upgrade from 6'6" pop out

[tyler45]

hi,

i've been surfing an nsp 6'6" short board for the last 4 years. it's great, but recently i got a catch-surf 5'6" skipper fish (foam) and now realise how heavy and cumbersome the nsp board is

i am comfortable on both boards (albeit extremely unradical), and the fish is awsm for summer waves and bigger waves too if they are clean, but it's very light and very flexible and i'd like a more stable board for bigger waves and windier days (i surf onshore 2-6 ft the vast majority of the time - mediterranean chop).

tbh i'm quite happy with the dimensions of the nsp 6'6" (20 1/8", 2 7/16"), and i love the fact that it's more or less ding-proof, but i'd like something lighter and snappier but still tough and with enough volume (i weigh 80 kg and am not getting any fitter/younger lol)

would really appreciate some recommendations as where i live is not very surf-orientated and there's no surf-shops or shapers, so i'm going to have to order blind online.

i was originally thinking about a larger short board, but considering we hardly ever have proper swell and very few reefbreaks, maybe a 6'0" fish or egg might be good? i don't really know much about shapes though.

i don't want a longboard yet, that will be the purchase after next (!). i don't have unlimited budget, but anything up to 400 should be ok.

many tks!

[dtc]

I think you are thinking in the right direction - a fish or an egg shape. The exact size is subject to your honest opinion about your surfing ability and the waves - I would be tempted to go bigger rather than smaller (remembering that a foam board is much 'floatier' than a PU board). By bigger I mean more towards 6ft6, your current size, keeping it fairly thick. Look for boards with the wide point around your chest area, rather than mid board.

There are heaps of boards around that fit these criteria. I suspect you might just have to pick a reputable company (Lost, CI, Firewire etc - there are others) and find the board within their range that suits you and order it. The quality should be ok. Whether you can find one for your budget I'm not confident - most boards retail for over that and buying second hand over the net might be hard. Esp with transport.

[tyler45]

hi dtc,

many thanks for advice. makes sense. i've just had a look at some of the boards you recommend - god they look gorgeous, especially some of the lost boards (but the price! - er.. darling, about the new surfboard i wanted... lol)

they've got a great little scale at lost to calculate the volume you might need according to weight, fitness and waves - looking at that i need about a 30-32l board. which again makes sense because the 6'6" i surf now is 33l

again much appreciated!

[jaffa1949]

Might be able to suggest surf shops if you let us know where you surf . We have forumites in Crete, Turkey, Israel Egypt an round the entire coast so there might be help and crew to surf with

[dtc]

Don't use those volume calculators for anything other than a check AFTER you have decided on the right board. This is my little bugbear at the moment, but my views on volume are here viewtopic.php?f=14&t=23339&hilit=+volume#p173164

Volume is useful if you are buying a board that has the same shape/outline as your current board - as a check that your choice is bigger or smaller or the same as the current board, depending on what you want. But if you are changing shape or rocker or thickness or width then volume doesn't really tell you much.

Also, those volume calculators are a bit all over the place - try the lost and the Firewire calculators and see the difference...

What I think you need is a board with a flat rocker (for smaller/less powerful waves), fairly wide nose and a widish tail (not a pin tail at least). You probably want a bit of thickness because of the nature of the waves, but length is less important (ie don't agonize between 6ft3 and 6ft5). As mentioned, wider at chest than waist.

Looking at the lost boards only, just to give you a better idea, maybe something like the V2 stub, may be the RNF5 or even 'the plank'. I know a shaper down my way (Australia) who has made a board a bit like the plank and, it looks odd, but is getting rave reviews. These are all pretty wide/thick boards, if you are used to 33L then maybe a board like the suggested ones that is around 35L or so - which could be close to 6ft.

Anyway, I know that a Lost board is probably out of your budget/ability to purchase at the moment, but just as the type to look for

Btw, I haven't surfed any Lost boards and I'm not recommending them as such, they were just the website I picked to show you my thoughts.

As Jaffa said, let us know. Maybe you need to make a special trip to France or Bali or somewhere and pick up a board while you are there

[tyler45]

thanks; loads of good info in that thread you linked dtc. i actually live in ibiza - so a trip to the north spanish coast would be the best option - although i believe there are a few decent surf shops in mallorca and valencia. surfing is actually growing at quite a rate here. when i started surfing here 7 years ago there were 15 or so surfers. now there must be 30-40 and ever growing numbers of SUP'ers. there are a surprising amount of waves here too. the island catches all directions.

i've been out 3 times in the last week on my 6'6". after yesterday's session i think i might actually carry on surfing that for the moment. it just took me a while to adjust to it after surfing the foam fish all summer - with that you twitch your toes and it changes direction; the 6'6" needs proper weight changes and more solid technique - i had some good waves yesterday with some pretty cool turns (in my head at least) - so think i might save the money for this winter - carry on surfing on the popout and look to upgrade winter after next