Surfing Waves

Hi guys. Right I could really use the wisdom of all you experianced surfers on this forum and would very much appreciate it if you could help me out.

The last couple of days have seen some fun little waves on the north coast. However i havent really had much of a good time in the water because my short board takes the "fun" out of "fun little waves". Predomenantly the people in the water are either riding mini mals or longboards. I'm looking to purchase a board for days such as these but i am reluctant to buying a large surfboard mainly because they are a nuscense to travel with.

The surf shops reccomend me to buy a Fish as apparently they are designed to catch waves easier. Which is ideal because they are portable and great looking surfboards. Before i commit myself to buying one though i need to make sure that i buy one suitable for me. From what i saw there are so many variations of these boards and its quite daunting having to chose between them all.

So what do i go for? I am used to surfing a 6'4"x 19 epoxy shortboard so can i afford to downsize to as low as 6'? Also, as far as performance is concerned would i benefit more from a twin fin or tri fin or "keel fin" (whatever the hell that is) Some of the boards that i looked at also have jagged rails by the tail. Whats that all about?

Life would be so much easier if the surfshops would let me test all of their boards so i can chose one i like based on how i get along with it. Unfortunately none of them are willing to let me. Bastards!

Thanks in advance for your help guys

Right first question. How heavy are you?
2nd question. How tall are you?

Retro fishes rely on flatness of rocker and low drag twin keel fins for speed in smaller surf less steep. They begin to plan earlier but in steeper surf they suffer due to the fin set-up. Twin keels do not give as much drive as a modern thruster set-up and hence retro fishes can seem under gunned in steeper surf.

Modern fishes rely on a thruster set-up and some have a jagged or stinger tail. This kind of tail allow for width in front of the fins to help with drive and planing and the step down allows for greater maneuvrability.

If it's a fun board you want to ride then get a retro fish. I have one wish kid has one and el timmo is soon to have one too! They are just hilarious to ride. So much fun, even falling off and learning to ride them is an absolute hoot!
Did you see this thread about the retro fish i made for wish kid?
https://surfing-waves.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5348

If you're really keen on the idea of a fish, i'd be happy to make one for you too! Send me a pm with an email address and we can talk some more. Speak to wish kid as well, see how he's getting on with his.

Cheers KS

I have surfed both of the boards that kitesurfer has mentioned, and I must say that you're not going to have much more fun on the smaller days on one of those!

kitesurfer is a really good shaper (do I get my discount now? ) and should be able to make you a good one!

Ok mate that sounds fantastic. I'm around 5'10" and 10 stone. Obviously my wieight and height determines the ideal length and thickness of the board yea?

I do remember seeing that thread but it vanished from my memory. Thats pretty impressive KS. A really nice looking board. Although i am a bit skeptical about fixed fins. Especially as i would be travelling with the board. Also if you was to shape the board for me would it be possible to design my own spray job? What a bonus that would be.

My email is wootzy@hotmail.com. Feel free to MSN/Email me anytime. Thanks buddy!

You may even be able to go to a 5'10" (I've heard suggestions to go 4"-6" shorter than you're normal shortboard.
I've also heard a number of people say that they wish they'd gone smaller in length on their fish.

I found this conversion somewhere (don't know how acurate it is):
1½" width = ¼" thick = 6" length




But, I don't have a fish (yet), so what do I know?

A fish would be a wise choice especially for the crappy summer waves! Mine catches absolutley eveything!

Tell me more about how fun ur fish that KS shaped for you is wishkid. Can you generate speed, manoeuvre/turn the board easily?

probably a big thick fish or an egg

Wootzy it's my 2nd board (the 1st being a 7'6 minimal) so im not the best of surfers but yeah its so easy to turn/paddle as for generating speed thats something i started working on last night but if youve been use to a shortboard you really wont have any problems-The best thing about it is its sooooooooooooooo fun in all sorts of different waves and when you take say a 2ft drop it feels unbelievably fast so looking forward to hitting some bigger surf

P.s was out in newgale last night and some dolphins turned up which was awesome-1st time ive ever seen dolphins in the wild

Where the hell is Brent in this thread, a whole yarn about fishes and hes not reared his antipodean little head. How odd.

And Wishkid - congrats on your first dolphin sighting, seeing dolphins and whales in the wild is one of the most amazing experiences in my opinion

Yeah libb it really was
I was a bit apprehensive at 1st cos their has been some mention on a local radio station about a rouge dolphin and the fact that their so big in the flesh, but after a while I just got use to it being around and it did some amazing jumps, their so gracefull!

WishKid Wales wrote:a rouge dolphin

Wow, you get to see a dolphin and not only that its wearing make-up!

Thanks for you input on the board wishkid. It must have been an amazing experiance with the dolphins. Do you think that it was your fish that attracted them? So were you surfing at the time? The only wildlife encounter that i have experianced while surfing was by newquay harbour where 2 seals were quite literally inches away from me. But i became scared and paddled away from them as fast as i could, got out of the water and then went to Fistral.

I've had the good fortune to windsurf with dolphins in Trinidad at sunset! what an experience! I've also played with them on another occasion... they're really friendly and playful..... I have however heard about rogue dolphins! Also windsurfed beside some stingrays and surfed Towan Beach when there were seals around, which was awesome.

OK boast over

ive dived with a dolphin off chisell beach in dorset was the most amazing experance, it would swim all around me and knock my fins with its nose wanting to play

I swam with dolphins twice in NZ (not sure if i would do it again - at the time research showed it was harmless,, now its looking like it might be messing things up a bit) in total I have seen;

Harbour porpoises: UK
Bottlenose dolphins:UK, NZ
Amazonian River Dolphins: Bolivia
Dusky dolphins:NZ
Hector's dophins: NZ
Sperm Whahles: NZ
Orca (killer) whales: NZ

Hopefully see heaps more in Scotland next month

Mind you, you all beat me hands down, i've never surfed with them, that has to be the ultimate