Just moved to Brighton from Australia. Stoked on the job opportunities, and actually stoked on the crap surf (Brighton has better surf than London, in any case)
I’m trying to figure out what boards to get. Definitely getting something 9+, but I’d like to have a shortboard too.
The below video should sum up the conditions pretty well.
I am about an inch from pulling the trigger on an old-schoolish twin fish for when it gets up past knee-high, but a bit worried about how appropriate such a board would be in shortish crumbly waves. I have a nay-sayer trying to convince me that twin fishes are only for clean points. The board situation here is pretty dire. Everyone seems to ride either popout mini-mals or Techni-color McTavish longboards.
It pretty much depends on your style of surfing. I find fish best on clean waves where you can afford long drawn out turns. But if its onshore, short rides and a couple of turns before a close out, then you cant beat a Mccoy nugget. DOwnthelinesurf just got a shipment in and they are selling out fast.
Another option to consider is a quad fish like a speed dialler or similar
I’d get something like a fish for good smallish waves, surf it in better waves further along the coast, and grovel in crap stuff. Like you said it’s not going to make good waves appear.
Wouter’s thread on a small wave board for Holland might be interesting to you?
I’m only an amateur but have been trying to find a board to suit average south coast conditions for a while. I made a twin keel fish first and it is absolutely perfect for the small clean punchy waves of the west country in the summer, and does go in tiny waves, but it’s not the best for average mush, too fast to control. I tried a 6’6" x14 x 20.5 x 14 (3" thick) single fin pin tail, and used this for a long time and love it, but since I made a 6’ 8" (3" thick) Magic Carpet I’ve hardly used anything else. Handles pretty much most conditions but loves slow fat and mushy waves, the vee in the rear 2/3 really helps in big mush burgers. nothing better, …bar a longboard.
Folks here seem to wear 5/3, boots, gloves, hood in the winter. A lot of guys wear a thermal rashvest under their wetsuit as well. I haven’t actually been in the water yet, but it doesn’t seem THAT much colder than Melbourne in winter.
Also the waves seem to get quite a bit less crappy as you go west.
The twin keel is great for small well formed waves, very fast… the trouble is in the average but not always small mush we often get here in winter it lacks control and is difficult to turn. I find it goes from 0 to ‘out of control’ in a straight line to the shore in these conditions.
I am in West Wales and use a 4/3 no hood no gloves but with booties up untill about my limit at Xmas. The water will be still quite warm but the air temp dropping. Once you get into Jan then the water temp drops and a 5/3 is needed.
As far as boards go you will find it very conservative here and the quality of an original McCoy or Van Straalen may not be recognised and you may struggle to sell for a decent amount. About the only boards guaranteed to get a reasonable price are Channel Island and then Lost boards. Come to think of it Simon Anderson boards always sell well on ebay if in the 6 ’ 1" to 6’ 4" range.
Here the most popular fish is the 5’6" surftech fish no longer for sale. Other than that there is no market for second hand surftech boards.
You will probably be surfing a lot of onshore days.
Oh yeah if you are coming from NSW why not bring a Glen Winton Steg in my size and I will buy it from you?
I’m a bit down the coast from you, near Bournemouth (same type of waves) and find something with a wider tail is more stable in the mush. We have loads of great places for boards, though you’d have to travel mostly over to the westcountry (Devon or Cornwall) to get a good range of non NSP/BIC boards in a shop. There are exceptions, but places like Loose-Fit in Devon & Bristol carry a wide range of alternative boards. My wife picked up a 6’4 singlefin egg, beautiful green resin tint, handmade in the McTavish factory, AU from there last year for about £450 with fin included for example. I also got a 7’ Tanker model from Black & White surfboards with chined rails (awesome!), brand new for £270ish a couple of months ago so great surfboards are out there. We’ve got a large range of boards, none of which are popouts - keep looking!
With regards to water temp, it’s aroud 8 degrees centigrade at the moment, but it depends on your resistance to cold! I’m fine with a 5/3 with boots and gloves but my wife wears a wettie with hood built in - horses for courses as they say!
If you need any more help / info on places to look or surf, let me know, i’ll be more than happy to help.
PS, we have some beautiful waves here, they just take a little time to find but they really are worth it
Ok, so I’m now leaning towards a nice wide tail quad fish.
For now, I’ll pick up a beater longboard to tide me over. I have to go to a friend’s wedding in Santa Cruz in may, where I will purchase the fish, ride it for a few days, and fly it back to the UK (free boards on virgin atlantic as far as I can tell).
So the only question is, who is making nice wide quad fishes in northern california?
And does anyone want to sell me a beater longboard?
My wife’ll be studying at Swansea, but I’ll be based in the Cynon Valley, where I originally come from. I’m hoping to leave the kids with the olds and get a few trips down the Gower. I left the country when I was 21, but never went surfing (despite studying at Swansea myself for 3 years). I’m really excited about surfing back home and seeing the country with fresh eyes .
Thats what I wanted to hear! I’m hoping to pick up a wetty that I can use both through the NSW Winter and the UK Autumn. Good call about the air temp dropping - I was just thinking about the water temp!
I’d sink a 6’4 - I’m fully on the boards with more volume bandwagon. Good to know that I won’t get a decent price for a real McCoy…might have to reconsider.
Coming from the valleys, I’ll be grateful for anything I can get…
What’s Top Gear got to do with it
If your serious and your happy to pay for the board and freight up front, and willing to take the risk of putting it in transit, then pm me…
If you’re having a tough time controlling a twin keel the next step for a small wave board would be a twinzer setup. Twinzers are often described as being like twins on steroids, and I have to agree with that. They’re much more controllable than keels, expecially going backside. They’re good on just about any kind of wave up to about head high; after that they start to max out - that’s when you bring out your quad or thruster.
I don’t favor quads until the waves get some juice.
Or, if you don’t want to go with a fish variant then maybe a 2+1 stubbie would work for you.
I used to live in Worthing, bout 14 miles from brighton. I rider a 5"11 quad made by black and white surfboards in Wadebridge, Cornwall, think its a Rich Pavel design. Its perfect for most conditions on the south coast, would recomend someting like it. Also get a log for the smaller day. Have a look on sharkbait.co.uk and witteringsurfshop.co.uk who provideup to date surf reports.
Surfing around Brighton can be pretty sketchy, with big shore dumps at high tide and locals at the less known spots getting aggressive as good waves are rare and short lived, but Shoreham is good for all and has a massive beach with some shelter from the wind. Few less known spots from the Witterings over to Rottingdean, but you’ll have to find them yourself.