Surfboard advice for Beginner/Int on a budget

[yoz2k3]

Hi guys,


I've started surfing about 3years ago when I joined a surf camp and it got into me from the very first day (although I couldn't move my arms at the end of the session). Although I live in Romania where we only have an opening to the Black Sea and the surf is very occasional: choppy waves in late summer; gets a bit better in the autumn. I haven't checked the conditions in the winter yet. However, I'm only at a 2h ride to the sea and can easily check weather forecasts (much love for the poseidon monitoring system). When larger storms occur in the sea, generally we would get 1-2 days of waist high or larger waves.
As per my experience, since I started I joined about 6 surf camps (1w each) in Portugal/Canary Islands, did few sessions at the Mediterranean (Israel coast line) and this year I had to settle only with Black sea due to safety and travel restriction purposes. I'd consider myself as a beginner that manages to catch 70% of the waist/shoulder high waves, I always try to steer to ride along the wave line instead of going straight to the beach (usually it works), my fitness level is relatively ok although sometimes I get difficulties paddling out if I'm getting all the white water in my head (e.g. when wave breaks just 5-6feet in front of me). My duck diving is not that good (due to lack of experience), however, I am doing well with turtle rolls and punching through the waves.
Other aspects are: male; 31y old; 147 lbs; 5'5'' and I'd say I'm in good shape (frequently going to the gym; running twice/week). I've also got some kind of budget carve/skateboard from a local Decathlon (https://www.decathlon.co.uk/carve540-bi ... 23398.html) and I've been practicing hip work (for speed generation), turns and just feeling comfortable on a board.

During the surf camps and other sessions, I always used rented foamies and progressed from 8' long (80L - like this one https://www.decathlon.co.uk/school-8-su ... 05979.html) to smaller ones, such as an NSP 7.2' with ~55L volume epoxy board (mini mal shape I'd say). Last summer, while at a surf camp in the Canaries I managed to break 2 7.6' foam boards in some bigger surf which made me wonder whether I was doing something wrong, or the boards were quite old, or maybe I would need a more durable board. The NSP experience was really cool and I felt I had a lot of flexibility with that board.
My desire is to progress and slowly (but surely) transition toward shortboarding. Given my location and current restrictions, I would probably be able to surf only at the Black Sea and possibly 1-2 surf camps this year (I'm trying to be as optimistic as possible). For that to happen, I've started researching on possible options for my first board so that I can avoid rentals fees, relying on surf shops and their opening times, etc. The unfortunate constraints here are that 1) I'm on a budget and wouldn't want to spend more than 250-300 EUR on a board and 2) I need to find a seller/shop that can also ship to Romania for a decent price.

Considering some previous reads, I've came to the conclusion that maybe a 6'6'' soft top board with ~21' width and decent volume (>40L) would be a jump that wouldn't feel so steep (from what I've rode so far) but would also take me out of my comfort zone and make me push myself. In addition, it would also be a good fit for my car & airplane companies in case I want to travel with it.
I've come up with these two options (considering the constraints above) but I'd like to hear more from experienced/objective voices as I am afraid not to fall into the trap of going too short, too fast but also would like to get as much value for the money and be able to progress into turns and rail riding. Also, as unfortunate as it seems, I could not find any board rental places at my local seaside that have intermediate boards for rent. They either have foamies or the instructor's shortboards. This kind of means that I either need to buy something blindly or just wait till my next surf camp and try to find an intermediate board for rent in there.

What I found as options:
O'Neill Ripper 6'6 Soft Top Surfboard - 6'6''/ 22.63' width/ 3.14" thick/ 55L
SOFTECH FLASH 6'6" ERIC GEISELMAN - https://www.zumajay.co.uk/boards/surfbo ... -2018.html - same size, 21' width/ 45L

Some other options (not to keen about them):
Oxbow Egg 7'0 - 7ft 0 x 22 x 2.9 - 51L - https://www.boardshop.co.uk/oxbow-egg-s ... ft-0-white
Oxbow Fish 5ft 10 - 5ft 10 x 20.5 x 2.625 x 35L - https://www.boardshop.co.uk/oxbow-fish- ... kage-white

I'm open to other product options that you feel might suit my level as described above.

[dtc]

The issue with surfing infrequently is that your first few surfs will be worse than the level you were at when you last surfed, then you get a few surfs at the same level and only then are you able to start thinking about progressing. So getting a board that is too small makes all that even harder - if you are progressing slowly due to a small board, you are taking 2 steps forward, your break means 1.5 steps back. Very incremental/slow development. You are much better off with a longer board that allows you to do 3 steps forward, 1.5 steps back.

On the Black Sea you will want a large board; having a smaller board is going to create a lot of issues on small waves. If you were more skilled then a small grovellor that allows you to pump hard and build up speed is probably an option, but otherwise a larger board is definitely going to be much better. But a smallish board with a large volume (like the Oneall) potentially has the issue of being very corky (sitting on top of the water and hard to control)

Personally I suggest the Oxbow egg rather than one of the soft tops. Yes it may be that you surf this for 18 months and then decide you want to go shorter; but if you go short perhaps you surf that for 2.5 years before you are at the skill level you would have been with the longer board after 18 months. A 7ft is plenty short enough to develop many skills, have a look at Devon Howard surfing his mid lengths (eg https://vimeo.com/117554484 ).

If you really wanted a shorter board, the Geisleman board has FCS fins, meaning you can swap the fins around and get good quality fins. I couldnt tell what the O'Neill had, none of the websites mentioned the fins - one of the risks of softboards is that they have poor fins. It might have a proper FCS fins (which is good); but as mentioned I am worried that 55 L in a 6'6 board will make it unstable due to being too corky. So even though its lower volume the Geisleman seems preferable.

[yoz2k3]

Thanks a lot for the deep dive. Indeed, I would guess that my progress will not be that great in the context of surfing in the (good) weekends of September through November. There's also the chance of going abroad and taking the board in the plane but I'll raise my concerns when that will actually be possible (I'm still dreaming about a trip to the Canaries by the end of year or in Jan-Feb).

While being a bit caught with work and barely able to catch up with research, it seems my options are much more limited than expected due to the lack of well stocked shops that will also deliver to Romania. Thus, the Oxbow egg is out of stock. Additionally, I cannot find anywhere the Softech Flash and it's a pitty. I really felt it is a good fit.

Found a nice replacement, however, in this BIC option: https://www.boardshop.co.uk/bic-tough-t ... 6ft-6-blue
Details: 6.6 - 22.5 - 2.5 - 45 L
Anyone used BIC before? I've noticed Decathlon sells BIC boards too and reviews are not so great...

The 2nd option (although also out of stock for now and a bit off the budget) is from a shop that will actually deliver to Romania as I got a friend who ordered from the a while back:
It's a GO Soft top 6.8 - 21 1/4 - 3 - 47.2 L
Link: https://www.tt-project.com/portal2019/e ... ory_id=929

[waikikikichan]

My desire is to progress and slowly (but surely) transition toward shortboarding.

I think you should adjust your desire to be a "good surfer", and forget for now to getting a shortboard. Most beginners think it's a race to getting the shortest board possible. 6'6" is too small for you and you still won't be able to duck dive it anyways.

[waikikikichan]

But I do understand if you have limitations for space in your apartment or car. But I wouldn’t size down for air travel until you check the price/surcharges for surfboards. Trust me, if you put a board on an airplane it will get damaged.