Hopefully you can give me some advice. I’ve looked through the archives and found a couple of really old posts regarding board dimensions for a youngster, but nothing real definitive (the threads didn’t get many responses). I’m working on a coulple of boards for myself and my 8 year old daughter is really interested and asked if I could teach her to surf. My boards are a 6’7" hybrid tri-fin, and a 6’2" quad fish. I’ll have some extra material so I thought I’d make her one of her own so that we can paint it however she wants.
She’s never surfed before other than floating around on her tummy in the shallows on my old board. She’s a little small for her age (about 43 inches and 50 lbs.), but very athletic and an excellent swimmer (she always wears a life-vest, obviously).
So in your opinions, what whould be a good shape and dimensions/fin setup for a first time munchin? I’m looking for something she can paddle easily with her short arms and be able to carry around. I was thinking about a fun shape or egg shape board (no pointy edges to poke herself with) and rounded twin fin setup. Would either of these shapes be appropriate? I have no idea where to start in finding the dimensions though.
I made a mini-log for my daughters when they were about that age and it worked really well for them. Dimensions etc are in the resources: http://www.swaylocks.com/…e.cgi?ID=957&d=1
I highly recommend the protek safety fins for kids that age.
Thanks. That shape looks close to what I had in mind. And the dimensions look right. A little thinner through the middle so they can reach to paddle and enough volume in the nose and tail to easily catch waves. I assume those were your main design points as well? I’ll check out the safety fins. I appreciate the response.
