First Fiberglass Board

[JohnnyQ]

Hey All,
I'm giving up ciggies and think i'll buy a new board, specifically a fiberglass one, with the money i'll save.
I'm currently riding a 9ft bic - paddling, pop-up etc is fine but the board is starting to feel a little cumbersome and is sometines difficult to turn - plus its damn heavy carrying it to the beach. I thought i'd go for an epoxy like a circle one or a take off but maybe i should just bite the bullet and go with fiberglass. I've been surfing a while but I've only started taking it seriously in the last few months and will surf through winter for the first time this year. I'll be moving down in size, perhaps to a 7ft magic carpet I'm 5'10'' and about 150lb.
Anyway, my question is: is fiberglass really as fragile as some suggest and will I spend all my time and money ensuring the ding guy can put an extension on his house? Also will it be possible for me to repair dings myself?
Any thoughts will be gratefully received.
Johnny.

[k mac]

Hey! my first (and only fiberglass board) I was so excited the day it was finished that i legged it down the beach, and dived in the small river mouth to on my board to paddle across to save me about 4 minutes....only it wasnt very deep that day bang crash scrapeeee " f*$^ck" .......and after the drama of me pulling the board away like a newborn from danger....it was fine! The boards are much stronger than you think.

With regards to the board and process be careful not to go too small, i did, made the board useless to me !

[myate]

My 1st board was a glass one...but on my 5th or 6th go on it, I somehow took a chunk out of the tail. Got that fixed fine...then not long after that I took a bigger chunk out of the rail. I dont know how either happened! The shaper who fixed the dings said the glass job on the board was fine, and it just happens! But that put me off using the board so I sold it, and went for epoxy circle one 6 8. I'm not experienced enough to really feel the difference yet, but the epoxy is great, and dont really have to worry about it. I'm sure, I'll get a glass one again in the future. But for now, epoxy suits me!

[drowningbitbybit]

Im quite good at breaking epoxy boards...

[kitesurfer]

Hey All,
I'm giving up ciggies and think i'll buy a new board, specifically a fiberglass one, with the money i'll save.
I'm currently riding a 9ft bic - paddling, pop-up etc is fine but the board is starting to feel a little cumbersome and is sometines difficult to turn - plus its damn heavy carrying it to the beach. I thought i'd go for an epoxy like a circle one or a take off but maybe i should just bite the bullet and go with fiberglass. I've been surfing a while but I've only started taking it seriously in the last few months and will surf through winter for the first time this year. I'll be moving down in size, perhaps to a 7ft magic carpet I'm 5'10'' and about 150lb.
Anyway, my question is: is fiberglass really as fragile as some suggest and will I spend all my time and money ensuring the ding guy can put an extension on his house? Also will it be possible for me to repair dings myself?
Any thoughts will be gratefully received.
Johnny.

Epoxy boards are generally more ding resistant than polyester boards. Both are made with fibre glass but use different resins.
Yes if your at all handy with your hands you'll be able to fix the dings yourself.
A 7ft magic carpet won't be that heavy even in polyester and IMO magic carpets ride better with a little extra weight in them. They glide better.
As for dings they happen but not too often if your careful.
Where abouts are you based?

KS

[JohnnyQ]

Thanks for the replies lads, all will be considered
I live in Limerick and surf Lahinch (or nearby) 4 times a week. I had originally thought about getting a fish but after reading some old topics I think that would be too much of a jump downwards.

k mac - the first day i brought my bic to the beach some surfers told me to be careful not to drop my board - i told them it was okay cause bics are almost ding proof - they laughed and said they were worried i'd put a crack in the carpark tarmac They were sound though and told me how the break worked.
myate - i lived in cartron in sligo for two years, great town!

[garbarrage]

got my first glass board a few weeks ago, and love it.. just feels great even paddling it. bought it with a ding already in it used sun cure to fix it. easiest thing in the world.

[sebastiansurfer]

id deff say go for the glass.just be carefull.like my epoxy board i tore a hole trying to ride the shorebreak(i was desperate to surf) all i did was suck the water out.bought a tube of suncure epoxy and layed it down(make sure u use it IN THE SUN) and was fine! so i must say.go for the glass.its alottttttttt lighter tooo

[garbarrage]

been out on my glass board quite a few times now and no dings that weren't already in it...
love it so much can't help being careful with it..

[sebastiansurfer]

lol being careful is overrated