7 feet shortboard VS 7 feet funboard

[marclarin]

Hi guys!
I am 6'2" tall, and my weight is around 175 pounds.
I'm a beginner. I have surfed for around a month and a half.
I started surfing with a 6 feet shortboard. Which was too small for me! But at the time, I knew nothing about board sizes for beginner and stuff.

Since I know more about surfing now, I was thinking about getting a 7 feet funboard, but someone I know is selling his 7 feet shortboard. Will it be a lot easier for me with a 7 feet shortboard that it was with the 6 feet shortboard?

Will it be a bit like having a funboard since the 7 feet shortboard is so much bigger than my first board?
It doesn't seem to be a Gun type of board..just a big shortboard.

Thanks a lot!

[Lebowski]

It would help if you posted the full dimensions of both boards, although my initial thoughts would probably sway towards the funboard.

[marclarin]

Sadly I don't have the full dimensions.
But the guy sold his shortboard so I will go with the funboard. Thanks for your advice

[marclarin]

The shortboard guy finally sent me the full dimensions. Since I haven't bought anything yet, I thought it would be good to ask you guys what you think.

The shortboard is a Rusty DI-C5 serie board. 7'0" tall. 21" wide (center). 2.75" thick.
There's also another shortboard I've seen which is a 6'7" Spider X5 board. 20" wide and 2 5/8" thick.

Again, I'm 6'2", weight around 175 lbs.
Is 7' going to be too tall for me as a shortboard? I'd like to know which one would be easier to ride for me, as a becoming intermediate rider.

Thanks a lot!

[kitesurfer]

I have made a. Number of big thrusters for relative novices and they seem to get on very well with them. Anywhere between 6 ft8 to 7ft4. Up to 20.5 wide and 2.75 thick. The dimensions you have given I think would work fine for someone who has mastered the basics.

KS

[somedude]

You should go for the funboard, IMO. From experience, surfing a big shortboard gives all the disadvantages of surfing a shortboard (more difficult to paddle, must take later drops) without any of the advantages (sharper turns, still too big to duck dive well). This is because your foot placement will be all wrong without doing a lot of foot shuffling (which is hard for a beginner).

The funboard will be easier to paddle, allow you to get into waves earlier, and generate and maintain speed a lot easier, making it a much better board to learn on. It's also a lot more stable once you're up and moving, so it will be easier to scoot back to the tail to carve.

[marclarin]

Ok thanks for your tips guys. So I have 2 different opinions, anyone else? Thanks a lot

[oldmansurfer]

I am 6'2" weigh 200 pounds and surf a 8 foot fun board (and 60 years old). It ain't too long for me. When I learned to surf I learned on a 6'10" 17.5" wide 2.25" thick shortboard which was a standard length for surfers back then in the early 70's (I only weighed 160 back then). They used to say about a half foot to a foot longer than you were tall was the standard length. I don't know what real difference a board will make to a beginner. It depends on the waves you will be riding and how often you will surf and your fitness and determination and ultimately what you want to be doing on a wave.

[marclarin]

Thanks for your input.

I am traveling 2 weeks per year in places like Costa Rica, Panama, and places nearby.

I surf everyday for 2 weeks, then go back to my home where I cant really surf.

I tried sone funboards before and i find it very easy to get up. Since i started learning on a 6 feet shortboard...thats probably why.

[oldmansurfer]

Then the bigger the board the better. I think the fungun route would be the way to go because they tend to be wider and thicker than a long shortboard and will be easier to catch waves with. A shortboard that is longer is generally thinner because a person still needs to duck dive the board but a funboard will have so much floatation that you can't duck dive it. Not much of a problem if you learn other ways to go through the waves and it will be much easier to catch waves with.

[dtc]

Plus to Old man's comments, unless you are keeping water fit during your offseason (ie the other 50 weeks of the year), the bigger the board the easier to paddle, the less tired you get, the more you can surf, the more fun you have, the more advanced you will become. Water fit means a lot of swimming, for a start.

Plus (again), at the end of the 2 week period you will feel really good and confident, then for the first week of the next holiday you will struggle and flail around and miss waves and get everything wrong. You will just get rusty after a break of that long, so much so that you be grateful for the board that is the easiest to surf (I find a break of a month and i'm rusty)

ie the longer board, the fun board. Even 7ft is a pretty short board for someone of your weight and skill level who is only surfing twice per year. Really, you would probably be better off with a mini mal of at least 7ft6. At the end of the two weeks you may think you are ready to advance, but at the start of the next holiday you wont be so confident!

[marclarin]

Thanks a lot for your replies guys! Helped me a lot. I bought a 7'4" funboard. I should be ok with that! Thanks again. Good advices.