much faster than my performance longboard, but seems to glide better between paddle strokes, needing less effort to cover the same distance. It does get into waves a little earlier but catching steeper more critical waves is more difficult due to the flat nose rocker.

The board does have a concave in the nose, I would rather have better paddling than better nose riding, also I would like it 6 inches longer, but its hard to find the perfect board on a budget. The price is good for a brand new board, I wouldn't have experimented with a noserider if I had to pay as much as the OP was suggesting. I'm sure you can find a quality used board or a brand new mass produced board in the $300-600 range that you will not outgrow anytime soon.

Durp, forgot the link, if a mod could paste this url into my original post and delete this post, it would be much appreciated.

http://paragonsurfboards.com/surfboard/retro-noserider/

jaffa1949 wrote:So you want to be on the nose! A few facts will help, your height, weight and what you can do as far as surfing on your wave storm. Age is somewhat relevant too.

A longer board without excessive rocker will out paddle short boards in a crowd.
Thing to look at are less rocker good width 22'" or 23" square tail, I wouldn't worry about the round nose concave on the bottom ( it shortens the wetted area and costs some paddle power). Rounded nose and thickness, some where between 9'1" and 9'6" weight dependent.
Where you live and surf might also suggest a range of options.

Hi!,
I just wanna elaborate what you meant by height? Will 5'4 will affect?

Thelegend27 can you please stop attacking me I don't know who you are but I will find you

MartinBlasiusson wrote:

jaffa1949 wrote:So you want to be on the nose! A few facts will help, your height, weight and what you can do as far as surfing on your wave storm. Age is somewhat relevant too.

A longer board without excessive rocker will out paddle short boards in a crowd.
Thing to look at are less rocker good width 22'" or 23" square tail, I wouldn't worry about the round nose concave on the bottom ( it shortens the wetted area and costs some paddle power). Rounded nose and thickness, some where between 9'1" and 9'6" weight dependent.
Where you live and surf might also suggest a range of options.

Hi!,
I just wanna elaborate what you meant by height? Will 5'4 will affect?

Martin the height of a surfer is a determining factor in the size of long board a surfer should choose. As is weight age and fitness!

I notice that you say you are a sports analyst from Germany, but really we would love to,see more informed comments and answers than what you are offering. If you wish to analyse our sport engage in a little more conversation, even though English may not be your first language
I would like to hear real thoughts!