Surfboards,

James Druhan

Here, im just looking for some advice which do you think is abetter board to begin with, a 7,9 Bic mini mal or a 7,3...

somebody told me if i go with 7,3 its alot easier to progress to shortboards..

what do you think

cheers

Gone West

If youre a beginner, I'd go with the longer board.
Much easier to catch smaller waves and much more stable than a shorter board.

air

Just started with a 7'9 BIC on saturday & was able to get standing on every wave I tried, would definitely recommend it for a beginner.

cue

I got a 7'9" and it does me fine for my weight (13st) and height (6ft) and ability (getting up on most waves and starting to catch a few unbroken lefts and rights).

conman78

If your any good at sports, ie good balance from skateboarding even playing football go with the smaller board. be surprised how quick you can catch on. If your pretty big obviously the larger board but 7. 3 should be fine if your not a sporting novice and under 6 foot.

If you fancy hanging on I'm launching a surf website to sell boards in the coming weeks. If interested in the meantime I could source you a far superior Epoxy board to anything BIC or the sales guy can throw at you. NSP are better but theses boards I'll be bringing in are ultra light meaning you'll catch most waves you paddle for even on a calm day with little 2 footers. Perfect for learning and getting confidence on.

Can email me at sunsetsurfireland@gmail.com if your interested or even know of anyone else looking for a board

piraka

air wrote:

Just started with a 7'9 BIC on saturday & was able to get standing on every wave I tried, would definitely recommend it for a beginner.

I'm a beginner and I have a 7'9 nsp and no matter how hard I try I just not able to get standing on the board.

Surface

its really hard when ye spend two hours in the water and just get on the board just once. But its really worth it when you start putting it together. just remember to have fun. The first time i was out i nearly knocked out the instructor with myfoam board and that was a right laugh. Keep surfin:cool:

Surface

I just started surfing and want to buy some gear like wetsuits and boards. what kindof money do ye reckon i should spend?

piraka

I was told once...long ago... it's just like riding a bike, once you have the technique you never lose it. The problem is getting the technique, don't worry I enjoy it so much that I'll probably get it...sometime...in the future.:D

air

piraka wrote:

I'm a beginner and I have a 7'9 nsp and no matter how hard I try I just not able to get standing on the board.

I did a lot of bodyboarding as a young lad & I'm thinking I must have learned a lot from it wrt catching waves etc.
Only time I ever surfed before was about 9yrs ago on a school tour using a foam board in Delphi (Mayo) & I did seem to have a big advantage over other people.
If you have the hang of catching waves lying down on the board just do that a bit I guess & take your time getting up until you get used of it.
Are you particularly tall or heavy? I'm around 90kg & 1m87 & tbh the 7'9" feels like a bit of a ship when it gets going on a wave.

Dub_Ster

why is every one allwasy in a hurry to get on a short board ?

Enygma

Cause they're Koooool!
If you want to see a whole different range of surfboards being ridden really well check out a surf movie called "Sprout". It's a bit hippyish but there are some great scenes in it, from fish to bonzers to single-fins to logs. Great flick.

To the OP, you can't go wrong with a 7'9.

cue

Just wondering if people would be willing to share their experience about which boards they have progressed to as they have gotten better at surfing. I am still quite happy with my bic but it would be good to have an idea about other boards, like Enygma's fish.

Enygma

A fish is a great board but it's not one I would recommend for someone's first shortboard. If you want a shortboard I'd say try a Fat Boy Flyer or a Big Guy Shortboard. Something around the 7'0 mark with plenty of volume.

Thrusters are fairly versatile so the one board should do you for most conditions, keep the bic for the really small days though

Try riding your bic with a large centre fin if you can, I think I've seen single fin bics. It's a different feel, give it a go for a few sessions and see how you get on. It's more about the glide rather than turns. If you like that then a longboard might be for you.

I've got a 6'6 retro style single-fin shortboard too but I don't really like it that much. It's a totally different feel that I haven't really nailed, it does hold a good straight line though!

The fish is super fast, it's all about speed. The keel fins are parrallel rather than tapered so they're only there for driving off the turns really. That and the flat bottom means zero drag. It's probably too fast and too loose for someone coming down from a mini-mal. If you want a taste of a retro-fish get yourself a modern fish and stick two big fins on it and take off the centre-fin (or make a tiny centre-fin if you want). That'll give you an idea of the looseness of the fish. You could even turn your bic into a twinny and try that if you want to loosen it up.

A traditional fish is also much harder to surf backside, that's fine if you live on a frontside point break but not so good if you surf backside a lot.

There are a hell of a lot of types of boards out there and you could spend your life trying them all out. It's well worth it though, I'm so glad I tried a fish when I went to San Diego (it was invented there).

As you get to know more people who surf you should get the chance to try out a few different boards, I've been pretty lucky, I know guys who've only known thrusters and although they're happy with them I wonder what they'd make of these other types of boards.

Don't get me wrong either, I don't rip or anything but I have tried a good few types of boards over the last few years. I would say though, if you find a board you really like, then put in the effort to really get to know it.

Oh, and check out Sprout and http://www.hydrodynamica.com

shanethemofo

haha... i started on a 6.2 caus my m8 sold it to me for a tenner with a sock, leash, tailpad and all :P

cue

Enygma wrote:

Try riding your bic with a large centre fin if you can, I think I've seen single fin bics. It's a different feel, give it a go for a few sessions and see how you get on. It's more about the glide rather than turns. If you like that then a longboard might be for you.
]

Thanks Enygma. Will try that. I got up on a longboard once and it felt totally different to what I'm used to. Way more glide as you say. I found it difficult to adjust me head to it, but me feet seemed to know where to go if i only let them.

Dub_Ster

Enygma wrote:

Cause they're Koooool!

yeah but if ya cant surf it to its poteniol you just look like a yuppy coop :rolleyes:

j0e

Dub_Ster wrote:

yeah but if ya cant surf it to its poteniol you just look like a yuppy coop :rolleyes:

what if u look like that on a long board anyway

divot

I was wondering about this too... I'm an absolute beginner and yet to get a board... what sort of board size would/should I be looking at? I'm 6'3" and 14 stone...

And I'm not desperate to get on a small board now or in two years - mabye some time, but long boards look fun!

But for making progress, catching waves, and having fun - what sort of size/board should I be considering given size/weight?

cheers!

Spastafarian

Anything above 8/9 ft with good width should be fine for you.

neon_glows

BIC boards are overly expensive and constructed very cheaply, you would be much better going for an nsp or a cheaper alternative to the bic like a hifly board.

RyanAsh

Hi i was wondering if someone can recommend a board for me please. Im 5'3 (54kg), slight frame. I got a second hand bic from a friend and its 7'9 and i just find it so hard to handle both in and out of the water as its quite heavy and so wide that i can hardly even fit it under my arm to carry it down to the beach! It has really put me off it. Any recommendations for a different board i could try? I surfed a handful of times and would be reasonably fit but have been out of practice and haven't been surfing in about 2years......and so basically a complete beginner!! Should i try a softboard or a mini-mal? Would 7'2 be too short? should i look for a particular width? Stupid question but i assume the 6ft softboards ive seen online are for kids and i would look ridiculous Thanks a million!!

Geomy

A friend of mine bought one of those NSP fun boards.

He was bodyboarding for 2 year's charging down 12 foot swells...

He started off surfing 4 months ago now he's surfing ****creek and out the back in Doughmore

He's catching waves and going straight in but not carving the waves yet or getting a line, but its an easy board to use.

spaceHopper

For your height and weight something around 7ft should be OK, I have a thing against a BIC 7’3s but that or a 7 ft 7’2 fun shape should be good, you will have a hard time getting out the back so maybe something you can duck dive would be better. Why not go for a lesson with somebody like Ben’s surf clinic in Lahinch, he should be able to put you right.

OldGuysRule

Geomy,

If your 'friend' is surfing those spots in the manner you mention, ie 'going straight in but not carving', he has no place out there, particularly the first place mentioned. HE is not only wasting his own time, but he will likely put others in danger.

Geomy

I tried telling him that, but he won't listen. ...
I learned to get a line by starting from waist high waves, then gradually progressed to the bigger waves.
It's easier and safer :-)

Some people just don't listen until it all goes titsup.