I only surf longboards (till now) and would like to start surfing something else when the waves get a bit punchy. What is my best bet? Fish? Thruster? Hull? Fun Shape? Scaled down longboard? What should I keep in mind when transitioning? Later take offs? Quicker take offs? More wide outs? Thanks, LB Kook
It really depends on how you want ride the board. If you want to ride a shorter board but you still want to walk and trim, a standard thruster aint gonna do it for ya.
OK – in the faster bigger surf I prob won’t be walking much.
I recently bought a Hyrbid/Egg type board which is great in medium to large surf, and at 7’8" it’s a nice step down from my 9’ but not too much. Just later take-offs, quicker pop-ups. It’s really a blast…I can surf it off the tail like a shortboard and surf it mid-point like an egg. It’s a 2+1 so I can surf it single as well as thruster.
Dude, get a tri-fish. That’s what I call them. Rusty’s Piranah, Al Merrick’s Flyer or Mongrol. That kind of thing. Get it made about 7 foot, super wide (21.5) with a wide tail (about 16 inches) and wide nose (about 14-15 inches). Now, to make the thing loose, get a double or triple wing swallow tail. That will work insane. Finally, make sure it’s pretty thick (about 2 7/8) and really light (ultralight or superlight blank). That’s my opinion. Now go do the wide thing.
How about a fungun? Supposedly a very versitile board. Something around 8’, wider than a regular gun with a fuller template. Enough foam to paddle easy, moderate rocker and a 2+1 fin setup so you can ride it anyway you want, from thruster to singlefin. regards, Håvard
Here are a few things to expect when downsizing. First be prepared to have a more difficult time paddling. Taking off will probably be more critical, as a shorter board needs a steeper angle to get into the wave. You may have to pump the board a little more to getand keep it going. Riding the tube may be less difficult than a longboard. There are probably a lot more things I havent mentioned but these are few you might want to consider. I myself switch off between these types of boards. 9’0" longboard (high performance single fin), 7’0" egg, 6’6" modern fish. I’ll use what ever board that fits the surf conditions. I usually bring the longboard and one of the shorter boards with me when I go surfing. My advice for you would be to see if you can try other types of boards before commiting yourself so you can see which one works the best for you. I’d start with a downsized longboard in your case. You may run into some difficulty if you went to an extreme and get discouraged. Good luck!
the learning curve is frustrating – but i figure if i stick with it, it’ll come. paddling – a little more difficult positioning on board on takeoff – way different taking off – much less glide, more pushing in and standing up catching the first few waves – worth the frustration haven’t been on my longboard in over a month – will feel like a tanker! how are these Tudor-type Good karma-type boards? one of most frustating things is watching the longboarders taking off outside, and the people that have it wired catching the waves I should have no difficulting catching. oh well, it will come.
long ago there was a brief, wonderful time when there were no cords, and boards were so small that kooks could barely float high enough to paddle. No balance, no catch wave, no standing. level of experience determined who actually surfed. when the big closeout would roll through, we`d yell, “your wave man!! go!! go!! go!!!” lots of swimming in those days. Sweeeeeeet!