Surfing Waves

Hi all,

I'm still on my endless quest for my next board - a tonne of cash would help. At the moment I'm on a waterlogged 8ft foamie (which I have become irrationally attached to, even though I have to ride it on the nose to get anywhere, which I believe is a combo of my piss poor technique and it's excess baggage).

Anyway I have been trying to try out some different boards - the big 8ft mals, still feel great, v stable, but a little to big and not that responsive, so I'm thinking about a 7s superfish. They come up all the time second hand and GSI currently has a sale on new ones.

http://www.surfindustries.com/shop/au/s ... surfboard/

First question - are these boards great or are they rubbish?

I've heard varying opinions and the main criticism seems to be they're pop-outs - is there more to it?

Second, I want something that turns, apparently these things do, but as nothing in life is free - what's the catch (lack of stability I'm guessing?)?

Third - these boards all come made out of different materials Poly v PE v FF - which is more buoyant, more ding resistant.

And

finally if you are still with me would you say this would be a good next board to get, and would you go for the 7'3 or 8ft? My stats are as follows: Sex F, Height 177, Weight veers between 80-85 (it's all muscle ) - ability - just up from beginner, been surfing for around 6 months, confident on big stable boards, but after a bit more of a challenge.

Sorry it's a bit of an essay - any recommendations/suggestions -should I get a minimal instead and if so what kind? There are so many different makes out there, I just have no idea.

nicky just about everything will turn better than a waterlogged foamie, ( barge really) You could go a 7S in the 7''3"to7'6'range they are not bad , they are pop outs but are a reputable pop out brand, all smaller boards are more turnable and less table than a barge.
There is an argument against GSI boards is that they are pop outs, but id you buy Korean,Japanese, Chinese which most of us do in any appliance or car.
I know the original shaper for the 7S boards he always made my boards when i lived nearby, good designs, good flotation The PE and the FF are more buoyant and a stronger than than the poly.
Buoyancy has some issues with duck diving and being a little corky when driving under whitewash.
the recovery of any difference in performance will you upgrading your skills, your skill will improve the stablity.
Last comment see if you can try boards and form your own opinion

"just about everything will turn better than a waterlogged foamie"

Very good point Jaffa Do you think the 8ft would be too big? I'm wary of getting a board and then hating it cos it's too small - would love to find somewhere around Sydney where I could try both sizes.

I have to admit I've been eyeing these up for a while and the sale element is definitely a bit of a boost, plus I get paid on Monday

I've never surfed one, but I have duck-dived underneath one as a friend of mine flew along the face of a wave far faster than I thought he would
So, yes, from my secondhand experience, they're pretty good boards.

nickyb wrote:Do you think the 8ft would be too big? I'm wary of getting a board and then hating it cos it's too small

8ft is a bit of a barge, but not quite a proper longboard - worst of both worlds?
You'd be fine - after a bit of comedy flailing - on a smaller one as Jaffa suggests

The 8ft 7S is what you feel good about , it would be better than the 7'3" or 7'6" it will turn well. And really hold together your next stage!

Hi

I've surfed my friend's 6'8 7s, it was good fun, paddles well, catches waves nicely and dead easy to turn. My friend's has five fin boxes so you can choose quad or thruster. It was her first step down board from a mini mal.

I ordered the 7'3 - let the comedy flailing around commence

nickyb wrote:I ordered the 7'3 - let the comedy flailing around commence

Keep us updated!! Good luck!

nickyb wrote:I ordered the 7'3 - let the comedy flailing around commence

Yup, keep us updated and let us know just how much flailing there is!

If you're all very lucky I'll stick the go pro on it and cut a 'best-surfing-fails' montage!

nickyb wrote:If you're all very lucky I'll stick the go pro on it and cut a 'best-surfing-fails' montage!

I think if you put the time and effort in, you can progress really quickly and up your level of flailing by quite a lot. After a few months, you'll be able to do much better surfing fails than you can at the moment. I can do much better comedy wipe-outs these days than I used to be able to

drowningbitbybit wrote:

nickyb wrote:If you're all very lucky I'll stick the go pro on it and cut a 'best-surfing-fails' montage!

I think if you put the time and effort in, you can progress really quickly and up your level of flailing by quite a lot. After a few months, you'll be able to do much better surfing fails than you can at the moment. I can do much better comedy wipe-outs these days than I used to be able to

It's true and with a hard pointy board - there's a lot more scope for comedy injuries!

nickyb wrote:

drowningbitbybit wrote:

nickyb wrote:If you're all very lucky I'll stick the go pro on it and cut a 'best-surfing-fails' montage!

I think if you put the time and effort in, you can progress really quickly and up your level of flailing by quite a lot. After a few months, you'll be able to do much better surfing fails than you can at the moment. I can do much better comedy wipe-outs these days than I used to be able to

It's true and with a hard pointy board - there's a lot more scope for comedy injuries!

Hopefully not too bad an injury ....but stick the Go Pro on it ...could make for good watching

So my new board arrived and I took it out for 45 minutes.

Major victories include - not breaking board, no losing a fin, not snapping the leash, no getting out and realising I hadn't but enough wax on

It will definitely take a little bit of getting used to but wasn't as hard as I thought it would be - things I noticed.

a - it's definitely harder to paddle, not horribly so, but I don't cane it through the water anymore. Also it's harder to get out on, which was a little bit of a surprise. Anyone know if it's worth trying to duckdive one of these, or am I better off sticking with a turtle roll? I think the paddling will come with time.

b - when i did get on a wave it went like the clappers - which in turn made it harder to stand up - the board shot off ahead of me a couple of times, and I ended up in some bizarre positions on the board with lots of comedy falling off. Any tips for this - do I just need to get up quicker?

c - balance - not as stable but again not a (complete) disaster, I think it will be ok after a few sessions - stay low right? I think I was trying to get straight up, because I can on the other board. Anyone got any other thoughts on this?

d - turning - the one wave I did get up on I turned straight off the back of (it was very small) oops, I'm guessing I just need to get a feel for the board?

e - um anyone else feel overly protective of a new board? I hated putting wax on it (so shiny!) and a couple of times I didn't try and stand because I didn't want to risk pearling and burying the board in the sand and possibly hurting it (jesus!), I just need to get over this right?

a. duck diving - it will be hard. The problem with coming from a big board is that you dont learn to duck dive on a big goard, so when you get to a board that might be duck-diveable, you dont have the skills. Whereas learning on a shortboard means you know what to do and can then more easily deal with a bigger board. So I would read up how to do it and practice on small days or now and then and see what happens.

b. yes or aim more sideways along the wave. But, yes. You catch the wave later than a bigger board and have less time to pop up; although if the board shoots ahead of you in the pop up it might be that your hands are actually pushing it forward rather than pushing straight up.

c. yes, it will be less stable. And feet positioning is more important - for an LB you can more or less stand anywhere. For a shorter board the critical spots are smaller. Its just a matter of time and practice and learning the board.

d. the shorter the board the smaller the movements required. Won't take long to figure out.

e. for sure. My old LB goes on the roof rack. My new board goes in the car, or if the kids insist on sitting in the car rather than walking, I put extra padding on the roof rack...But I dont worry too much about hitting the sand, the 7S and indeed most boards (other than high performance short boards with feeble glassing) are pretty tough.

Hey Nicky! How do you find the board after a few months on it??

That superfish has really caught my eye. I'm not ready to step down yet but when I do I'd really REALLY like to try one of those.

Thanks for the review. Im interested in a 7s down the road. Im curious to hear how it does after you beat on it for awhile.
I had all the same problems going from a 7'6 to a 6'8. Every pop up my feet would land together and id miss the wave. I was hesitant. Forced myself through a few face plants on Steeper sections and i started staying lower. Then it all fell into place. I still have trouble with angled takeoffs and find myself racing down the face straight but my bottom turn is much quicker now and i love going fast.