Help for a noob (re: fishes and/or mini mals)

[caspian]

I've had a 6'10" foamy for a little while now but I figure that it's probably time I actually bought a proper small wave board; I'm almost exclusively a bodyboarder but lids aren't all that functional when it's really small. And foamies are (surprise) rather shit.

I'm thinking a fish or something would be good, just something for me to do a few really crappy little turns and the like. Problem is that I have no idea what sort of specs I need, I don't know anyone with a fish etc etc. So some help re: brands, what dimensions I need would be great. I'm 6'3" and 110 kg, so I imagine a somewhat thick and floaty one would be ideal. I don't need a really good fish, just something strong and fast. Any suggestions? be as general as you want, I've never bought/looked for a proper surfboard before. I have no idea as you want.

Alternatively, would a 7/8 ft mini mal be a better idea? I'm talking small beachies that are less then chest height, if that also helps.

[marcus_h]

I might be biased (in that I fkn hate minimals) but I would go for a wide, thick fish type board.

You sound of similar shape to a mate of mine. He's learning to surf on a 6'5" / 21"/ 3" twinny. He's doing quite well and the board floats him well.

[slowy]

I've got a fish that I've only surfed about 30 times.
I'm in Newcastle area, PM for details if you are interested.
Cheers

[Grooter]

I've had a 6'10" foamy for a little while now but I figure that it's probably time I actually bought a proper small wave board; I'm almost exclusively a bodyboarder but lids aren't all that functional when it's really small. And foamies are (surprise) rather shit.

I'm thinking a fish or something would be good, just something for me to do a few really crappy little turns and the like. Problem is that I have no idea what sort of specs I need, I don't know anyone with a fish etc etc. So some help re: brands, what dimensions I need would be great. I'm 6'3" and 110 kg, so I imagine a somewhat thick and floaty one would be ideal. I don't need a really good fish, just something strong and fast. Any suggestions? be as general as you want, I've never bought/looked for a proper surfboard before. I have no idea as you want.

Alternatively, would a 7/8 ft mini mal be a better idea? I'm talking small beachies that are less then chest height, if that also helps.

For that weight range you're gonna want a decent amount of volume if you're going short. Even a mal for small beachies can work, depends on the wave really, if they are steep and bowly forget it but if they are fat and spilling then they can be ideal. Again depends on the board, how it is shaped etc...

Talk to a shaper mate, better yet talk to a few, and you'll get some ideas of what you want. You'll want a decent amount of strength in it too, good stringer, lots of glass etc... Quite a few guys here churn them out for a living so there is no shortage of them around you can ask.

Best thing I ever did was pick up the phone and start asking around, end result was a board that was 100% spot on with what I wanted that suited my vitals, ability and local breaks.

[purple pyramids]

seeing as you're not committed to standing up, maybe consider a kneeboard.
old kneeboards are wide and thick and will work well on fat, weak waves. functionally, they're pretty similar to a fish. they also sell for very little. you could go for a 70s single fin, but an early 80s number with some multi fin set up would be the best.
like a fish, they are of no use in micro conditions that a mal would be good for.

[Chillin]

I'm with iggy, i prefer a small mal to a large fish especially as small surf is not what fish where designed for anyway. The small mal (i hate the term minimal) is able to paddle into waves almost as easily as a 9'ter and will manage to do a pretty good rail turn. Id go for something like the McTavish Carver, a great all round board for the person looking for a compromise.

[pridmore]

mini-mal would be best, what Iggs said, go at least 7ft, maybe longer if you want it to paddle well...and go for at least 22 wide and at least 2 3.4" thick...thruster, bit of nose lift, you'll be lovin it compared to the foamy or the lid...

but if you go the fish, get some length, maybe 6'6 or longer, lots of volume, close to 3" imo...and wide, 21 minimum, 22 better.....but mini-mal is better for where you at I reckon.....

[buzzy]

I'm not a big fan of fishes myself. They look super cool but I don't like surfing them. Go figure.

I also reckon you should go either a thick mini-mal or a really beefed up shortboard.

If going the mini-mal the only thing I'd say is that at 110kg you'd need at least 2.75" thickness and reallY I'd reckon a minimum of 2 7/8" but I'm no shaping expert. I do know I'm more than 10kg lighter than you with more experience and my mini-mal is 2 7/8" thick. There are heaps of people making good mini-mals - McTavish is one but it'll cost you. Heaps of choice here and as it's early days you needn't go too high performance. However, it's worth paying for a shaper whose work you can trust.

Another option is a really beefed up shortboard. There's the Simon Anderson Mollusc. You could look at the Webber CD. But I'd steer you toward a McCoy nugget or a Miller Waterskate. The McCoy is more overfoamed than the Miller, but at your level that would work great. Miller would probably have you on a 3" thick one and McCoy on at least a 3 1/16 and maybe thicker.

[caspian]

sheers for the help fellas

The mini mal option does seem appealing- would work well enough at my usual small wave beachies and perhaps I could take it down south, annoy people at margs main and the like if I don't feel like going somewhere far better (?). Er, anyway a minimal will be good enough for the stuff I want to do. And I can enjoy the feeling of taking all the waves out the back

[Beanpole]

I think McTavish's site has him recomending 7'6" for under 95 kilos and 8' if your over. That seems reasonable to me as a starting point.

[JET01]

I second the Miller Waterskate recommendation... i'm 5'10 and 83kg and i got a 6'8 x 21 x 2 3/4 rounded pin, from Grant a few years ago. Have surfed it in 1ft to head high, and some of my best surfs have been on it. I've had a 7'0 Powerglide as well. Prefer the waterskate though, especially for beach breaks.

Not sure where you live mate, and not sure how much of a rush you're in, but if you want to see what my 6'8 waterskate goes like, PM me and we'll tee up a surf in the sydney region after the 4th of Jan sometime.

[caspian]

cheers for those offers, but I live in Perth. And yeah no rush, wouldn't mind getting some practise in so I'm relatively competent by next summer, but it's not a major spending priority of mine.