So I'm a beginner-intermediate cold water surfer, 37, average fitness, 6'3", 200 lbs (maybe 215 lbs with thick wetsuit, hood, booties, gloves) and get about 20 days mostly winter beach break surfing in each year.
When I surf glassy southern waves in boardshorts on vacation I like to ride 6'8" fish in the 40-45litre range.
Back home in my wetsuit, on 3-5 ft glassy days I enjoy my eggy 7'4", 3" thick, 21 7/8" wide 54 litre pu hybrid board with a 2+1 fin setup.
For the other 16 days a year, I'm generally getting frustrated.
I surf in Tofino, so we see sectiony beach break that's often 5ft+ fat ground swell that is almost never hollow. Summer is small. My biggest problem is not moving fast enough. I'm way too slow in the water to seek out shifting peaks, spend way too much time trying to paddle through whitewash back to the lineup, and I'm finding myself slightly behind the peak way too often. Even at the beginning of my sessions I feel like I'm dragging half an ocean behind me.
Current board - Could it be that I'm going 2+1? I have a quad/centre fin box setup. Better options to run?
New board - I've been thinking of moving to EPS, increasing volume, looking for different shapes. Firewire boards are easy for us to get in Canada, so I'd been considering their lineup. I'd been considering anything from a big Addvance to their longboards. I've never surfed one before but at this point I'd do pretty much anything to up my paddling speed in the water and boost my wavecount.
- Dimensions of current board
