Surfing Waves

Hi,

I would like to buy a surfboard and I need some advice.
I only go out a few times a year, because the nearest break is about a 2h drive, and the swell reaches only a weak mushy 3-4ft on a good day.
But I do go on vacation to France at least one week a year to get some proper swell.
Three months ago my girlfriend bought a bic 7.3, which I surfed for 6 sessions. I'm able to catch unbroken waves and follow the green face of the wave to the beach and do some basic turns on it. Next week we will leave for a week to Lacanau and I would like to have a surfboard of my own.
I think the bic has a heavy feel to it and doesn't turn easily, so I was thinking of something a little more responsive, something on which I can progress. I was thinking perhaps a hybrid fish - thruster type board.
I'm 5.9ft tall and weigh only 125pounds.
Four months ago I started going to the gym twice a week. My paddling power has improved a lot since, but I still have difficulty paddling out the bic, because I cannot duckdive it. So I think I could progress more if I could paddle out (a smaller board?) more easily.

So what board ( type,length, width, thickness,...) do you recommend?

Thanx!

u know what i recommend, i recomend you use SEARCH

Ok cool. How do I use search?



Seriously, I obviously used search several times, and I wouldn't go through the hassle of registering and then typing in my question if I would have found a satisfying answer in the first place, would I?

I appreciate some more opinions.
Thank you!

of course, don't worry, all questions are fine here and i'm sure you used search, sometimes it is difficult because you want a personal answer. Surfboards are expensive things, you don't wanna buy the wrong one.

Please feel welcome to the forum, and I think I'd Rather be Surfing was probably in a ratty mood last night, and is such a nice girl, so IRBS I think you should apologise for making a new member feel unwelcome!!

Anyway, what was the question again?! Oh yeah, you surfed a 7'3 bic board, now you want another. I don't really think I've got the experience to answer that, so I'll leave it up to the others....

And it sounds like you have been having a great time surfing so far so that's wicked.

Well, I don't know what Lacanau's waves are like at this time of year (or any time of year to be honest) but instead of buying a board to take there, what about buying one when you get there. You may be able to get a good second hand one from a surf shop there, and you have the advantage of experienced advice from the surf shop staff.

Thanks for the kind words iomarti.

el_timmo: Accoring to wannasurf.com the waves should be about 5-6ft around this time a year.
Considering I'll be leaving in three days, buying a board in Lacanau as you suggested seems a good idea. Of course I would like to spend as much time as possible in the water instead of running around looking for a board. Also my French ain't what it used to be so that complicates things a little bit...

Anyway, perhaps some people with similar body weight can chime in and share their experience.

Thank you!

boards are expensive in lacanau, surfing is basically the main industry in the town so they make a lot of money off tourists buying boards. i know this from breaking a board over there once a few years back, and i had a look this year at prices too.
After experiencing the kamikaze style of some of the surfers there this year (almost as bad as their driving) i would say a bic is a good choice due to their bullet-proof-ness, i saw a hell of a lot of bics over there.
Dont count on 5-6ft, its basically a little bit bigger than here but the waves pack a bit more punch (and can get hollow if the sandbars are right) in fact if it is 6ft youll be lucky to get out unless its really clean.
Also some advice, dont surf the main beach there it gets really rammed, head to the north beach past the surf school, or the super-south (lion) beach (although the sandbars werent that good there when i was there and you might have to dodge the occasional german nudist).

Im 6'1 130 pounds no biggie. You could get a fish if you plan to try and surf more.

Thanks for sharing your experiences with Lacanau GowerCharger.
I would like to try something a step up from the usual bic. So maybe it's better to make a detour while driving to Lacanau to get a board. Does anybody know a good surfshop in the area?

Patrick__69 what kind of fish are you talking about? A twin-fin like for example the rusty mod fish or do you mean something like a rusty piranha? Care to share your experience?

Thank you!

im in the exact same situation as you!
i am about your size and weight. I whent to lacanau for 2 weeks lesson (im half french i live in teh US)
Well after i got a board. Its a 6.6 shortboard that is pretty thick, squash tail. Its a spider board.
After a day i was ridding it fine. I would go with something like that. Its light, challenging and has nice turning. But it is fragile!

swellsnipper wrote:Hi,

I would like to buy a surfboard and I need some advice.
I only go out a few times a year, because the nearest break is about a 2h drive, and the swell reaches only a weak mushy 3-4ft on a good day.
But I do go on vacation to France at least one week a year to get some proper swell.
Three months ago my girlfriend bought a bic 7.3, which I surfed for 6 sessions. I'm able to catch unbroken waves and follow the green face of the wave to the beach and do some basic turns on it. Next week we will leave for a week to Lacanau and I would like to have a surfboard of my own.
I think the bic has a heavy feel to it and doesn't turn easily, so I was thinking of something a little more responsive, something on which I can progress. I was thinking perhaps a hybrid fish - thruster type board.
I'm 5.9ft tall and weigh only 125pounds.
Four months ago I started going to the gym twice a week. My paddling power has improved a lot since, but I still have difficulty paddling out the bic, because I cannot duckdive it. So I think I could progress more if I could paddle out (a smaller board?) more easily.

So what board ( type,length, width, thickness,...) do you recommend?

Thanx!

I was in Lacanau from 10 september till yesterday, so maybe we just saw each other.

I agree with GowerCharger. The waves can slam hard in Lacanau and it's very risky with a foam board. I broke the noise of a foam mini-malibu in Lacanau.

I ride a bic 7.3 too myself as well and I find it very easy to paddle out even in hard conditions. I can just duckdive it (1m75 and 65 kg) and I turtleroll when I am seriously hit. I do swim 3-4 times a week, so that might explain why I get out back easy. I think the bic does a wonderfull job in this size of waves (1-2m). Yes it's hard to turn and heavy, but on the other hand it's very solid and floats well. I bought the board for 100 EUR, so price/quality it's the best you can get I think. I would never sell it.

Of course you can always buy a tribord malibu or evolutive in the Bordeau Decalton. I heared good about them and they have a nice price.

First I would like to thank everybody for the advice.
Trip I think we missed each other because I got back home the 9th. Wish I could have stayed longer...
Anyway, the first days I rented a couple of boards to see what suited me best. I first tried a classic twin-fin fish. I believe it was 6.0 - 2 3/4, can't remember the width anymore but it had huge fins on it. This board was sooo easy to paddle, it would take off like a rocket. But it would also stall quickly and I found steering to be rather difficult.
I also tried a more modern fish with a tri-fin set-up. it was 6.3 - 2 3/8, so it was a bit longer and thinner than the twin-fin. I didn't expect the paddling to be that much harder than the twin-fin, but I found it a lot easier to control.
So I figured I needed a modern fish with a bit more volume than the 6.3 I tried, to ease paddling and finally I went for an epoxy modern fish with following dimensions: 6.6 - 21 - 2 5/8
I find it is easier to paddle than my bic 7.3 and I have had no problems popping up. Riding it almost feels like I don't have a board under my feet. Steering the board also feels a lot better.
Although you can even ride the board in the whitewater, the thing I really have to improve is keeping the board in the face of the wave to keep it up to speed.
Needless to say I'm really happy with this board and already had a lot of fun riding it.

Here are some pics of my new board:






Now can I get some swell over here please, so I can start getting used to the artwork of my new board.