Should I buy the 7'3 mini mal?

[rickiel]

G'day mates!

I'm new to website. I just started to learn how to surf 4 weeks ago. And I was taught by some friends. I found that renting boards every week cost me a lot, so they suggested me to buy a board instead of renting it.

I surf at Torquay, Australia every Sunday. The waves there can be really mushy sometimes and other times they can be about head high. I can stand up on the board a few times now. The board I normally rent is 7'6 mini mals.

I found this board online a few days ago, it's a 7'3 mini mal, mint condition. It's from made from a local shaper. I'm 6'2 tall and 75 kg. Will this board long enough for me? Thank you.

[drowningbitbybit]

What about width, thickness, etc. 7'3 covers a whole range of possibilities.

A 'standard' 7'3 mini-mal might be a bit small, particularly if you haven't nailed it on the 7'6 yet. If you're not going to be surfing all that often (once a week isn't often), then you'd probably be better off on something in the 7'6 to 8ft range if you really want to make progress.

[dtc]

I agree with DBB, for what its worth! A 7ft3 board is not impossible, but you will be better off starting on a longer board (maybe 9ft), surfing that for a year or so, then going shorter. I understand that LBs are 'not cool' for some people, and people want to buy a board for the longer term rather than for their first year; but its a learner board and you are a learner (plus, obviously, LB can be much more than a learner board).

But you could do this - buy the 7ft3. Try it out. See what happens. If it works, then fantastic, you have your board. If it doesnt work, too frustrating, you cant catch waves or stand up or whatever, then put it aside for now and get a longboard. Get comfortable on that and then switch back to the 7ft3 board. You may end up spending more money now, but in the longer term you will probably end up with a mid length (7ft) board anyway so overall its no more expensive.