Surfing Waves

i started surfin half a year ago on bic 7´3 and I can do on it just about anything I wanted out of surf but now I want to get more out of the wave and I find my bic limited as well it is quite hard to duckdive 6ft and up waves so I´m thinking about buing a shortboard but I´m not shure about what size and thickness I should get,I´m about 5´8 height ,70kg and 31 years old and I´ll be using it mainly in south and north spain,portugal and southwest france .Any input would be appreciated thanks andy

if my 'math' is correct your around 160 pounds?? thats just an estimate, but...

if this is correct i would go with about 6'4-6'6 short, about 2 inches thick.
or if your gonna be in smaller waves, go witha 6' fish, mabye 5'10.

if your not around 160 pounds, that you know of, then treast it like a direct relationship, weight goes up, board size goes up, weight goes down, board size goes down.

You're slightly shorter than me & 5 kg lighter. I'm therefore assuming you're quite slim physically, and what people would call of an "athletic" type of build. I'm assuming from your comments you're a capable paddler.

A first shortboard for someone like yourself should be 6'5"-6'7" long, and 19"-20" wide. It should have a "flat" rocker, medium rails, a generous tail and a nose broader than the average high-performance shortboard, i.e. measured 12" back from the nose it should be at least 12" across at this point. Understand?

The flat rocker will make it easy to paddle fast (to catch a wave), the broad nose will make it start planing with less effort (more surface area to lift you), the medium rails will make it turn predictably, the broad tail will make it hold speed when planing small/dead waves and the generous width will give you enough total volume to enjoy your first shortboard....rather than curse it.

Once you get this sort of board wired....then go to a nasty little 6'2"-3" narrow-nosed, high-performance shortboard....And keep the above first board for small wave-crap surf fun days....or your girlfriend to use :-)
Talk to a good local shaper & get a custom. Money well spent.