Surfing Waves

Hey,

I'm a 5'1 and 103lb girl and have been surfing a 7'2 softboard at a school (about 20 lesson or 30 hours). I know people advise not to get a very short board at this stage but I'm really confused about what to get with my measures. Would a 6'6 be a good option? Should I look for a lot of floatation?


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How did you do on the softboard? Do you know it's dimensions? What did you like/not like of that board?

A rough rule of thumb is 2-3 ft longer than your height for your first board (thanks wkk). As you are light weight, probably more towards 2ft

I don't see any benefit to you in getting a 6'6 over at 7'2 or 7'6. You won't be able to duck dive the shorter board at your weight, it will be less stable, harder to paddle and harder to catch waves. I guess it might fit in a car easier.

I suggest a funboard about 7ft -7'6. I guess you could go a couple of inches shorter if you really wanted. You won't need a particularly wide or thick board (probably 21 wide and 2 5/8 thick will be fine); but getting wider or thicker than that won't matter. Something like the Torq mod fun or similar (there are many options)

Also nothing wrong with getting a wavestorm board if you are in a Costco country. Yes it's a softboards but it will totally fine for your next 100 hours of surfing

Tudeo wrote:How did you do on the softboard? Do you know it's dimensions? What did you like/not like of that board?

I could pop up easily and have been riding along the green waves, very basic. It was a 7'2 but I don't know the other dimensions. The reason I was looking for a smaller board is beacause it's easier to carry around and I found a good deal on a 6'6 Torq http://www.torq-surfboards.com/fish-66.html
So I think the only downside of the board I was using was transportation but I can compromise if a smaller board would hold me back

dtc wrote:A rough rule of thumb is 2-3 ft longer than your height for your first board (thanks wkk). As you are light weight, probably more towards 2ft

I don't see any benefit to you in getting a 6'6 over at 7'2 or 7'6. You won't be able to duck dive the shorter board at your weight, it will be less stable, harder to paddle and harder to catch waves. I guess it might fit in a car easier.

I suggest a funboard about 7ft -7'6. I guess you could go a couple of inches shorter if you really wanted. You won't need a particularly wide or thick board (probably 21 wide and 2 5/8 thick will be fine); but getting wider or thicker than that won't matter. Something like the Torq mod fun or similar (there are many options)

Also nothing wrong with getting a wavestorm board if you are in a Costco country. Yes it's a softboards but it will totally fine for your next 100 hours of surfing

I found a good deal on a 6'6 Mod Fish Torq http://www.torq-surfboards.com/fish-66.html and since it's easier to carry around I thought it would be a good option.
I did find another second hand board 7'' by a local shaper



and perhaps this would be a better option?

Since you're coming from a sponge board, I would go with the Molded-Epoxy Torq board over a Poly/Pu "normal" glassed board. It'll be tougher and more resistant to bumps and scrapes you get moving it around and in/out of the car. Also it doesn't get the knee smashes on the deck, that you inevitably get when you start advancing in turns.

I think that 7'0" might be near 10 years old, from the age of that Gorilla grip pad.

If I were you I'd combine the suggestions from dtc and waikikikichan and go for a torq 7'2 or 7'6. A hard surfboard is a lot less buoyant than a soft one. Also longer boards are easier to progress and less frustrating which is a key to keep on having fun!

Thanks for the advice everyone! I will trust you and play it safe with a 7'2 malibu since I would much rather have a board I can surf than convinient to carry

doinamite wrote:Hey,

I'm a 5'1 and 103lb girl and have been surfing a 7'2 softboard at a school (about 20 lesson or 30 hours). I know people advise not to get a very short board at this stage but I'm really confused about what to get with my measures. Would a 6'6 be a good option? Should I look for a lot of floatation?


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Hi there. I'm a woman of 5ft4 and about 127lbs. Ive been surfing about 3 months every day (1-1.5hrs), and intermittently before that. And I've been helping my kids and a couple of their friends to surf. We are all between 5ft1 and 5ft6 and 115-140 lbs. So I have a fair bit of understanding of what works for beginners of small-ish sizes. You're thinner than we are . But I have also been watching the 12yo boy of a friend learn, and he is about your weight.

What I've seen is this—if you're going to buy a fiberglass board, a 7ft6 funboard would be a good size. My 11yo has one from Backyard Boards and she loves it. It has about 55 liters of volume, from what I guess compared to others I've ridden. And that seems to work great.

Epoxy boards are a little tougher. You could get something 7ft6 or maybe a tad smaller. But unless you are quite young and athletic, I'd guess you would get frustrated on anything with less than 50 liters of volume.

What I surf on is a 6ft6 foamie from Catchsurf. It's called a Skipper and is a fish shape, but has 55 liters of volume, so it floats as well as a much longer board. One of the kids we are friends with rides my skipper as well, and she is about 5ft3 and 110. even though she is a skinny and small girl, she definitely needs all that float/volume.

The Skipper comes in 3 sizes—5ft6. 6ft and 6ft6. If you've only surfed 30 hours, I'd recommend either the 6ft6 or the 6ft. No smaller.

And like I said—for a hard board, make sure to get at least 50L of volume.

But here's the thing—you need to know how much you're going to surf. If you're planning to surf a few times a week, you'll improve very fast. If you're only planning to go out every other weekend, or only on vacation, you'll probably be at the same level for a long time. So, I would say that if you're planningto surf a ton, then dont overspend on your next board. You'll be off it before you know it. Buy something at a board swap, or a smaller foamie like my board. However, if you're going to be more of an intermittent surfer, then you can invest in a full-price hardboard. But be sure to get something big enough that you can have fun!

Here's my go-to board: https://catchsurf.com/collections/skipp ... ipper-quad

Here's my (and my kids') quiver. It's got an 8ft epoxy, a 7ft6 funboard, a 7 ft4 noserider, a 6ft6 shortboard and a couple 6ft6 foamies. Hope this gives you a sense of what people at your size and level might need!:

I'm 5'5 and 105 pounds and I surf a 6'6 epoxy hybrid fish, it has LOTS of volume, more than what you posted, my issue when starting off with that board was taking off because popping up without your feet as leverage takes a while to pickup, so I'd suggest going the longest you can afford and carry.

if you can't carry it around, look for a wider board with the length you want, advantages of a wide board include easy take offs and lots of stability, down side is if you're planning to surf head high to overhead jacking waves it's a pain in the butt considering how much it bumps on the water when moving quickly and also critical takeoffs you can't do rail grabs since the board is so wide you can't reach your rail without losing balance and landing on your head or butt