I’m sure this has probably been covered before, but wasn’t able to find anything by searching.
For most of my surfing I’ve been riding quads, twins and single fins. I’ve occasionally tried surfing thrusters and just could never seem to make it work for me. Looking back, the times I tried them them were earlier in my surfing when I was still learning some pretty fundamental stuff. So it’s possible I just wasn’t a very good surfer and the board wasn’t the issue.
A little over a year ago I moved to San Francisco and have been surfing much more frequently. I almost exclusively surf a 5’5" Mini Simmons twin keel and would like to try something with a little more performance. The Simmons is a really fun, fast board, but there are times when it doesn’t feel the most appropriate for Ocean Beach, especially when the size picks up. I’m finding that I don’t have the best hold when the size picks up and although I can do really tight, quick turns… it feels a lot harder than it should. I’d like to get something that will generate a lot of speed while easily making tight turns.
In the past I’ve had quad fishes I’ve really liked, but I’ve never really given a thruster a chance. I’d like to give it another shot and am looking for something that will handle OB well, is fast and manuverable, and will force me to try a different style of surfing rather than the big smooth carvy turns I’m used to with the Simmons. I really love the length of the Simmons though, so something on the shorter end would be nice. That being said, I don’t want to have to constantly be pumping to get speed and it seems something with a little more foam tends to do better at OB.
With all that in mind, what boards would you recommend? Should I try a thurster, stick with a quad, or maybe try a 5 fin so I can switch back and forth? What general size and shape should I be looking for?