NEW BOARD/HAMMER TIME! !!!!!! !!

[bakers]

currently surfing a 7'10" r.cooper minimal. im 6'4", 84kg, and i dont miss a swell, im in the water before and after work, catching a lot of waves now. heading down the line nice and got a pretty good handle on it. been surfing for about a year now n feel like although this board is good its holding me back a lil bit. im thinking its time to get a new board. i mostly surf the south wales area. beach brakes. aberavon llangenith etc. towards the end of the year im heading to sri lanka and indo so if board transport prices arent too exspensive ill be taking it with me. anyone got any ideas of what board size/shape i should be looking at?

[Poo Stance]

Get yoself a singlefin in the sub 7ft range with nice curves and a bit o width.

Trust me. You're at the point now where you start adding style to your surfing and a good single will help put the soul into your groove. Maybe get a 2+1 so you can tinker a bit if it gets a bit steeper.

Keep the old board to go back to for reference and a bit of a change.

[Poo Stance]

Dunno if you can see this link. http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid= ... =1&theater

But that's the kind of board that would be ideal I reckon. And for £90 it's a steal.

[GeeVee]

You're 6'4 so i wouldn't go below 6' 10" at this stage.
As Poo says don't go too narrow, i would definately consider a thruster as well though.
Try to beg a quick go on as many boards as possible to get an idea of what suits your style.

Step away from the parachute pants

[bakers]

top kook question here - hows a single fin different? i thought single fin was more long boarding?and also i thought thruster was more in the 6' range, didnt realise id be able to get 1 designed for a taller noob. im gona head down to the gower tonight have a lil look round all the shops.

[Poo Stance]

hows a single fin different?

TBH I don't have a clue but I just love riding mine. And Gerry Lopez says in his book that everyone should learn on a singlefin and I agree, to many bad styles out there from people learning on thrusters (me included )

I think it's tricky to get a singlefin right though. Too much or too little base width or height (is that called depth?) etc can mean too much drag or lift (say those two words three times and see who appears ). Then you got the rake for doing other weird shit. And also the wave needs to be taken into account.

My experience is that riding singlefins forces you to ease through your turns more gently which makes you plan and read the wave a bit different which helps connect your surfing/turns so it all feels a bit smoother and more in tune with the wave. Then when you get back on a thruster the added hold means you can lean on your turns a bit more, but after about 3 surfs on a thruster I seem to go all disjointed and loose that connection I have with the wave that I get on the single.

One thing about my single is that on steeper waves the rail feels too thick to cut into the face on the drop so that first bottom turn can be pretty hairy teetering over my toes trying to hold it in. But a good angle on the take off helps that loads. Just something to consider with those old skool boards, but at your weight your should be able to sink the rail a bit more (in 75kg naked). In fact, with those old skool boards you probably aren't loosing too much volume throughout compared to the 7'10 minimal you got.

I've only really surfed my old skool singlefin though, plus a go on a log with a skeg and maybe another log. So I'm no expert.

If I were you I'd do as much reading on how different parts of the board supposedly effect performance and build up your own idea of how things work and just get out and test those ideas out to see how it works for you.

Hopefully someone will come along now and correct me... drag and lift... drag and lift... drag and lift...

[Laurie_4surfing]

It's a few posts down but a guy is selling a salomon s-core 7'x21"x2.5"? - viewtopic.php?f=7&t=34723

My first board off a mini mal was something very similar and was perfect! alternatively let me know when you're surfing in Gower and you can try mine.

Found this too - 6'10x22"x2 5/8" viewtopic.php?f=7&t=34700

My tip is don't go too small, too soon. Hope this helps

[bakers]

poo ive been reading up on single fins, definetly something i want to add to my quiver at some point, it wont let me check out that pic off facebook though.
laurie ive pm'd the bloke selling the salomon hopefully get some more info soon, also had a lil look at them on google. the link doesnt work to the 6'10" board though (my laptops funked always using my phone to come on this site so its probs cause of that).
ive got 2 weeks off starting friday so if we have the conditions ill be popping down the gower at some point, what beach you usually go to?

[Laurie_4surfing]

It's hard to find an s-core being that length so good move pm'ing him! They're normally all tooth picks
Sorry the link didn't work...it's on the sale section at the bottom of the first page
There should be a little wave at gennith this weekend, good period and good winds. Fingers crossed! Heading down Saturday afternoon for about 4ish? Dunno about Sunday yet...will let you know bud

[GeeVee]

hows a single fin different? i thought single fin was more long boarding?and also i thought thruster was more in the 6' range, didnt realise id be able to get 1 designed for a taller noob. im gona head down to the gower tonight have a lil look round all the shops.

Single fins are fast in a straight line, but don't have the drive out of a cranked turn that multi fin designs do.
They do have excellent hold & stability though.
The main reason being that a single fin is in the water nearly all the time.
Single fin surfers tend to be flowing & carving, rather than hack & slashers.

With Twin fins, in a good turn, one fin can break free of the water & the other one allows you to drive out of the turn.
Anyone who's surfed a twin knows the amazing "Squirt" of speed you get out of a turn that you put alot of energy into.
Unfortunately Twins can be a bit skittery and have a tendancy skip or slide out when you put too much into a turn.
Also Twins can be slower in a straight line as the fins are *generally angled or 'toed' in towards the nose and therefore offer more straight line resistance.

Quads aim reduce the skitteryness of Twin fins , while keeping their best attributes.
Personally i think they are very difficult to get right. I've surfed some great quads & some real dogs (mostly dogs tho!).

Thrusters are an attempt to get the best of both single & twin fins in one design.
There were earlier 3 fin designs, but In the late 70's/Early 80's Simon Anderson created the Thruster.
He won The Bells '81 Comp in big meaty surf on a thruster he made & the rest is history.
It has been the most popular fin setup in the last 30 years.

Of course there's lot's of other designs out there, Twinzers, Bonzers etc.
The best way of deciding what's best for you, and your own style, is to try as many boards as possible.

[bakers]

that pretty much sums up everything i need to know about single fins, cheers bruv. however ive done a bit of research and gone with the solomon-s. looking forward to her arrival, as for now im off to bed to get a good nights sleep before i head off to download music festival \m/ see you all next week!