What should my next board be?

[surf patrol]

I am just getting back into surfing. I have a 7'6" surface softboard. I surf in New Jersey, Maryland and hopefully i'll get to North Carolina and Florida this year.

I use to have and love my short board but I used it a lot when I was 15 years old and 5'4", now I am 6'2" and 22. So I am in the market for a new board.

I don't really know what direction I want to head in, I honestly don't know too much about the gear. Another shortboard might be nice. What would you suggest I get as to upgrade from my foam?

[dtc]

How have you found the comeback - are your skills still there or very rusty or totally gone? I'm suspecting you probably want a fairly large hybrid/modern fish (maybe 6ft8 to 6ft10) that is wide and fairly thick; but this may well only be a transition board until your fitness and skills are back. On the other hand, if your skills are all back then you can probably go shorter and if you have lost them all them maybe you stay with something over 7ft.

So I guess we need some indication of skill level, plus weight and maybe intended surfing frequency.

But as a starter, the type of boards I am thinking of are things like the 7S superfish or the firewire addvance or maybe the dominator (if you think your skills are not too bad). These are just ones off the top of my head, there are plenty of other similar style boards and this is just as a starting point. Have a look at them on the net and see how they grab you for narrowing things down.

[thepilgrimsdream]

I am about 190lbs. I am a bit rusty. I have no problem catching a wave and standing up, but I do need my timing to drop in and stand up before the break to come back. I don't feel like I can navigate very well, but that might be do to my board. A 6'8"-6'10" hybrid seems to be about what I am looking for.

[dtc]

Its really going to come down to your assessment of your current skill level, how often you will surf and how much frustration you can handle!

Obviously the longer/wider the board the relatively easier it will be. I wouldn't discount the minimal shape (wide nose, straight rails), say 7ft2-7ft6, potentially with a narrower tail (have a look at the Takayama scorpion - its probably the most extreme). This type of board will easily be suitable for at least 12 months - not a shortboard, but good paddling and still capable of a lot of manouvering etc.

Otherwise the larger hybrid. The two I mentioned before get a look of good reviews including from beginners/intermediates up to around your weight. They are big and thick and probably not easily duckdivable, but if you can duckdive easily the board is probably too small.

I do make the usual comment that its better to go too big than go too small at this stage - too small will just mean months of struggling and frustration, while too big just means you catch more waves...