Child's Surfboard Ideas

[jstenger]

Our 12 year old son just started surfing this summer behind our OBV. He is 92 pounds and 5' tall. We have been borrowing our neighbor's Hyperlite 5'4" Broadcast. He gets up great, and has no problem surfing laps around the lake. He doesn't do any tricks yet, but he can go up and down the wave, and he can get himself back to the sweet spot if he gets to far out. Anyways, we have no other boards to try, and I would like to get him his own board for Christmas. He seems to like the Broadcast, and it seems to be a popular board, but is there a different board out there that might be better. The Broadcast is pointed on both ends, but some boards have a square tail, and others have a fish tail. What are the different tails for? What size should I be looking at?

Thanks for any input.

[bergermaister]

Good Pricepoint board - checkout the tripleX ebay deals over the winter. Should be able to pick up a skim style very reasonable. It's faster than the HL for sure and will have him wanting to do spins before you know it. Size wise - anything under 5' would be good for him, but not so much for larger riders.

[kaneboats]

Check the Wolfeman classifieds! That Broadcast is way too big for him. My guys are around 95-100# and are doing best on an old style skurfer wakeboard I got from Moombadaze. He put gator grip on top of it and it makes a fantastic learning surfboard. But it sounds like your guy is ready for something like the Phase 5 Scamp (he may need the next size up from this one but you get the idea):

http://www.wakeboards.com/Phase-Five-Scamp-Wakesurf-Board-p/phase_five_scamp_wakesurf.htm?gclid=CJ6QnaGY9LkCFX Rp7AodbnYAmw&gdftrk=gdfV23113_a_7c936_a_7c3435_a_7cScamp_d_45

[Wax]

Good Pricepoint board - checkout the tripleX ebay deals over the winter. Should be able to pick up a skim style very reasonable. It's faster than the HL for sure and will have him wanting to do spins before you know it. Size wise - anything under 5' would be good for him, but not so much for larger riders.

+1 on the TripleX boards on ebay, or just call them directly and work out a deal. I absolutely love my comp pro x.

[bergermaister]

Me too but damn the thing can be squirrely.

[Wax]

Me too but damn the thing can be squirrely.

It is really squirrely at first, omg I couldn't believe it. But after a few sessions I became completely comfortable on it.

Just the other day my neighbor and his wife (they're both like 50) came out on my boat. He's starting to get better, but he's not quite dropping the rope and he just pretty much learned his balance on the board (he rides the CWB Ride I have). His wife is actually really comfortable on a board because she's a snowboarder and stuff, and she can drop the rope and kind of just ride along for a while. I let her try the Comp, and OMG it was hilarious! It was just shaking all over the place and she couldn't keep it stable at all! I had pre-warned her. Needless to say, she switched back to the Ride immediately!