Ok so monday I surfed that swell that hit San Diego. I just bought a SBX sharp eye, 6’0 glassed in fins. So I surfed 6-9 foot waves on it and relized that when I did a bottom turn the board shook horribly (never happen before cause never surfed those size waves, FUN!), like back and fourth. I could never complete a snap cause I couldnt hold my turns, and Im very distressed cause those were freaking NICE waves that I couldnt do snaps on!!! So im trying to find out if its me, my board, or the wave. It is really bugging me. oh and if its me any suggestions on how I can improve?
Do you think the guys who go out at Mavericks on 10’2" boards are just 300 lbs. fatties? Why do you think normal sized guys use boards like that on big waves?
Is there ever a reason to use a board bigger than 6’?
A picture from the day in question at Sunset Cliffs. 11:55 Monday afternoon. Not exactly macking by any standards, but enough to get your attention, and wonder if the 6ft chip is going to hold the line.
Keep surfing the 6ft board during our winter season, that will insure that guys like me will get more waves like this. What ever you do don’t get a board between 7’4" and 8’0" it will never work in bigger surf. BaHAAAAAAAAAAAAA HAAAAAAAAAAA
Newshaper, sorry about that, I didn’t really answer any of your questions. Surfboards are like golfclubs, you can play a round of golf with 1 club (unless your some kind of freek) and expect to do any good. same goes with surfboards. I own everything from 6’2" to 11’0" they all have a special purpose. Usually when i know it’s going to be a little bigger I’ll bring 3 or 4 boards, I really don’t know what to surf until I get a chance to see what going on. Your new board is limited because you have glass on fins, and can’t swap out fins. Also if that is the first time you have surfed in bigger conditions, you probably noticed that you go a lot faster, and therefore it takes more pressure to make the board do what you want, your fighting some G force now. Specially on cutbacks when your hauling A$$ and trying to completely redirect back towards the pit.
Paddle back out on that chip and charge, or die trying… But if it gets bigger than Monday, you need more foam, like a 7’0" + foam. It wasn’t untill the wisdom of being 30 something that I realized the need for a foam volume correct wave riding vehicle. San Diego is a very unique place to surf, on any given swell you can find reef, point, beack break, deep water, or tow in quality waves. It’s a lot different than Florida or Jersey, or even Hawaii, there is no perfect board, just perfect waves. You need more boards.
I know bigger boards for bigger surf, just to tell you guys im not totally dumb, its just weird I could paddle into them fine. But just couldnt hold a line when surfing. Resinheads explinaltion makes sense.
Like Jay said, you don’t have any options with your glass-ons, but at 6-0 changing fins may not have made much difference. You need weight +length for those days. I was out at Igor’s on Monday and it was way too much for a 6’3" narrow fish. For the bigger winter swells in SD, we use 7+ footers. I’ve been undersized too many times in January at Swami’s, so the mini-guns were built a couple of years ago just for that. I’m currently thinking about a shape like a Rusty desert island gun (about 8 1/2’) for those 6-8’ faces, especially when it gets mushy at high tide.
You did not mention your weight or age so I am asuming your still young and light
I used to have that problem when I was at school. The posts obove are right you need more tools for the job. However I was in the similar position in school. I was quite light and used to surf my local point (right) break at about 10ft with my 80’s version of a 6’0 chip (“Why do you need a nother board you already have one”-Dad ). It was a struggle getting into waves but when on the big struggel began too much speed and cauldn’t get any decent rail into the water. What I would do on the takeoff is go left a bit and do a wide unproductive bottom turn to get rid of some of the speed and then go from there. Luckily the wave was not very fast.
I will be surfing this spot in June next year. This time I plan to be properly equiped. I am also 20kg heavier now.
It’s almost certainly the board, if you could paddle into the waves it wasnt’ you or the wave. You should be able to ride a 6’0" in that size surf, but at the upper end (9’)you might be maxxing out for that board. Don’t go overboard on the size, either, just go big enough that you’re comfortable and can still duck dive easily (NO BAILING BOARDS, WE MIGHT BE BEHIND YOU!). Not everybody needs to be on an 8’6" next swell… get the fins fixed, or take the board back. Maybe go up to a 6’6", 6’10" and see how that feels…
Concur with Kieth M’s post, surfed well overhead Pipes same morning on a 5’11 fish and hung just fine. (6’2, 205lbs) For me board choice (length) often boils down to who else (and how many) happen to be out that day. For me, (up to a reasonable point) paddle power ends up being more of a competition for the wave requirement vice being physically able to throw myself over the ledge. I tend to stay as short as possible and still get into the wave. The 7’2 semi usually only comes out when the wave starts to dredge.
Oh yeah, the real topic… Fin problem. You can always grind 'em off and put new ones on. How does it go in small surf?
…mainly to do with bottom curve I think. The longer the entry curve the bigger the wave the board will handle all else being equal. If you have a short entry curve too much of the board is in the water at the sort of speeds you achieve in larger waves which produces that bucking effect you talked about. Fins may help a bit but I have three boards 6’5" 6’6" and 6’7" that I surf in everything upto about 10ft and that’s the major (but not only) difference between them
agree on the wrong board responses (i like bigger shorties in bigger surf myself) but you likely have a bad fin setup or bad fins…measure toein, in particular, and let us know what you get…
ok the toe in is about 2 centimeters and the cant out is 2-3 centimeters ( dont have exact mesurments cause dont have right tools, and did it kinda fast) ok but Im gonna try it out saturday which will be alittle smaller so Ill see how it does then, if not better im selling it. Oh and would the cant and toe be a problem?
