Surfing Waves

Hi everyone. I've been reading a lot of posts here and thought I'd throw out a question. I have a 8ft foamie thats all buggered up around the tail and gets waterlogged. I've been advised that it's time for a fiber glass. I'm 155cm and 61kg female 42. I've been looking out for a second hand mini mal and saw this hybrid 6'9 x 20 x 2 1/2 for a pretty decent price. I've spent the last 6 months practising popping up on white water and VERY small inside green waves which is going well and I'm having lots of fun. Now I want to progress to practicing paddling onto green waves but I feel like I'm driving a big truck without power steering. The foamie gets really heavy due to the waterlogging. So would going down this much be a silly frustrating mistake?

My advise would be to get something similar in size to the foamie but fiberglass. (Unless you are ready for a new level of frustration that will happen when you go shorter)

debz0773 wrote:HI have a 8ft foamie thats all buggered up around the tail and gets waterlogged. I've been advised that it's time for a fiber glass.

You might want to first figure out why the tail gets buggered up before buying a hard board. If not, your hard board will have a cracked / dinged / shattered tail that needs to be costly repaired. Do you place it on its tail, does it bang on the rock bottom ?

debz0773 wrote:I'm 155cm and 61kg female 42. I've spent the last 6 months practising popping up on white water and VERY small inside green waves. So would going down this much be a silly frustrating mistake?

I'm about the same age,size and weight as you. 6'9" is too small if you are still in the white water. Try finding a 7'10" to 7'6" funboard.

thank you thank you...!! The tail is buggered up because it's all ripped up and the foam is exposed so water gets in. I bought the board second hand about 9 months ago. I think it may have gone through a surf school at some point too. I will remain patient for the right size to come along and deal with my waterlogged beast until then. Cheers for the advice.

Yeah, stick with the fun board/mini mal shape for the moment. hybrids (narrower nose) are a bit more unstable and usually have more rocker-easier for turning but not so much for paddling and wave catching. I second waikikichan's suggested sizes; any bigger and the board might be too much for you to handle safely in the surf, and smaller and it could be frustrating

Have a look at an epoxy board (rather than fibreglass)-it will be tougher and also lighter, which is useful when you are a smaller person just starting out. But a traditional board will be fine as well.

Torq make some good fairly cheap boards, if they sell them where you live. Or second hand, of course.

ok..thanks. I have seen a 7.6 NSP and a 7.3 bic floating around second hand at the moment. I looked up the bics specs and it's about 6kgs.. ??

With the NSP make sure the fins are real fins not cheap plastic that is very bendy.

debz0773 wrote:ok..thanks. I have seen a 7.6 NSP and a 7.3 bic floating around second hand at the moment. I looked up the bics specs and it's about 6kgs.. ??

Because its pouring with rain, the surf is a washing machine and at overhead plus and I happened, for some unknown reason, to have a luggage weighing device sitting on my table, I weighed my two closest boards (my life is exciting!)

The weights include the board bag, so maybe that adds 800g to 1kg ? And the boards are both pretty heavily glassed PU (traditional not epoxy)

So my 6'10 weighed 6.5kg and the 7'4 mini mal (which has extra glassing) is 7.6kg. None of these will do airs...a pro board probably weighs under 3kg, but will break if you look at it too hard.

So the weight for the Bic sounds about right for an epoxy. Weight isn't too important at your (or my) level in terms of surfing, it's just the out of water/board control issues with a heavier board and a smaller person, at least until you have a bit more experience.

You will probably find the foam board you have is heavier than 6kg anyway.

Both Bics and NSP are good boards for your level. 7ft3 is at the lower end of what you want but could be OK.

jaffa1949 wrote:With the NSP make sure the fins are real fins not cheap plastic that is very bendy.

Ok..thanks!

dtc wrote:

debz0773 wrote:ok..thanks. I have seen a 7.6 NSP and a 7.3 bic floating around second hand at the moment. I looked up the bics specs and it's about 6kgs.. ??

So the weight for the Bic sounds about right for an epoxy. Weight isn't too important at your (or my) level in terms of surfing, it's just the out of water/board control issues with a heavier board and a smaller person, at least until you have a bit more experience.

You will probably find the foam board you have is heavier than 6kg anyway.

Both Bics and NSP are good boards for your level. 7ft3 is at the lower end of what you want but could be OK.

Ok..this is good to know. Thanks. I'm sure my foam beast is heavier than 6kg too after a head whacking from it.

I've seen this board for sale and although it is 6'8, it has a round nose like a mini mal and it's 21 width. Do you guys think that having a round mini mal shape would make it better for me or should I stick to the 7'6 length?

Here's a pic.

How much is it selling for ?

waikikikichan wrote:How much is it selling for ?

200 euros with bag.

Well if you have money to spend, then buy it and try surf it. We already recommended not to get the 6'9", yet you're considering an even smaller 6'8". If you can't catch waves or worse not able to make it out to the break, put it away for a few seasons. When you are ready, it'll be waiting for you. But since I don't have a lot of money or room to store multiple boards, I would save those 200 euros for a used 7'6"- 7'10"ish NSP, Bic or Torq.

waikikikichan wrote:Well if you have money to spend, then buy it and try surf it. We already recommended not to get the 6'9", yet you're considering an even smaller 6'8". If you can't catch waves or worse not able to make it out to the break, put it away for a few seasons. When you are ready, it'll be waiting for you. But since I don't have a lot of money or room to store multiple boards, I would save those 200 euros for a used 7'6"- 7'10"ish NSP, Bic or Torq.

Ok.. You are right. I just wondered if the nose shape might make some difference. I will heed the good advice and put the money towards the right board. Cheers.

Ok.. sorry to keep bringing this up but I do appreciate the input here. So for me being 61kg 155cm which I think is about 5' / 5'1.. I found a board for sale that's 7.4 x 21 x 2 3/4. It's a mini mal. Depending on the swell and tides and other things, I can get in the water a couple of times a week, maybe more. I know I've been advised for 7.6 - 7.10 but just wanted to know what you guys think about this size?

7'4" by 22" would be better than 21". Is the board Molded epoxy or regular PU ? Can you post a picture ?

Here's a pic.. It's not epoxy.

the second one is a good size and from a known shaper; if its in good condition that would be my choice. The first (white) board looks a bit beaten up, but it might just be a bit dirty. Its probably not a terrible choice either

Certainly you will learn more surfing either board than surfing the second hand ads...

dtc wrote:the second one is a good size and from a known shaper; if its in good condition that would be my choice. The first (white) board looks a bit beaten up, but it might just be a bit dirty. Its probably not a terrible choice either

Thanks...

dtc wrote:Certainly you will learn more surfing either board than surfing the second hand ads...

I know.. I'm going crazy here.. Next week the conditions are good so I'll probably stop annoying everyone here. (and my family)