Board Choices

[TJG]

Another board choice thread. . . for a first year surfer. Currently surfing a CWB Ride as my first board. Getting the hang of it. With 3500lbs of ballast and two people in the boat I can ride up to 4ft off the back. I looked into purchasing a used Red Rocket from a member here. . . I was very fortunate in that I was able to test it as well. I felt, as did the member selling it, that with the large size it was a bit slow, a bit sluggish. The Ride feels more nimble.

That said, I am looking to upgrade for next year. I'm 5'10", 202lbs. Looking for something that will hold me, plus be a bit more fun and nimble on the wake. I'm not experienced enough to know the difference between surf and skim. So take that into consideration I guess. Any feedback on reasonable priced boards that will work is appreciated!

[muehlcj]

Another board choice thread. . . for a first year surfer. Currently surfing a CWB Ride as my first board. Getting the hang of it. With 3500lbs of ballast and two people in the boat I can ride up to 4ft off the back. I looked into purchasing a used Red Rocket from a member here. . . I was very fortunate in that I was able to test it as well. I felt, as did the member selling it, that with the large size it was a bit slow, a bit sluggish. The Ride feels more nimble.

That said, I am looking to upgrade for next year. I'm 5'10", 202lbs. Looking for something that will hold me, plus be a bit more fun and nimble on the wake. I'm not experienced enough to know the difference between surf and skim. So take that into consideration I guess. Any feedback on reasonable priced boards that will work is appreciated!

Look for surf style board 4-6 to 4-8 x 19 to 20 x 1.5 -2 any combo of those that produce a total volume of 23-28l

Take a look at Soulcraft, Chaos, Brigade or any other hand made in the USA brand. You won't regret spending the extra $$$

[gravity]

Have you tried differnt fin configurations?

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[TJG]

Look for surf style board 4-6 to 4-8 x 19 to 20 x 1.5 -2 any combo of those that produce a total volume of 23-28l

Take a look at Soulcraft, Chaos, Brigade or any other hand made in the USA brand. You won't regret spending the extra $$$

I've heard this a few times, however my baseline is a CWB Ride. I don't think I have the experience to get into a custom board. Which brings me to the next question!

Have you tried differnt fin configurations?

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I haven't! Where would I start? What would the effect be of removing the center and leaving the outside fins, and vice versa?


Thanks!

[Poison]

I don't think I have the experience to get into a custom board. Which brings me to the next question!

I follow your line of thinking...but go ahead and go ugly early. You will progress way faster/better and save time/money/frustration in the long run if you front the money now. No sense in buying another mid grade board. I think you will see immediate gains if you take the step up to the nicer boards and it will save you wasting time/seasons on an intermediate board. You don't have to be an expert or super experienced to ride these boards, but they are the same boards used by many experts. It is a win-win because you'll progress faster and you can keep riding those boards as you progress without needing to upgrade again. The sliding scale of performance is way broader--beginner to expert in many cases.

[parrothd]

I follow your line of thinking...but go ahead and go ugly early. You will progress way faster/better and save time/money/frustration in the long run if you front the money now. No sense in buying another mid grade board. I think you will see immediate gains if you take the step up to the nicer boards and it will save you wasting time/seasons on an intermediate board. You don't have to be an expert or super experienced to ride these boards, but they are the same boards used by many experts. It is a win-win because you'll progress faster and you can keep riding those boards as you progress without needing to upgrade again. The sliding scale of performance is way broader--beginner to expert in many cases.

Easy, wait for a local dealer or surf school to have a demo day and test several boards. Most surf schools have multiple boards to try, pay for an hour lesson. Well worth it..

[BT_48170]

If you can demo other boards that would definitely be the best route but if not I'm sure many people here can provide a lot of good insight to help you make a better informed decision. I can share my my personal experience but of course it's all subjective and dependent on skill level, riding style and surf wave. I like you started with the cwb ride (5'), back then I was mostly attempting to surf on a dd wave and struggling pretty bad, i then switched to the 5' cwb razr and up until the this year that was all I had surfed. Last year I upgraded my boat to an lsv with a suck gate and have progressed quite a bit. To give you an idea on my "skill" level (or lack of) - I can move around the wave at will, do some carving and have rode out a 360 a couple times. The razr is more of a hybrid board in my opinion, I thought I would be more into the surf style and purchased a 4'6 doomswell neo this year. I didn't really enjoy the neo, it felt really responsive but slow compared to my razr. I do wonder if it was just too short (or if I am too big - 5'10/185 lbs). I have also rode a couple other boards this year - a 5'0 liquid force el guapo - I would pass on that one, didn't really seem to excel in any particular area and then a 4'10" hyperlite time machine, I liked this surf style board a lot more than the doomswell but I'm now thinking i might just prefer skim style more. I just bought a 59" liquid force super tramp and will get some surfing in later this week on it. I would think twice about going short unless you've demo'd the board or someone with similar size, boat, skill etc. can give you a good feeling about it. Good luck with your board search.

[snyderaaron]

Ditto what everyone else said about going hand shaped/custom. Spend the extra money. I bought a phase 5 diamond this year and getting ready to trade our beginner board that people use to another phase 5.