Hey guys - new to the forum and really glad I found it. I am struggling to come up with the right dimensions for a big guy short board and I was hoping some of the shapers or bigger guys on hear can help.
I am 44 yrs old, 6'3 and 285lbs. In good shape for a big guy (heavy boned) and I am very agile, ex hockey player. I live and surf in new Jersey and surfed my entire life growing up and stopped when I was about 35. This year I have really gotten back into surfing and have been riding a big thick longboard (11 ft Munoz Glide). The waves here are generally small but we do get big hurricaine surf in the fall and strong swells in the winter and I want a board that I can ride when the waves are head high to over head. What type of board / dimensions should I be getting? I want to be able to get into waves and still have enough performance in the board but also have something that is stable enough as I am transitioning from a long board.
Thanks for all the help - stoked to be surfing again.
Welcome to swaylocks, and welcome back to the lineup! Two years ago I came back to surfing at age 54 after a long time away, feels so good just to paddle out sometimes.
(edited to add: sorry if that link doesn't work, I can't get it to work for me. Might have to search "big guy looking to go shorter, wider", and it will come up. Might as well get familiar with the search function here - it doesn't always work great, but it sure pulls up some great stuff when it does work!)
Are you gonna build it yourself? Because if you're looking to have a custom board built, there are a lot of good shapers you can find through swaylocks, who will know just what you need.
Tom Mahady (Wall, NJ) makes a board he calls the ‘Lineup Killer’ geared towards guys in your situation. I’ve surfed with a few older guys riding his Lineup Killers and they had huge smiles on their faces so I’d have to say they work really well here in NJ.
Check out www.mahadysurfboards.com and Tom will talk you through the design and make exactly what you want.
6’10" - 21.75" 3"thick / This is a custom I had done after a shape I made myself out of poly. I rode it so much it only lasted just over a year. I had this one made with epoxy, kevlar deck patch, 5 fcs fusion fin boxes to allow for various fin configs. Originally rode this in the cold waters of WA State, now I live in Hawaii and it is by far my favourite board. If it should break, I would replace it in a heartbeat.
Check out this board: http://www2.swaylocks.com/forums/xxl-big-guy-board-going-native-polynesian-tattoo-style-designs. This is my primary tool for this summer. I surf it in chest high to way overhead high. I scale in at 245 lbs now and catch everything. Use the US Blanks 9-3A blank. At 285 lbs, you should have no problems catching waves and going off the lip. I love this board, i take off with the longboards and go very vertical. At 56 years young, I feel like a kid again when I surf this board. We are getting some really nice south swells this weekend and next week. This is what I will be riding. BTW, it is 9-3 x 15" x 24.5" x 24.5" x 16" x 4" quad set up.
Hey guys thanks so much for the feedback and the warm welcome. Had a shoulder high swell today from irene here in NJ today. Rode a 10'0 longboard most of the day and had a blast. Went over to a Firewire advance 7'6 23 wide 3 1/5 thick. Was fin on the take off then the board just fizzled out and felt slow, but the waver did not have a ton of juice.
Uncle D - I really like that board you have, and the art is fantastic - how is 9'3 for beach break ? That is what we haver most of here. In the thickness how much do the rails taper off? I definately think those dimentions would be really good for me and I am thinking of having a local shaper make one up. Do you have any pics of just the board standing up?
Thanks again everyone - supposed to get nice and big here tomorrow so I am gonna give the 7'6 firewire another chance.
