Surfing Waves

I was talking to a local shaper who's having a sale. I asked for their egg shape. They directed me to the following board:

The Plover is a mid length hull designed for small, fun, summer waves. This board has a fully rolled bottom contour which transitions to a paneled vee out of the tail. This board is designed to turn and trim in waves from knee to head high and excels in clean, point surf. The Plover is great for beginner to advanced surfers who want a little extra foam for small days and for longboarders who are looking for a board for when it gets a little bigger.

Fin setup: 2+1

See the "Plover" here: http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/s ... clnk&gl=us.

So, is this an egg or really a hull? I've done some reading on hulls and it does not sound like what a beginner should get at all. Besides, I read that hulls are ideal for clean, consistent points, but I'm mostly surfing beach breaks (can be good, but not as consistent).

Hull refers to the nature of the bottom contours and rails (actually all surfboards are 'hulls' but i'm assuming they mean something that is a displacement hull rather than a planing hull like most boards)

Egg refers to the shape of the outline. Although to some extent there is an expectation that an egg will have certain characteristics (eg flat rocker).

So they arent mutually exclusive; you can have a egg shaped displacement hull

Displacement hulls go through the water more than plane on the top; hence why they are good for clean waves (like a speed boat works better on flat water). It doesnt mean they dont work on messy waves. They also require less power to push along, so good for smaller waves.

The bigger issue is that a full on displacement hull requires a different technique than a standard planing hull board eg you turn from the front foot rather than the back.

The Huevo Nuevo is a better model for you I think. The Plover might be ok, I cant tell how much of a displacement hull it is from the description (how big/deep the V contour is). It also has a pin tail which, meh, for me.

Note that I dont have a huge amount of experience on displacement hulls, I surfed a friends board a few times and thats about it, and it seemed fine. So feel free to take things with a grain of salt

That makes sense, dtc.

dtc wrote:The Huevo Nuevo is a better model for you I think. The Plover might be ok, I cant tell how much of a displacement hull it is from the description (how big/deep the V contour is). It also has a pin tail which, meh, for me.

Problem with the Nuevo is that it's described to be good "in weaker waves chest high and below." However I've been comfortably surfing chest high and UP, shoulder~head high for a while now. And that's on my sponge So I'd really want a board that's good from knee to head (or maybe just a bit more taller than head)

Ah, I’ve never met a board that maxed out at chest high waves. You can easily surf that on 8ft faces.

If you want a board that is good from knee to head+ then a fat hybrid or, yes, an egg is a good choice. But a mini longboard isn’t a terrible choice

Something like this (one of my boards)