Surfing Waves

Hey, my name is Luke.
I had surfing lessons about 5 years ago, but never went anywhere with it. Now I am in the Philippines and have started surfing once again and really took off with it. I have been using a 6'6'' thruster funboard and been able to get up on that pretty easily with a bit more paddling. I am a 6', 168lb, avid rock climber, so I am in good shape and athletic. The part I am confused about is the thickness and width of the board, especially since I am heading back to the states soon and will be surfing on the east coast at OBX/VA beach most of the time. I want to purchase a funboard with a bit more length and buoyancy to catch smaller waves with ease, but I don't want to lose the maneuverability of a shortboard. Any ideas on what type of board I should purchase would be much appreciated! Thanks!

You could get a 6'6" fish that is extra wide and thick and that should work. I guess adding thickness and width gives you more floatation without altering the dynamics too much, width makes more change than thickness in how the board surfs but length is the biggest change because you end up having to throw around a the part of the board that protrudes past your feet. A foot longer shouldn't be too bad depending on your skill but the pro surfers notice a difference in an inch or two of length. Lots of rocker makes up for some length.

So you're on a 6'6 but want something with a bit more volume and length, but want to keep the feeling of a shortboard...

My recommendation would be to talk to a shaper and get a fatboy shortboard made with proper rocker and rails. A problem of buying off the rack once you start to get towards 7'0 is that the boards tend to get more learner friendly and less performance oriented (no matter what the advertising bumpf says).

I've got a fatboy board thats 6'10 x 21 x 2 3/4 (or something like that) but has got "proper" rails and rocker. It isn't as manoeuvrable as my 6'2 (not by a long shot in fact), but is at least as manoeuvrable as the 6'6 hybrid that I used to ride. It gives the advantage of having a bit of volume but still surfing like a shortboard.

As I said, you don't see many like it on the rack, and I got mine made custom - its a sweet board

Also, if you do find how to get a more bouyant board to catch smaller waves but that has the manourverability of a shortboard, let us know!

Its all a trade off - you generally cant have one thing without something else being reduced

That said, you could go totally the other way and get one of the dumpster diver/potatonator style boards. Much shorter (under 6ft), wide and thick. Like a skateboard, not much use for bigger waves but for smaller waves they seem to work

I surf an 8 foot fun gun (made for me). I can surf it something like a shortboard (no aerials) . I am not very good so the length hasn't been an issue to me but I surf waves that are from waist high to triple overhead....mostly head high. On small waves it's mostly just cruising in but if I can get some speed up then I can do some turns. I think getting a board made for you by a shaper with some skills is the way to go at any stage of the game unless you aren't sure you want to stick with it or can stick with it or you can't afford it.