by dtc » Fri May 30, 2014 5:15 am
How good do you think you are - from your surfing in the US, were you good, catching waves, turning at the bottom etc? Or were you a beginner or competent beginner.
If the first, that is you were pretty good, then I agree about a 7ft board should work for Polish waves; maybe even slightly longer (wouldnt go shorter) You will need something reasonably long and thick and wide, as the waves (from what I can tell) arent very strong.
But if you are more a beginner, then it all points to a longboard (eg 9ft or so).
so if a beginner:
As a general rule, I reckon it takes about 100hrs of actual surfing (ie once you are past the white water stage) to be at a skill level where you might want to start considering moving to a shorter board. Even if you are surfing 15 hours a year, thats 6 years before you will want a new board.
You could get a shorter board, for sure, but you may find that you just dont enjoy the surfing as much because you are unfit (in surfing terms), rusty because of the period of time between surfs, struggling to catch waves, falling off more.
So personally I say get a 9ft longboard. Bic or NSP or really anything should be fine. If you dont want to do that, get the longest board you can see yourself surfing - I suggest 7ft6 minimum rather than 7ft. The long board will be more fun.
If, in 4 or 5 years, you think you want another board, then thats just the way it is. However, I reckon with 5-8 surfs per year, you probably can surf a longboard for at least the next 10yrs.