Hi guys, cordell here ive been playing around with and researching on step up surfboards and need some advice or ideas.
Im 16 and 4 foot 5 my quiver at the moment is made up of a 4’9 x 16 1/2 x 1 7/8 and a 4’11 x 16 3/4 x 2.
Im off to cloudbreak and restaurants in fiji and looking to get a bigger board with some more paddling power for steeper and bigger waves. Im going to be doing more down the line surfing and long turns.
I wasn’t exactly sure what you meant by step up. If you’re asking what length of board do you need to ride bigger waves the starting point might be considering your height . Then, how well do the current boards paddle you onto waves now? Length and volume will be two considerations. The rocker of the board will also play a role in paddling. If the boards you ride are for Sydney beachbreaks you could easily go 6" longer. If you look at big-wave guns they can be 2’ taller than the surfer.
What i mean by step up, is a board smaller than a gun, but longer than a short board. Im 4’ 5’’ and the baords I have at the moment get me onto 8/10 waves I go for.
For the new board, Id surf it with more of a down the line style ride with the occasional turn that is more larger and softer than opposed to tight snappy turns in the pocket. I was thinking along the lines of anywhere from 5 foot 7 to 6 foot. Also would it be more or less rocker that would be added/deducted?
I have the perfect board design for you. It has been ridden (tested) in Hawaii, up and down the North Shore. Most notably Pipeline. It handles that sort of wave with ease. Too bad you’re so far away. What is your time schedule? For larger waves, I favor a larger board. I believe you would get excellent results with a board in the 6’6’’ to 6’ 8’’ range. Lots of paddle power, and lots of speed on tap. I’m curious, do you prefer a sq tail, or a pintail?
I think it would be worth taking one bigger board designed specifically for you to Fiji like th 6’6’’ or 6’8’’ Bill is talking about because if cloudbreak is 6-8ft+ you’ll need it, even if you just want to paddle around the line up with the guys off your boat. Cloudbreak has a bit of a rolling take off then the longest barrel/wall ever so you just want to get in early and go straight haha!
Don’t be scared of longer boards, in Indo, Fiji ect with long period swells they are perfect plus you’ll get more waves than everone riding their Fred Rubbles.
Definatly going to be looking into the 6ft range. I think personally the 6’6 or 6’8 may be to hard to manuever under my feet, becuase if my weight… looking forward to what bill has to add, but marsh thanks for your input much appreciated!
Another question maybe not relevant, But… Quad, Thruster??