Need advice on buying board (relative beginner)

[Niamhers]

I am looking to buy a new (new for me but actually secondhand) board. I am not a complete beginner but any surfing I have done has mostly been using a 7 foot softboard.

I am a 5'4 girl around 60kg.

I am looking for a hardboard that will be challenging but not so challenging that I get frustrated.

The board I am most leaning towards getting is a 5'10 Bic Fish:
http://www.donedeal.ie/watersports-for- ... rd/7212657

But I have read up on Bic's and they don't seem to have the best name as a quality surfboard but there are a lot of mixed opinions on whether they are perfect for newbie's or not. What do you think of it? Also I think I would offer 100 euro for this board, is that fair?

There are also a few more available in my area but I'm not quite convinced they would be as suitable:

http://www.donedeal.ie/watersports-for- ... ed/6929160
This is a 6 foot Rusty but there isn't any info on the shape or anything. Does anyone know what shape/ model it might be from looking at the pictures?

http://www.donedeal.ie/watersports-for- ... le/6897416
I wouldn't be quite so keen on this one considering the price . . .

http://www.donedeal.ie/watersports-for- ... rd/6854289
I like this one because it's custom made and seems to be a decent price but I have a feeling it may be overly difficult

http://www.adverts.ie/water-sports/6-6- ... rd/5715089

I would be looking to spend between 100 - 150 euro so any of these that are more than that I would just make an offer within my budget.

Please help me choose a board and please constructive criticism on my suggestions

[dtc]

How good are you eg catching green waves regularly, going straight, able to turn, able to link a couple of turns together etc

Also, how often do you surf?

and how old are you - the younger the easier it is to learn (you dont have to say your exact age, just like 'under 20, under 30, old')

the rusty looks like a rusty GTR, http://www.rustysurfboards.com/product/gtr/ definitely not a beginners board (probably why its for sale, to be honest - over enthusiastic first purchaser realises the mistake)

The expensive one would actually be a really good board for you, unfortunately! Surfing a softboard is a bit different to surfing a 'real' board - how much non softboard surfing have you done?

Out of the others, the 6ft6 fatboy is probably the best, based purely on the sizing, cant tell much about the board itself.

You dont want to go too small too fast. You want something fat and wide and as long as you are willing to have. 5ft10 boards are not what you want - they are your 3rd board, or 4th board perhaps.

[Niamhers]

Thanks for the reply!

I'm 17 and i'm not exactly sure of my skill level at the moment to be honest. I haven't surfed in 1-2 years but before that I definitely wasn't doing anything fancy. I could catch some green waves and had a bit of control when it came to turning and I was fairly stable on the board (but that was a softboard).

In answer to your question on how much do I surf as I said above it has been a while but I am going on a 9 day surfing holiday next week and hope to do a lot more in the future. I still have my softboard I would just like to buy a more advanced hardboard for the trip so that I have something to challenge myself with.

I haven't done much on a hardboard but have used one a few times and really didn't find it much different to the softboard at all but that probably says more about the type of board it was than it does about my abililty.

I also think the 6'6 fatboy looks good but I'm a bit concerned because it doesn't come with fins and the board is a Tubes board and as far as I know Tubes have closed down.

Based on the extra information I have now given do you still think a 5'10 board would be unsuitable?

http://www.donedeal.ie/watersports-for- ... rd/6854289

http://www.donedeal.ie/watersports-for- ... rd/7212657

[dtc]

To be honest, at your level of experience, and taking into account weight/age etc, I would still go for something close to 7ft. Boards under 6ft are much harder to surf - search on this forum for 'beginner boards' or something similar to get the details. Personally I would go for something 6ft10 to 7ft, wide, (21 inches) and fairly thick (2 1/2 inches plus). Indeed, a mini mal is a much better choice.

http://www.adverts.ie/water-sports/cort ... il/2940566 (expensive but something like this is ideal)

or
http://www.adverts.ie/water-sports/take ... le/5863205 (could be ok)

If you want to try it out, and you are taking your softboard, then by all means buy a shortboard and see how you go. However, my fear is that you will spend your time not catching any waves, or even if you do catch them you will fall off very quickly. They are 'fine' if you plan to surf 5 times a week for the next 6 months; but for a 9 day surf you almost certainly will not get to the skill level to actually catch a wave.

Is there any reason why you particulaly want a 6ft board?

[Niamhers]

Thanks, all advice and info is very helpful. Unfortunately I don't think the budget will stretch that much at the moment so I might just wait another while before buying.

The only reason for my wanting to get a 6ft board was because there seems to be a large availability of them in my area within my budget.

But I think i'd be better off waiting another while and getting the right thing.

Thanks again.

[dtc]

No problem

There are probably a lot of 6ft boards because people buy them and then realise they cant surf...and the reason there arent many mid length boards (7ft or so) is because they work and people keep them.

If you have nice friends, see if you can borrow their various boards for an hour or two and figure out what you can surf and what you cant. Then work from there to see what kind of board to get.

Keep in mind that when you are learning to surf (including up to intermediate level), you can get a lot of waves (larger board) or fewer waves but more challenge/ability to do stuff once you get the wave (smaller board). Because you cant learn unless you are on the wave, the larger board is almost always better, unless you are able to spend a lot of time surfing.

[drowningbitbybit]

you cant learn unless you are on the wave.

Possibly the wisest words ever said