Surfing Waves

Hi all,

I've a DILEMA. I've been surfing 6 years (and should know better by now) and have been bouncing around boards of all shapes and sizes. I've never taken the leap to a longboard (an 8ft Fluid Juice is the longest I've owned).

My good lady has caught the surfing bug (lucky for me!) and for the past 6 months has been riding a 9'1" longboard. Now and again, I take it out and RIp on it at our local break (highcliff). We head down to Saunton most weekends and I've recently been defaulting to a pals Jeff Hackman/Surftech board. Again, whenever I borrow this board I'm catching countless waves and carving all day, feeling like pro (not into noseriding btw).

I love paddling into those fat A-frame waves and feeling that gracefull,fast glide of the longboard before take off (getting all poetic now) Anyhoo, I'm looking to buy a new board and was thinking about going long (above 9ft) but now the 7s Super Fish (7'3") has taken my eye. Thinking it might supply the paddling grace and early take off of a long board, but carve like a short board. Anyone had much experience on both? I love shortboarding...but I hate to admit, the paddling just kills and I actually feel more confident in bigger surf with a bit more board under me. A lot of my pals (and now my other half) surf longboards so I'm also keen to join them in the lineup and not have to sit 100 yards further in.

Anyhoo, this is an essay now.....thoughts and opinions greatly welcome.....

This past summer I was in the market for a new board as well. I really wanted to go shorter than my 8'6" but I was concerned about the paddling and wave catching ability. I rode a lot of boards and spoke to a lot of shapers all who told me that I'd probably like a Fish best but that in reality the best board buying advice comes from simply riding the board.... unfortunately, I had no way of trying a fish.

As it turns out, I was out one day in some sloppy 8fts and I noticed a guy on, what turned out to be, a 7S Super Fish (a 6'3" I think). After speaking with him for a bit he was nice and trusting enough to let me try it.

In my short experience (3, 4 waves) it paddled very well and caught anything that my MacT Eightball was willing to catch. It definitely didn't pick up paddling speed as fast as a longboard, but it did had the added benefit of not being as big of a burden when paddling back out. Its a really stable board and personally I really liked the way it rode, the step deck is really a nice touch. I don't think you can whip it around as well as a thruster but it certainly rode fast and turned very well. Coming from a longboarder I really liked that board and it definitely convinced me to go for something similar (I didn't buy the 7S for reasons that had nothing to with performance, but I did buy a similar Quad Fin Performance Fish).

The biggest thing however is that you ride it, find a place to try out the board, because I know too many people who've bought boards they didn't try first and ended up really unhappy.

ameart wrote:Hi all,

I've a DILEMA. I've been surfing 6 years (and should know better by now) and have been bouncing around boards of all shapes and sizes. I've never taken the leap to a longboard (an 8ft Fluid Juice is the longest I've owned).

My good lady has caught the surfing bug (lucky for me!) and for the past 6 months has been riding a 9'1" longboard. Now and again, I take it out and RIp on it at our local break (highcliff). We head down to Saunton most weekends and I've recently been defaulting to a pals Jeff Hackman/Surftech board. Again, whenever I borrow this board I'm catching countless waves and carving all day, feeling like pro (not into noseriding btw).

I love paddling into those fat A-frame waves and feeling that gracefull,fast glide of the longboard before take off (getting all poetic now) Anyhoo, I'm looking to buy a new board and was thinking about going long (above 9ft) but now the 7s Super Fish (7'3") has taken my eye. Thinking it might supply the paddling grace and early take off of a long board, but carve like a short board. Anyone had much experience on both? I love shortboarding...but I hate to admit, the paddling just kills and I actually feel more confident in bigger surf with a bit more board under me. A lot of my pals (and now my other half) surf longboards so I'm also keen to join them in the lineup and not have to sit 100 yards further in.

Anyhoo, this is an essay now.....thoughts and opinions greatly welcome.....

The shaper who designed this board for Global surf industries is a great shaper ( Gary Loveridge) he did a number of high volume boards for me over the years, and they all worked well.
Here's some thoughts that may help about 7S boards , both the normal and the epoxy models are made in SE Asia, if that is an issue for you then consider that. There is some prejudice about them being fun board popouts and there are raves avbout how good their performance is don't know here but Gary's boards always were good stuff for me, would still be having him shape for me but I'm over 1000klms from him.

The epoxy would be more buoyant and a little harder to duck dive and drive through the white water but more durable.

I have a surftech G&S magic fish epoxy it does paddle as well as a longboard.
Hey maybe the surf shop has a couple of try it and see boards. Good luck

Dude, it sounds as though you are a longboarder now. With age, (41 now) I have gravitated towards the longboard just because they are easy. Less paddling, more waves and high performance has turned me into a longboarder more than short. I still have my short board but use it maybe 1 or 2 times out of 10 sessions. Truthfully, besides the paddling I feel I ride the boards about the same. I dont feel there's anything I can do short that I cannot do long but then again my surfing has gravitated more towards carving lines rather than ripping it up.... I would get you a high performance not so long board and rip it up.

I've got a 7s and a few longboards, both great, but the 7s isn't anything like a longboard to ride.

Haha, cheers for the feedback chaps. Surf Hound, you're right

Rang around for a 'try before you buy' but it seemed no-one is that keen to do that at present as they've been rinsed by the concept in the past!

I've been bouncing around local surf shops and doing a bit of online browsing. I was all set to fork out on a brand new Walden Magic today (a 2nd hand one fell through so I somehow justified the expense of a new one) when I happened across a 2nd hand (9'0") McTavish Ray Gleave board. Seemed more on the performance side of things and the price was good.

Took it out on a ripple at Bournemouth this afternoon and caught a shockingly good amount of waves. Can't wait to try it on a decent West coast swell over the coming weeks. I set it up as a single fin, seemed to turn on a dime (or should that be a penny?) There was also a couple of other longboarders out there dropping me some handy tips, cheers guys The wave count was pretty low but great, wave sharing attitude all around.....and the sun was out!

In short, I've taken the leap to longboard but will keep an eye out for a used 7s fish for those big messy days.

Thanks again for your feedback guys!

I have surfed that board plenty when I lived in Maui and it was fun. I have never heard anything but positive stuff on McTavish boards. I think with your choice you are heading to more waves and more fun. For me to grab my short board, the waves have to be atleast 4-5 (hawaiian size, which I think is overhead for you folks), a bit on the steep, powerful side or I grab my longboard. The "shorties" do look a bit cooler but I let the youngin's have there day with that while I am out back catching all I can handle.

I own an 8ft 7s superfish xl. great shape . very stable. slow start. paddles well once it picks up. Goes fast. I'm pretty new to surfing but have been into watersports all my life. I have a poly. Don't make that mistake. I really want another one of these boards but the poly dings every single session. Its a very fragile board. It gets pressure dents if I look at it too hard and has a tendency to land on the tail and crack. I'm 240 lbs though and kind of new but its not worth the heartache IMHO. I blame the thin-ness of the glass but I would buy another one if I knew that the epoxy was put together well enough. Unfortunately I don't have an epoxy to test. Its perfect for where I surf though. Frisky and takes small waves well.