New board advice

[hunterroto]

Been riding a foamie for a while, 2 summers ago started using my buddies 6'10 hybrid. Super fun board just a little hard to paddle in on the shitty days sometimes, looking for something to catch more waves so i can progress faster, and something shorter i can whip around. Really looking into a fish board so i can ride the decent days and the shitty white wash ones, I am 6'3 and in the ball park of 200lbs. I was looking into a 6'6 ronjon quad fish, found a great deal on a brand new one on craigslist but not sure if its gonna be to big of a board to whip around. Wondering what are opinions on the kind of board I should look for and sizing to be able to catch a lot of waves even on those crappy days but still have decent control to progress and throw around on a decent day. Thanks.
hunterroto

[Big H]

Way too small for you is my opinion. Even if you are skilled on a foamie that is a really big jump at your size and weight. Think mini mal around 7'6" and 3" thick would be my suggestion.

[oldmansurfer]

I am 6'2" and around 200.....ok so maybe 210 I agree with BigH. If you are having trouble catching waves with the 6'10" hybrid I would get a longer board. I currently surf 2 boards, a 7'6" board (kind of a custom made Average Joe 7'6x24"x3") and an 8 foot board (custom made rounded pin quad 8'x23"x3") I can whip them both around quite well but if I were younger and in better shape I would probably go shorter and narrower and thinner. I have surfed a 7' fish that seemed pretty good, it was custom made for my neighbor who is a little younger (I am going to be 62 next month)and a little bigger than me. I talked to the shaper who made that board and he made me the 8 foot round pin quad and it is awesome and I totally love that board. Can't duck dive it but it catches waves great. Makes me look good when paddling next to the young fit shortboarders.

[dtc]

, looking for something to catch more waves so i can progress faster, and something shorter i can whip around. ... sizing to be able to catch a lot of waves even on those crappy days but still have decent control to progress and throw around on a decent day. Thanks.
hunterroto

You are almost asking for contradictory things. Easier to catch waves means a bigger board, throwing around means smaller. Obviously one (say) 6'3 board may be better at wave catching than another of the same size. But at your level, go a bit bigger than you are suggesting

If you want a slightly left field suggestion, look at a 6'10 or 7' McCoy nugget. Really easy to catch waves (fat tail) but you can throw it around a bit

By the way, throwing the board around is 90% rider. I mean, look at Tom Carroll's famous 'snap heard around the world' at Pipe (YouTube it) That was a 7ft8 board.

[drowningbitbybit]

I am 6'3 and in the ball park of 200lbs.... 6'6 ronjon quad fish.. not sure if its gonna be to big of a board to whip around

Not being able to whip it around really would be the least of your problems on that board.

[IB_Surfer]

You don't want to go too small on your first board, you want to catch waves and get better. Eventually you will become a better surfer and will need a smaller board, so this would become your small wave or mushy big high tide board and you will get a smaller one for walled days. For a beginner a bigger board means more waves, thus more fun, a smaller board means less waves and more frustrations

[jaffa1949]

YEP

[hunterroto]

Awesome thanks guy! Sorry if that was contradictory or a dumb question lol, don't come across to many forums about people my size other than long boarders. Think i'm gonna look into a little bigger then especially after seeing Tom Carol, might still buy the fish for when I progress just based on the awesome deal, I could surf it or 3 years and still make money on it lol. I'll also give it a shot being that i rode a 6'2 short this summer a couple times, it was older and super floaty, but still got up and got a decent ride, don't know how to shred it yet but its the ride that counts haha.

I am 6'3 and in the ball park of 200lbs.... 6'6 ronjon quad fish.. not sure if its gonna be to big of a board to whip around

Not being able to whip it around really would be the least of your problems on that board.

Is this a bad board or? what do you mean by that...lol

[drowningbitbybit]

I am 6'3 and in the ball park of 200lbs.... 6'6 ronjon quad fish.. not sure if its gonna be to big of a board to whip around

Not being able to whip it around really would be the least of your problems on that board.

Is this a bad board or? what do you mean by that...lol

It's not a bad board, but for all the reasons everyone else has gone into, just totally unsuitable for someone at your level and your size.

Also, a loose quad isn't suitable for a beginner either. It'll just be unstable, and it'll need to be worked to keep moving, which you can't do.

Getting a small board at this stage just slows down your learning curve. You might be all pleased with yourself that you've stood up on a small board (all shortboarders do that at the beginning...), but you'd have got 10 times as many rides on a more suitable board, which is what it should be all about.

You should always take your skills to a new board, you don't get skills by buying a new board.

[dtc]

Awesome thanks guy! Sorry if that was contradictory or a dumb question lol, don't come across to many forums about people my size other than long boarders. Think i'm gonna look into a little bigger then especially after seeing Tom Carol,

Well, of course we aren't all Tom Carroll (which may be a good thing, he has had some issues)

Anyway, if you want to look for the type of board that I think are suitable, but you don't want a mini mal, check out boards like the XL Superfish or the Firewire Addvance. One of those around 6'10 or probably 7'2 for the super fish. Another option is the walden mini magic, which is not dissimilar to the Addvance but has even more volume. These are widely available boards; but of course there are many shapers who make similar boards. But if you have a look at them online you will see they have a wide outline, the width is slightly forward (under the chest), are pretty thick and pretty wide with fairly low rocker. High volume and they will provide some glide (you don't have to be pumping or in big surf). But you can still turn on them.

The McCoy nugget I mentioned earlier is a bit of an odd shape - very fat at the rear, not at the chest; Geoff McCoy, the shaper, thinks his shapes are ideal and everyone else is a bit of an idiot. Some people love them and some hate. I have recently bought one and have only just started surfing it and, so far, am on the love side. Not sure its the board for much over 1.5 - 2X head high faces; but I'm not much the surfer over that size anyway.