Surfing Waves

Hey everybody! I regularly read post on this website to try and learn all I can about surfing. But now I’m thinking about making my first board purchase and I’m trying to decide between the two options provided in the attachments in this post. I’m am 5’10 72kg and am a Beginner/Intermediate Level surfer in Sothern California. The places I go surf at the most right now are just Huntington,Newport, and my favorite would be down in San Onofre. I currently have a gifted 7’6 funboard and it’s been fun and all, but sometimes I just feel like I have so much drag and I have trouble getting into waves, especially on mushier days. Whenever I use my friends 9ft longboard I have a lot more success and I feel like I am catching waves left and right standing up and all. Ever since I started surfing two summers ago I’ve been debating on purchasing a new board myself but have been hesitant. Now I feel like I have found two boards being sold on OfferUp both for a haggled down price of $400 and I’m. It sure which I should go with. One is a 9ft single fin longboard the other is a 2+1 mini mal that I can choose between 8’2, 8’4, 8’6, or 8’8. Any advice/guidace would be helpful! Thank you!

Are you sure they’re hand made by M21 or imported by them. $400 for a brand new board made in the USA, highly unlikely.

I have the Paragon Retro Nose Rider, just with a different color scheme. It is an imported pop out board, but it doesn't mean its a bad board. My favorite board I've ever owned was a Southpoint 8'6 epoxy longboard with bolt thru deck thruster fins. Great balance between performance and wave catching and never got a single ding (wish I hadn't sold it). The Paragon Retro Nose Rider is my 2nd favorite board and I've had it now for about 2 years and I surf it 90% of the time since I bought it.

I'm 5'7" and 190lbs and it is very easy to paddle and catch waves, very stable and forgiving. You will have to learn to move up and down the board to be able to trim and turn the board. Definitely not a performance board, the focus is on nose riding, cruising, and big arcing turns. I can usually sit out deep with folks on SUP boards and catch waves just as early, well before they start to break. Its very good at what it does, very durable, I've had no stress cracks, spider cracks, or delamination. The only required repair is when I smashed the nose of board into rocks in shore break. I didn't like the 8" fin it came with, but that is easily replaced.

However, if I could only have one longboard I would probably get a 2+1 all-rounder and not a nose rider. I would probably go for the the 8'8" 2+1 so you can experiment with different fin setups and experience both performance and nose riding and the feel of a thruster vs single.