Long board/Short board - which for a big fella?

[Jeffb]

Hello to all,

I am new to surfing having been only a few times with my cousin who lives in Truro. As per-usual I started out on a big-old swell board but then progressed up to a mini-mal for my last few sessions...

I feel ready to buy a board now but don't have a clue what I should go for considering my hight and weight (and age, going to be 30 next year so no spring chicken )

Ok, I'm 6'2'', 14-1/2 stone and pretty much fit from my landscape gardening business/work)

What do you recommend for a first buy and to of course get loads of learning and practice in on???

Cheers,
Jeff

[essex sucks]

hay if u want too progress too a short board go for a mini mal at about 7ft6 or 7ft10 if you want too go too a longboard go for the now
cheers mark

[Jeffb]

Cheers mate,

That's sound advice.

One more thing though, I read the stats of all the top short boarders and they are all a fair bit lighter than me with non weighing much above the 12 stone mark...

Can heavier guys still be sucessful on short boards? I assume I would have to go for a larger, thicker board to be able to stand and paddle comfortably...?

Oh, and I guess from the name that you're stuck in Essex as I am too...? Not much surfing to be had round here........

Jeff

[bluesnowcone]

longboard

[drowningbitbybit]

One more thing though, I read the stats of all the top short boarders and they are all a fair bit lighter than me with non weighing much above the 12 stone mark...

Can heavier guys still be sucessful on short boards? I assume I would have to go for a larger, thicker board to be able to stand and paddle comfortably...?

Being a lightweight is probably an advantage if you want to go down to really small performance boards, but being on the chunkier side of average isnt a problem. Just get a 'big' shortboard.

Im over 6ft and top the scales at 12.5 - 13 stone and ride a 6'10 shortboard or a 6'6 fish.

So as or which board you should get - depends on what you want to move towards. Either way (long or short) you should probably be looking at a mini-mal or a funboard. Something with a fairly large volume.

[essex sucks]

yeah from essex hope too move too devon as soon as i can

[GowerCharger]

im 6'3 and 15 1/2 stone and do fine on my 6'10 thruster, and i was fine on it when i was as heavy as 18 stone too so dont worry about being confined to surfing a barge just yet. Bigger guy = bigger turns

[Jeffb]

Thanks for the replies guys,

GowerCharger, it's good to hear first hand from someone of my size who's been there and done it... Makes me feel more confident for starters!

So really the choice is mine, I'm not restricted to only long boards... Cool

Jeff

[dougirwin13]

If your local board shop is worth anything you should be able to walk in, tell them your height, weight, level of ability/experience and what you want to end up riding. They should be able to come up with the right board for you.

THEN ask if they have a very similar rental and take that out for a session.

If you want to go the shortboarding route get a "big guy's shortie". If you want to go for longboarding get a longboard - given your size, weight, etc I'd suggest something from 9'6" to 10'6" and at least 2 3/4" to 3 1/4" thick (depending on length). And if you want to learn both you'll need to pick one to master first and then expand to the other.

Not that I am an expert, but there's my 2c worth.

-doug

[GowerCharger]

just to add, I looked for a long time for my current board and couldnt find anything suitable - eventually ended up getting one custom made (costs about the same as a new board off the rack anyway) it has a little more thickness than a regular thruster - no problem for me cos of my size but smaller guys find it hard to turn on it. It was the first board of that type the shaper had made but a lot of shapers do have similar boards in their standard range, usually called a jumbo or something similar. A lot of 2nd hand thrusters in the shops are too short and too thin for most people to surf, bought by people getting too far ahead of themselves who find they cant surf them and end up selling them on.
However at your level you dont want to be jumping onto a thruster anyway, if your surfing well you might want to move onto a funboard or "fat boy flyer" type board in between, usually has a bit more length/thickness and a more forgiving shape with extra volume in the nose to help you with paddling. Like dougirin said, if you can rent a boards locally try different things before laying out your cash on something you might not get on with.