Surfing Waves

Hello Surfers,

Little info about the user:
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1.85m
74KG
Intermediate
waves to be surfed: small, mushy, little power
7.6 epoxy board (works fine in these conditions)
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The question:
I would like a smaller board to be able to get better attached to the wave face, perhaps some turns, nothing ultra radical.
I am checking these two boards, epoxy and ok priced:

Brand: Torq
Material: Epoxy
Type: Modern fish
Lenght: 6.3
Liters: 36

or the variation
Lenght: 6.6
Liters: 39

I am planning to get the quad fin configuration.

Do you think it will be a big difference from 39 to 36? Should I go for the 6.3 or the 6.6?

Thanks for your very precious advice.
Johnny

I think you are looking at the wrong measurement. A board for small waves - you want a long board OR a short wide fat board (esp a fat tail) with a flat rocker. Volume isnt the issue - you want a board that is designed to do the job first, volume is sort of the result of having a proper shaped board.

that said, the Torq board doesnt look terrible, but even the manufacturer says its for bigger more powerful waves. It is fairly wide and not a huge rocker, but a relatively narrow tail and straighter rails.

Its not a terrible choice, but I'm not convinced its the best choice for the waves you describe. In any event, the 6ft6 will be much better if you are coming off a 7ft6 board.

Hello DTC,

Thanks for your advice. I am getting more experience every day and your opinions are PRECIOUS to me.

There are two main reasons to choose the Torq brand over others. 1) Price and 2) Material.
I know the "Lost" boards have better models but they cost an arm and a leg, I don't think its worth to spend that much for such crappy conditions. (I surf a beach brake, very discontinuous, very small waves.)
The other brands have Poly boards, I have seen so many poly boards get very easily damaged. While the epoxy tanks, might lack the flex but I am not at a level to actually feel that. They are amazing sturdy.

Now getting to my question: What would be the risk of getting the 6.3 instead? Do you think I will sink more or that paddling will be actually harder? Or you think the 6.6 is actually a safer bet? I wonder what would be the risk of the 6.6, perhaps is not easy to turn? or impossible to Duck Dive?

Yesterday I tried the Randy French 6.6 Soul Fish in Tuflite. I was able to stand on my second attempt. It paddled like my minimal and take off was faster (although standing it was more wobbling, which I have to learn)... It was a good impression.

Thanks again everyone

dtc wrote:Volume isnt the issue

Ah, you're old skool... all the kids talk about is volume these days. None of this 'it's a 6'4 and that's all there is to it' that we're used to
To be fair though, volume is king as it is what floats you, and it's a much better starting point than length, which everyone has been obsessed with for the last decade or more.

Me, I still think in length x width x thickness, and I have no idea what the volumes of my boards are...

But back on topic...
You've already identified al the issues... the higher volume board will be more stable, easier to paddle, easier to catch waves, less easy to duckdive, and (theoretically) not quite as manoeuvrable.
The rest of the decision and the compromise is up to you,

But for fickle weak waves, volume is your friend, so go for the 6'6 - there's no point in having a shorter board if you can't catch waves on it.

Helli Bit,

Thanks for your reply.

So that tells me - if the waves are so small, more volume and more area is better - catch more waves and more experience. Staying with a "short" form factor that will be easier to turn than a longer board.

I just wonder why some brands, say the 7s superfish have such low liter volume for 75kg and supposedly intermediate level. Maybe they are expecting the user surfs great waves, or that they are advanced...

Thanks!

drowningbitbybit wrote:

dtc wrote:Volume isnt the issue

Ah, you're old skool... all the kids talk about is volume these days. None of this 'it's a 6'4 and that's all there is to it' that we're used to
To be fair though, volume is king as it is what floats you, and it's a much better starting point than length, which everyone has been obsessed with for the last decade or more.

I put my views on volume in this comment
viewtopic.php?f=14&t=23339&hilit=+volume#p173164

I totally agree its a useful measurment, but nowdays people seem to regard it as the key measurement - but its clearly not. Even with boards of the same volume (as per the linked post) you can get totally different boards with different outline and different rocker that will perform totally differently

Anyway...

morfevs wrote:I just wonder why some brands, say the 7s superfish have such low liter volume for 75kg and supposedly intermediate level. Maybe they are expecting the user surfs great waves, or that they are advanced...Thanks!

I imagine its several things
1. good waves are assumed. Keep in mind that a chest high wave on an Australian beach will be more powerful than a mushy wave in, say, Florida

2. intermediate is actually much more advanced than many learners assume. People think 'I can stand and ride across the wave and maybe make a bottom turn, so I'm intermediate'. Nuh, you are an intermediate beginner perhaps. Until you can surf head high+ comfortable, bottom and top turns, cutback and know tricks like stalling etc, you arent intermediate.

3. volume isnt the issue..

4. .the 7S is a good board for an average surfer but its not a high performance board. No one on the pro tour surfs anything like it - its too wide, rocker is flat, its built more for stability than turns. The website just tarts up how good it is to attract people. Keep in mind that an 80kg advanced surfer will surf a narrow, high rockered board of low 30L volume. As per (2), the skill level of an advanced surfer is much higher than some people think.

Anyway - DBB has summed up your board choice well. Boards are always an issue of compromise - a smaller board turns easier but is less stable and harder to catch waves. Compromise always occur so: what do you want from your board?

Being an old heavy person myself, I am much more attracted to higher volume boards, so I have a bias. What I find is that standing on smaller boards isnt an issue, although they can be a bit twitchy; but on a smaller board its catching the wave in the first place that I struggle with.

You actually probably wont notice a huge difference between the 6ft3 and 6ft6, less than 10% difference - so get the one you want (which seems to be the 6ft3).

Epoxy is a fine choice for your needs (notice how you decided what you needed then picked the right result - not to go on too much, although I will - with volume my pet hate is that people pick the volume based on their weight or their skill level, rather than deciding what they want out of a board, finding the board with the right shape and qualities, then using volume to either (a) check the board is suitable or (b) deciding which size board to buy)

Thanks a lot for your advice. Very nice!!

I think I will go for the 6.6 as the manufacturer has recommended: "better be inside the range, not on the top".
Now I just have to choose if stay with thruster or try quad.