Surfing Waves

Hi,

I am 5'6" male with 175 lbs. I took a lesson back in September and been surfing since then. (about 4 times a week)

I started on a 8ft Wavestorm foamie, and got to a point where I can occasionally catch unbroken waves.
I am looking to graduate out of the foam boards, and just saw a used 7ft Al Merrick posted on Letgo for $150.

I read the forum, and it seems that proper next board should be a mini-mal that's about 7'6" to 7'4", but 7' Al Merrick is tempting.
I am wondering if it is even possible to transition to 7' shortboards from 8' foamie considering my skill level, or if I should take my time and go with a mini-mal. Also, how different is it to ride a 7'4" mini-mal to a 7' shortboard?

Thank you in advance for your replies!

If you go from an 8ft foamie to a 7ft shortboard, you'll go from occassionally catching green waves to never catching green (or perhaps any) waves. Go for a 7'6ish mini mal.

What if there’s two guys. Both are 5’6” tall. But one is 175 lbs. The other is 100 lbs. Although they’re the same height, they “look” different and so is their volume/mass. You are just considering one dimension.... length. It doesn’t take into account many other factors.
If the 7’0” Al Merrick “shortboard” is 18 1/2” wide, it’s probably a old-school semi-gun meant for charging bigger waves. Does it have glassed on fins ?
If you’re hankering to really get a Al Merrick, look at getting a 7’10” CI Waterhog.

forget 7'6, go for a 9ft board!

A 7ft shortboard is the wrong board for you

moonskim84 wrote:I read the forum, and it seems that proper next board should be a mini-mal that's about 7'6" to 7'4"

Thinking you're looking at a M13, which is not a good board to transition to from a foamie. Why don't you trust the advice that you've read here and go with a proper board? Better yet, stay on that Wavestorm until you're consistently catching waves. IMO, if you're not catching waves consistently on a Wavestorm, you're not ready for a different board.