Are mini longboards a good compromise ?

[Boone]

Hi everyone,

I'm an intermediate surfer. I weigh 65 kg and I am 1m77 tall. I'm thinking about buying a new surfboard. I usually surf with a longboard and start walking on he board. I would like to try mini longboard (not beginner board but 6'-8' mini mal with large nose like the one on the picture - Love Child - 7'6 - 22 1/4” - 3 1/4” - 58.6 ltr).

For those who already surf these kind of board, what are you thinking of it ? Is it a good compromise ?

I would like to walk on the board, what size do do advise me between the following:
6'4 21 1/2” 2 7/8” 42.6 ltr
6'8 21 3/4” 3” 47.6 ltr
7'0 22” 3 1/8” 52.6 ltr
7'6 22 1/4” 3 1/4” 58.6 ltr
8'0 22 1/2” 3 3/8” 66.6 ltr
I would say the 7'6 or the 8'0 to be able to use it almost as a longboard (with a bit less bulkiness).


Thanks !
Boone

[IB_Surfer]

I have an 8ft minimal and dig it, now use it more often than my longboard. I can walk up and down easily, but can’t noseride it, maybe you can. What I like is that when you step on the tail you get to really whip the board around a lot easier than my longboard.

I also have a 7’4 funboard, almost a minimal but not quite, that one I can’t walk, just no need to.

The longboard is easier for catching waves, especially on a small or crowded day, but keep leaving it at home

[waikikikichan]

Like a over a decade back, Squatted down longboards were getting popular with the longboard folks. Among the popular shapes was the Donald Takayama Scorpion. A big round full nose of a noserider with a pulled in tail with 3 feet of foam missing in the middle. Sounded good, but a lot of the longboarders tried and ended up not being able to ride, let alone noseride.

Usually I would never recommend a Pin tail, to someone learning to noseride. Pins are harder to sink down flat, they kind of want to run or squirt to the side. I think a Squash tail would be better.

[Boone]

Thanks for your answers !

@waikikichan, most of the mini long that I found are pin tail ou round pin tail. I guess to allow both noseride (thanks to the large nose) and control/hook in more swallow waves ?

It's hard to find mini log with squash tails. Would you think that a diamond squash round tail would be good to ? What about a round tail ?

[jaffa1949]

The difference with a pin and less so as you get rounded tail is those tails are more to have less drag and so don‘t exercise the tail hold down as a square or squashtail, diamond works too but the less meat you have you have across the tail the less control for nose riding!

[Boone]

Thanks !

I think that will go for a Torq mini longboard Pinline 8' or an equivalent. This board has a squash tail and a quite big volume (60L) that seems good for what I want to do with it.

[Geezer]

I like mini mals and one will always have a good lace in my quiver. I’ve had your basic 7’6” squash tail, a 7’ rockered pintail, that 6’8” eggy board I posted here a little bit ago that I hated and sold shortly after, a 7’ something NSP, an eggy southpoint and a couple others I’ve forgotten about probably. I’m 6’1” and 90kg . What I’ve found that works for me with waves here in Bali is this: big round nosed boards work for me best if they have a relatively pronounced rocker and more than average volume as compared to other boards of a similar design and length from other boardmakers. That’s what suits me, my size, the waves I ride and how I ride them. I have a mini Mal now that has been in my quiver for a few years that at 8’ has longboard level volume but is shorter, quicker to turn and fits in a wave a bit better but is still stable enough to walk (I don’t nose ride but I do move around on it a lot). I ride it as a 2+1twin with a little trailer stabilizer fin. Board is so wide and thick and the rails so fat it doesn’t really surf great, rails bounce off the wave and it’s harder to sink a rail off the bottom turn. But it’s fun and fast and in your words, a good compromise.

I have a 7’2” for the other end of the mini Mal spectrum. It’s 21” wide and 3 1/8” thick. It has a good amount of rocker and is more of an egg shape. Rails are relatively narrow and it’s a round tail. The extra volume on both boards allows me to get in a bit earlier which is offset by my mass which in the end means I’m getting in about the same place as the Balinese guys on similar type boards get in.


Between the two boards they cover what I look to a mid size board to be able to do. Here’s what they look like:

For the boards of this type I’ve tried in the mid 6’ range, I have decided that if I surf a bird that size I want the lower swing weight, rocker and narrower nose that fits the wave better. But again, that’s in no small part to the waves I ride.

[Geezer]

Just saw this in the local used board buy and sell. Seemed to fit here perfectly.

I added the list of popular sizes the shop does as standards.

[waikikikichan]

Too bad it doesn't come with a center box option.

[Geezer]

I got this board a little while back; chinese made hot buttered eps/epoxy that is super fun, I guess modeled after the original scorpion though the nose is a bit more pulled in. I got it in 7’ and it surfs more like a shortboard than a longboard until you try and turn too sharply or think about hitting the lip…good for mushy and or fat waves. I like that it is light; can wait to paddle later for a wave as the board accelerates really quick. The light weight is good for my daughter as well. The board is still substantial enough to be decent in wind chop; its not firewire light and so far has been really durable; ridden it at least 10 sessions and not any signs of compressions yet. My daughter is on this one now as her current board; a big jump from the 9’ to this but at 14 and her experience she’s making the adjustments pretty quickly. First session was overhead on the sets and after she dealt with the fear of later takeoffs and what looks like a huge wave in comparison to getting in earlier on a longboard she started to click and catch waves. So far have tried it as quad and as a single….really alot of fun, hs made less than exciting wave days more enjoyable. I told myself I was getting it for her but had to “test it” first…..hahaha she’s going to have a fight on her hands!