Buying a board for Israel waves?

[Elyawein]

Hi all,
IM new here. And new to the surfing world.
I've been surfing for about 2-3 months now, i bought a 8ft foamie and i stand up easily and manage to catch some frontside and backside corners.

I'm traveling to Sydney in a few days and i want to sees this opportunity and buy my next surfboard.

My height is 190CM
i weigh 87KG
I calculated that my board should be between 40-45 liters, Is that correct ?

The waves in Israel are small (1-4 ft),
I was told that the best option for this is a fishboard, or a funboard

What board would you recommend?
Any shops in Sydney that would be good? (any outlets or sales?)
Can i try out the board somewhere before buying?
Is the Firewire dominator or sweetpotato a good choice??

Thanks for evryone!!!

[jaffa1949]

Shalom , many shops in Sydney and there are secondhand and new boards in most.
Depending on where you are planning to go Manly, Bondi or Cronulla.
At your height don't get a fish or a small funboard , the mimimum size I would suggest is an 8ft minimal ,9 would be better but airfreighting it back to Israel might be expensive.
Suggestion if you have the time hire a hard board inthese dimensions and see how you go.
Why do I suggest not going with the fish (they are not good for beginners in weak surf ).
Mainly first time buyers get them because they are fashionably recommended and become miserable failure under a beginner's feet.
Go longer catch more waves get the skills and then come down in size.

[drowningbitbybit]

My height is 190CM
i weigh 87KG
I calculated that my board should be between 40-45 liters, Is that correct ?

Double that and you'll be in the right ballpark.

[dtc]

you can rent boards at Manly and Bondi, so give them a go - but remember that the waves are probably more powerful in Australia than you are used to (in other words, if something works in Australia you may want to add on a bit of extra length/volume). You really should aim for a mini mal/funboard at the shortest - 7ft6 upwards.

If you want an idea of prices, have a look at 'natural necessity' (a big board store south of sydney but has all the boards online) or 'boardcave' (a board website). Those prices are pretty much what you will pay in the stores for those boards. As Jaffa mentioned, there are plenty of stores around and many will have second hand boards; also check out 'gumtree' (or ebay) for sellers in wherever you are going to be. There are heaps of second hand boards for sale in Sydney.

[Elyawein]

Thanks everyone for your help!!
I think i didnt explain well.

I already bought a 8 ft soft top and have been surfing it for the past 2 months.

I want to get my next board... even if I am not ready i want to sees the opportunity that I'm here to get one. (In Israel the boards are expensive!)

Thanks

[jaffa1949]

We understand boards are expensive in Israel, that's a given.
The rental suggestion is about understanding what will work for you and then buying that.
No matter what you want if it doesn't work then the cost is immaterial , ( too much).
At you weight and with weak Israeli surf bigger is better in messy.
All the fish talk is sale pitch except to skilled surfers. Litre scales also are so much rubbish most of the time, so try before you buy!

[dtc]

As Jaffa said, what we are saying is that a fish is not what you want. Something high 40L volume might be ok although not as good as something 60L; but a 45L fish isnt a fish anyway, its just a hybrid board with a fish tail (which may be what you mean - a 'fish' proper isnt just a board with a swallowtail, there are a whole other range of factors).

In any case, a funboard/mini mal shape or a proper longboard is a much better option - bigger, more stable, easier to paddle and catch waves etc. If you are thinking of buying the board you progress to after your softboard (storing the new board away for a while until you feel you are 'there') then I still suggest something around 8ft because a softboard is not really much like a longboard. At 87kg you are bigger than most surfers (I'm 83kg so I know the feeling) - you need a bigger board

[Elyawein]

Well I thank you all,
I might have been given the wrong advise

I think when stating that I want a fish I really meant a hybrid as you mentioned.

Also I am trying to get the shortest board that will fit me..
And not to be "cool" but just for getting around with the board, in my car or with my bike.

Will a FireWire sweet potato or the dominator in the highest volume (around 50 liters)
Be a decent choice?

Or am I (again) way of mark?

Thanks for your advice!

Also I'm planing on trying out the waves here with a school or something and hopefully with a board that I might buy later on.
Is Bondi beach the right choice?
If so, do you have any recommendations for a good school/store I can do that with?

Thanks!

[jaffa1949]

Have a look at " Let's go surfing " school website at Bondi. Lots of good tutors ! There are other school and links from TripAdvisor on other booking sites. Tip; get the number of the schools direct and work with them!

[Big H]

I recently tried a 43L board that was 5'8"....I have a board that is 7'2" that is probably around 40L (hand shaped so not really sure). The 7'2" is easier to paddle, catch waves and ride vs. the 5'8". For reference I am 6'1" and 87kg. Liters aren't everything....different boards of different lengths, designs and shapes of the same literage will behave, paddle and perform differently as boards are a sum total of all of their inherent design features.

At your stage of development, look no further than a big mini mal or longboard as has been repeatedly suggested. At your (our) weight, I personally wouldn't go any shorter than a full sized longboard of 9ft for at least a year of twice a week minimum surfing. Anything less will only extend your learning curve. My 2C....

[dtc]

The problem with high volume short boards is

1. lots of volume in a small space - so they are bobbing around on the surface; so you are bobbing around on the top of that slippery slidey board (which is still hard to paddle, catch waves and not very stable)

2. these boards are really designed to allow people to surf slightly shorter boards ie allowing someone who usually surfs a 6ft2 to surf a 5ft8. Once you scale them up too much, they just dont work very well because of reason 1 and a few other reasons. So for Firewire, for example, you are much better off getting an Addvance rather than a Sweet Potato (although the dominator isnt a bad board, just not sure its the board for you)

Although its not perfect, you could look at the 7ft6 torq funboard (or the 7ft2 if you were desperate to go shorter) - tough, fairly cheap, gets good reviews. I wouldnt go below 7ft2.

Going for 'the shortest board that will fit me' really depends on what you mean by 'fit me' - Owen Wright is your size so in theory you can surf the same size boards as he can. But in reality neither you nor I can do that or anything close to that. So we are saying what 'fits you' at this stage of your skill level is a 7ft6-9ft mal/mini mal style board.

I suppose you could take advantage of the trip and pick up a couple of second hand boards - maybe a 9ft and a 7ft (second hand) - wont cost any extra than a new board in terms of purchase price (dont know about airline fees). Around Bondi you will find heaps of second hand boards advertised online (gumtree etc) - lots of backpackers etc selling their boards. You could, since it seems this is what you want, get a mal (8-9ft) and a hybrid (7ft or so). Have them both at home and try them both out over a longer period of time and see what works

[Tudeo]

Will a FireWire sweet potato or the dominator in the highest volume (around 50 liters)
Be a decent choice?

If your looking at a Firewire board then better go for an Addvance, like dtc mentioned. The Sweet Potato is a specialized small wave board and the Dominator is meant to be ridden very short by more experienced surfers.

A bigger Dominator is a good board but is, because of the wide and thick tail, very hard at takeoff and backfoot steering in bigger waves, from shoulder high.

The Addvance is a beginner oriented shorter board with a lot of volume. I weigh 74 kg and am very happy with my 6'6". For you at 87kg the bigger sizes will be better.

[Big H]

Will a FireWire sweet potato or the dominator in the highest volume (around 50 liters)
Be a decent choice?

A bigger Dominator is a good board but is, because of the wide and thick tail, very hard at takeoff and backfoot steering in bigger waves, from shoulder high.

I had a 6'2" dominator and found this to be the case. Take off was like stepping on a bar of soap in waves we typically have here. Positioning was really critical....late at all and it all became very difficult very quickly.

[Tudeo]

late at all and it all became very difficult very quickly.

Exactly! I finally sold my Dominator 6'6" because of that and because there was too much overlap in smaller waves with my Addvance 6'6".

[dtc]

I have a McCoy Nugget, talking of big tails, and I'm totally blaming the board for everything that I cant do very well.. Especially on bigger waves

Nuh, I totally agree - you go to pop up on a bigger steep wave and the board is 1/2 way down the face before you even realise it. But great on smaller weaker waves or maybe fatter waves (not that I seem to surf too many of them)

[Tudeo]

I have a McCoy Nugget, talking of big tails, and I'm totally blaming the board for everything that I cant do very well.. Especially on bigger waves

True!

To tell the truth, it was hard to let the Dominator go. Such a beautiful board and I had so much fun surfing it. It gave this old man an edge when bringing it to shortboard spots, where I could sit more outside and steal some waves of the young dynamo's.

But we've had good swell for a long time now and I kept struggling with bigger and especially steeper waves. I use a smaller and more rockered board now and things are so much easier.. But I've got 2 more years of experience under the belt since I bought the Dom. Now I'm much better in finding the right position to take off. Without this improved timing and positioning it would be too hard to catch waves on the smaller board.

[Big H]

I watched a guy in his 40s with a surf hat and beer belly start to paddle out to double overhead & barrelling low tide dreamland yesterday on a dominator....I stayed on the beach because it was carnage out there; 30+ people in the lineup that was skewed heavily to the kooky side considering the conditions...... every decent wave had 3-5 takers, sometimes actually hitting each other....the concept of dropping in seemed not to exist....boards were flying everywhere, crossovers by surfers splitting the peak but taking off too deep.....that with the serious conditions just didn't seem like fun....I wonder how that guy did.....

[Tudeo]

..the concept of dropping in seemed not to exist....boards were flying everywhere

It's just a sad thing to see a piece of heaven turning into hell..