Bigger shortboard or smaller midlength for intermediate?

[Beerfan]

5'8" x 77kg. Nearly 10 years experience, not a big wave charger, mostly 1-3', with enough surfing and fitness 4'. My normal board for 3-4' and good shaped beachies was a midlength. Great paddling around the lineup, didn't have too much trouble with reasonable drops, and pulled in enough in the tail to turn decent enough. Now I've got a few light weight JD's I'm addicted to light and nimble boards, and am looking for something for good waves in beachies. Again, realistically it will be mostly shoulder to a bit overhead, maybe a bit more with some paddle fitness but I'm not trying to impress.

A few years ( and 8+kg ) I had no problems paddling a 6'5" x 18 3/4 x 2 1/2" shortboard, caught waves ok just couldn't get much speed out of it, but it was a few years ago.

What are your thoughts realsurf peeps?

I was leaning towards a smaller midlength ( low 7' ), or a slightly beefy ( not too chunky though ) 6'3"- 6'8" ??, fairly vanilla type shortboard. Not too sure about the smaller wider boards, fun for smaller stuff but sucky beachies?. I've thought about a 6'4-6'6" ish occy model from js type board??

Looking for serious replies but secretly looking forward to the sarcasm too!

[Beerfan]

Cheers mate, yeah just the 2 JD's. Which gm? Do you mean my 7'2" diverse ?. Was a bit too heavy for me, and the rocker was kind of made for solid point breaks IMHO, lots of nose, to flatter tail. Best surf I had on it was as a thruster in head high plus. Long gone now haha

For mellowed head high + the keel fish goes insane. In fact it does go very well in head high and hollow though steep take offs are a bit tricky. If I make it though it's such a great board. It's a bit of a dark horse.

[marauding mullet]

When it's big but not hollow you can still surf those little boards, they get a bit skittish with all the speed but it's kind of fun. My experiences with short wide chunky boards in hollow waves have been all pretty bad, you can get a rail by pretty much standing on the rail, toes hanging off but you can't do much from there. Gets sketchier as the waves get bigger. ?

Did the Annesley Conception fit that mould? I was really keen on that board, if you hadn't sold it I was about to buy it myself.

[Beerfan]

Overhead and fun the fish is great, but hollower not really. I think 2nd hand bigger shortboard might be easiest. The plan is to eventually get another JD so it's kind of a 12-18 month deal, and I'll be using the next board as a reference.

They look weird but some pretty good feedback on them. Jeez, super fast, but still high performance, sounds too good to be true haha. I think for me though I need to stick to basics first.

[Hatchnam]

5'8" x 77kg
Nearly 10 years experience
Not a big wave charger
Mostly 1-3'
With enough surfing and fitness 4'
Realistically it will be mostly shoulder to a bit overhead

based on your details, i'd go for something like one of these for good allrounder up to 4 foot..

http://grsurfboards.com/surfboards/turtle/
6’8″ x 20 3/4″ x 2 3/4


http://simonandersonsurfboards.com/boar ... index.html
6’8″ x 20 3/4″ x 2 3/4


ps: congratulations not mentioning you're considering a useless board that'll only come up to your chin (kypto krapto, dumpster, dinghole diver, neck mong, nemotode, fart beetle etc.)

[Hatchnam]

or one of these if you're looking for more range either end of the spectrum (i.e: waist high to double overhead and thumping)

http://www.markrabbidge.com/categories/Boards/Fatboy/



somewhere between 6'8-7'2 Long, x 20-21 Wide, x 2.5-2.75 Thick.

[Beerfan]

Matticus I guess I could always rent a tomo for a few days from gerringong. Still, a bit of a mind bender haha.

Hatchy, I do have tiny boards but they're for tiny waves, and quite skatey and fun, but yeah not for decent shaped waves. Love the look of that rabbidge, looks fun but I think would work well for me in decent waves, and I'm comfortable with those kind of shapes.

[Cuttlefish]

What boards have you got now? Just the Fish and the new JD?

If that's the case I reckon you should just get yourself a normalish board along the lines of that raging bull board, but I wouldn't go past 6'4", I wouldn't get it too chunky, you've got the two JD's for the fatter stuff. A regular shorty for the sucky stuff, should be able to find something second hand and if you want something for lots of paddling against a current then go the midlength, chances are you'll want one in a year or so anyway! How did you go with that GM you had?

If I recall correctly the Diverse was an SG not a GM. Very different and not to be confused with one another. A midlength small-med size wave cruiser vs a midlength med-solid size wave scalpel.
What kind of lines do You want to draw Mark?
When I think of a shorter board for beachbreaks to 4-5' I think of this kind of planshape in the right length (6-4"-6'6") for open face carves and snaps in the pocket (not tail slides).
A board that will happily let you pop up with your feet in the wrong place, glide across some fatter sections and won't make you look bad.
The hpsb advocates will say this won't progress your surfing and to an extent this is true but should be fun anyway.
http://imageshack.com/a/img827/203/vssr.jpg
http://imageshack.com/a/img401/1417/y9ml.jpg
http://imageshack.com/a/img716/1327/88v5.jpg

[Beerfan]

Yeah cuttles very good point, 2 different boards for sure.

I know Matticus, that rabbidge looks super nice and got me mind surfing haha.

[damo666]

Again, they are not for everyobody - but it sounds like you are the ideal McCoy candidate...

They paddle ridiculously well, can handle a late drop, absolutley love a sucky wave and turn so much better than you think they will when looking at them. The only requirement of yours they probably dont meet is light weight, but that is also a benfit & they certainly dont feel heavy in the water.

Definitley worth a paddle if you can find one to test in your local area?

[Cuttlefish]

I thought of McCoys for a moment and then discarded them since Mark's on a lightweight trip.
Although they have the light weight eps boards made in the Cobra factory now but with their price tag you'd spend the extra and get JD to shape you a new custom anyway.
Have a sqizz at the planshapes on my post (edited) above.
I'd make sure the above board had rails for good wave and a nice single to double or double concave bottom.

[alakaboo]

6'3.5"x19.5"x2.5"
About 31 litres. Sharp tail, foam under the body and chest.
Plenty of paddle, I don't go vertical as it doesn't suit my desires or my ability but this board does big turns like a knife through butter.
I'm 6' and a bit under 80kgs, this is the board I ride in 4-6'.

[Beerfan]

Sexy board boo.

Not sure of the McCoys, I'm kind of moving towards lower volume rails, rather than big boxy rails. Always wanted to try a mccoy though, as like has been mentioned, they apparently go good in hollow waves and paddle great.

[alakaboo]

I rode a McCoy, admittedly a fair bit too big for me.
It really liked to sit high in the pocket and made it out of a lot of waves. It was very user friendly and went wherever you pointed it.
There was an absence of feedback in turns I didn't like, and it didn't actually paddle around as well as I'd expected given the amount of volume. Very good at catching waves, but wanted to take off deeper.

I've also got a board like that one Cuttlefish linked to, quite a lot of concave but with an eggier nose. It is a great board in shorter period/weaker swells in the 2-4 foot range, but if there is some push or sucky waves I prefer the one above.
And I have a 7'4" 2+1 with a pulled in tail that is great in smaller waves, it can be turned pretty hard and paddles like a shark. Don't surf it above 3ft and mainly when I want to compete with longboarders on smaller days or when there is a big current factor.

[Hatchnam]

I reckon this thing is probably one the most functional looking "one board quiver" out there . It'd handle just about anything u'd ever need it to. Especially if ur just want to draw hard carving lines in all and anything. Who cares if it's a 7S. It's one damned fine looking board to me. Might be worth ur attention.

http://www.surfindustries.com/surfboard ... Magnet.php

The 7'2 would be a killer !

[Beerfan]

Bit below the belt mate haha

[petulance]

50 litres of volume in the 7'2" ...

[Hatchnam]

Why below the belt ? I was 100% serious. I've eyeballed these puppies in the flesh and they look the goods. I may be wrong here but it may also be designed by Gary Loveridge (guru Cenny Coast shaper).
That thing would perform no worries. U could disembowel a 6-8 foot thumper on that.