What surfboard should I get next?

[mbb126]

Hi all! Looking for some advice on my next board. I'm a 5'6" female about 115 lbs. I picked up surfing about 6 months ago when I moved to San Francisco and progressed from an 8' wavestorm to a 7'4 egg. I usually surf once or twice a week for 2-4 hours and mostly on 1-3 foot "long board friendly" waves in Santa Cruz and Bolinas, but I want to start pushing myself more on bigger/more powerful waves and start getting into shorter boards. I feel very comfortable on the egg, but I'm not sure if it will be able to handle larger waves. I don't want to rush anything, but my ultimate goal is to be able to rip a short board out at places like Ocean Beach

[waikikikichan]

I feel very comfortable on the egg, but I'm not sure if it will be able to handle larger waves. I don't want to rush anything, but my ultimate goal is to be able to rip a short board

Are these guy ripping enough to your liking ? Are the waves they're taking off on large enough ?

The limiting factor for your 7'4" egg on what size wave it can ride or what it can do on the wave isn't the board it self. It is the rider.

[ConcreteVitamin]

Interestingly, to rip on good OBSF days, I think locals bring out the guns and stepups rather than their shortboards.

[mbb126]

Are these guy ripping enough to your liking ? Are the waves they're taking off on large enough ?

Dang! Yep though. Certainly. I actually haven't tried bringing my egg out into those bigger waves. Mine has a much rounder nose than the ones in those videos. The guy at the shop where I bought it told me it was only really good up until chest high, so I haven't really tried. Just trying to get the board that will help me getter better

[mbb126]

Interestingly, to rip on good OBSF days, I think locals bring out the guns and stepups rather than their shortboards.

Yeah! I've also heard the same. I guess I should have said "rip at OB" (not board specific). I guess I just assumed learning to maneuver a short board should be a prerequisite to taking on waves like that on a gun

[waikikikichan]

Mine has a much rounder nose than the ones in those videos. The guy at the shop where I bought it told me it was only really good up until chest high, so I haven't really tried. Just trying to get the board that will help me get better.

These boards being ridden at Pipe have wide noses and are even longer than your board.

A good surfer can surf ANY board. Work on the Indian not the Arrow. If you could not turn a 8'0" backside, then you shouldn't have gone down to a 7'4". Can you do backside cutbacks on you wide nose 7'4" ? If not, you are ready to go any shorter for the time being.

[waikikikichan]

Interestingly, to rip on good OBSF days, I think locals bring out the guns and stepups rather than their shortboards.

I surfed this local point here in Japan with all the locals on their big guns. 9'6" J.Richardsons, Pat Rawsons, etc. I only had a molded-epoxy NSP 6'4" Fish. This one local paddles up to me and says "You okay ? You going to be okay on that board ?" ( I guess he was looking down on that it was a "pop out" and not a real hand shaped board from Hawaii or he was concerned I might get hurt not making they drop on such a small board compared to theirs ). I said, "Yeah, I'll be fine". Later after he saw me catch a wave he said, " Oh, you okay " ( meaning I was okay at surfing and okay to surf at that spot )

[alex_k]

Hi, fellow SF resident here, surf OB when it's head high and below. Eggs and bigger boards in general can work really well at OB, because there's so much current and peaks shift a lot so it's best to have a ton of paddle power.

There's a lot of variety of eggs though, and one with a narrower tail and nose will be a little more forgiving for making drops when the size picks up. Narrower tail gives you grip, narrower nose stays out of the water better on sketchy drops and doesn't get blown as much in offshores (aka best days of the year at OB). This means more outline curve overall, a less parallel outline, because if you're not super experienced you want width in the middle regardless. For example, the Steve Coletta / Natural Curves rocket egg. Or possibly the CI mid that is surfed so well in the video on this thread (but I've never tried one). A leaner, thinner, narrower egg or some other midlength or hybrid will still give you more width/stability/paddle than a short board, and progress will likely be easier.

If you're confident on your 7'4", you can drop size. A 10% drop in volume you will feel, a 20% drop is a lot. A 4" length drop you will feel, a 6" or 8" is a lot. For width, 1/2" you will feel, 1" is a lot. Mellow rocker is good for paddling and wave catching, but really flat rocker is really hard to deal with at OB or anywhere with steepness to the wave. ​Used shortboard are cheap though, so you can easily grab a wider, wider nose, higher volume used one on craigslist and just sell if you're not feeling it after a couple of surfs.

Another philosophy is to ride the easiest fattest board that doesn't get in your way. When you surf your 7'4" and the size is picking up, if it suddenly feels bulky or you're catching the nose on drops or you can't sit in the right place to take off without getting clobbered, and you think... "I just want less board here and here and this part is in the way" then it's time for smaller, narrower and leaner. That said, having a lot of paddle helps and I've had some of my best OB days on an 8'2" mini longboard. When OB is big, overhead or more and good surfers grab their step-ups, that's a whole different story and I'm not qualified to answer.

Feel free to send me a dm if you have questions on specifics! See you in the water! Good luck.

[oldmansurfer]

I have a 7'0" egg with a round nose that I took out in triple overhead waves. It seemed okay but very likely my 8 foot board would have been better. It seems to handle well in steep fast waves of many sizes from knee slappers to double overhead. What kind of rocker does your egg have? The one I have has a continuous rocker from nose to tail just a gradual curve. If you have a flat board it might get more difficult as the size goes up

[mbb126]

Hi, fellow SF resident here, surf OB when it's head high and below....

Thank you so much! This is very helpful