French Summer Board

[ChrisDallat]

Hey guys,

So I'm heading off to france in 3 weeks time to live there untill end of september, I will be stayin in or around Vieux Boucau and I'm just looking to buy a new board before i head out as my current ones are feeling a bit beaten. anyhoo, im guess from June - August its gonna be pretty small slowbreaking 2-3'' the majority of the time and i was just wondering what board dimensions you guys think i should be after roughly.

I'm 6'0, about 155-160lbs, I skate and am a fulltime ski and snowboard instructor, but i havent been on a surfboard the last year due to work, but have been out on the sponge a couple times in big swell since i got back to ireland. I have been drop kneeing fine on steep barreling waves, but my current sticks are a bit unstable for me atm and I want a board that i can have a bit more fun on this summer.

anyways my current boards both are about the same 6'0 & 6'2 - 18 1/2 - 2 1/2

i dont want to go back to mini mals and all that shiz since im passed that, so just a bit more of a stable floatier board but still fairly short? whats the verdict?

Cheers,

Chris

[ChrisDallat]

http://www.troggs.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=7168

http://www.troggs.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=9748

had my eye on these, what do you guys think?

[jon.biarritz]

Buy your board locally in France, there are world-class shapers building boards in the area. Here is where I would suggest going first. I'm personally a Bradley fan right now, and he shapes at Euroglass.

Euroglass in Soorts/Hossegor, France http://surfboards.quiksilver-europe.com/index.html - Christiaan Bradley, Mark Phipps, Brett Warner, Simon Anderson, Mark Richards, Phil Grace

Surf Odyssey in Soorts/Hossegor, France http://www.surf-odyssey.com/ - Simon Anderson, Darren Handley, Eric Arakawa, Maurice Cole, Bob McTavish

[jon.biarritz]

OK I checked out your links, and in my humble opinion you'll get far better boards at Euroglass and Surf Odyssey. They are both about 15 km north from Boucau where you'll be.

Other good custom shapers within a few miles of where you'll be, but who are just less well-known internationally: Axel Lorentz, UWL, Chevallier, Stark Surfboards, Slide Surfboards, PSM, Barland, Colors, RT Surfboards, Eric Rougé, Juanito Surfboards, Terry Surfboards, Mistic...and many more. The area is pretty much the epicenter of European surfing.