I am considering a step up board I saw on the rack. I am going from a 6’6"x20"x2 5/8" (for 1’-5’allaround Nor Cal) to a 7’x2 3/4"x?(actually the one I like is 19 1/4") for cleaner 4’-8’ Nor Cal. I have allways been under the impression that going a little narrower and thicker was best but I was talking to John “JC” Carper a while back and he recomended going wider!? Also I noticed most pro quivers that I have read about the only thing that changes is the length. Most other sources seem to recomend narrower and thicker, I believe. Anyone care to comment or shed some light? Much appreciated!
Take JC carper’s advice. Go wider.
a lot depends on the board(s) you are talking about. Width is only one dimension, you have to take it in context. Where is the wide point, and how does it compare to the nose & tail dimensions? i.e. a 20" gun, a 20" thruster, and a 20" wide fish are all 20", but will all surf differently… throw in thicknes, rocker, rails for consideration too. Plus, what do you weigh?
What exactly are you trying to do on your step up board?
I think 20" is plenty wide for most boards to surf in the 4-8’ NorCal general vicinity… but it all depends.
my opinion is that wider = better planing and paddling speed + worse control on the rail and in steeper waves.
narrower = less planing and paddling speed but better control when putting it on the rail or in steeper waves. when you change the tail width to compensate it changes your rail line so I keep the width ‘proportional’ throughout.
for me anything over 19" is just too wide - I only go 19" on my 8’0" winter ob board.
when I got my first 18" wide it changed my life forever. I think it depends mostly on the steepness/hollowness of the waves you’re planning on surfing this board in…
shred on dog.
Kieth and Solo,
Thanks for your replies!
I am 6’ 4" x 215 X35 yrs old (surfing 20) and my 6’6" is 20 wide (lost sd2 ) that is more of an all arounder, I ride it the most. surfing in smaller waves with my 8yr old grom puts me in grovel waves alot. I am above average ability (although that is all relative I suppose) and I would probobly ride narrower if I were in better condition(job and kidsx3 cut down my surf hours for now) I like the way narrower boards ride inthe pocket better, I just need that extra planning vollume to catch more waves. I guess my standard board would be 6’8"x 19.75"x 2 5/8"(CI MBM thruster)(for2-6’).
The 7’ step up would be for fair to good 4-8’reef points between Half moon bay and Santa Cruz or Ocean beach maybe a little smaller but generaly thicker and hollower. I have longer and shorter boards for more extreme conditions. I was thinking that the board I saw, a CI semi gun 7’x2 3/4"x19.25" would suit me (the board was speaking to me) the only doubt I had was the paddeling and what JC was saying about going wider is sticking in my head. Maybe I shoud order up one at 19.75 with the same dimensions, wouldnt be ready till after the season though and may not turn out the same…
What do you think?
Given a certain length, you still can adjust rocker, thickness flow, and WP …tail and nose width, to affect paddle, glide, wave catching, and riding characteristics.
If you like narrow, go thicker and flatten the deck, then slightly increase V.
I surf a 8’ Plumeria at 19.6, and it’s fine. But if it was thicker and narrower, it would be something special for my lighterweight 152 lbs. As is, waaay too much planing surface for overhead + waves.
I think that if you’ve been surfing 20 years, you have a quiver with longer & shorter boards for a wide range of conditions, and you found a board that spoke to you, you should get it.
You can always get ANOTHER one too. And you can always paddle harder when you see that set wave coming…
THanks for your thoughts guys. I called after my last post to set that board aside, unfortunaly the board spoke to another and left with he or she on Sun. Oh well…