Transitioning to shorter board from 6'9" hybrid...Advise please? Thanks

The 5'10 board seems way better for you in terms of catching waves and gaining confidence.The 6'0 at 19 may make the learning curve a little tougher and you may get more frustrated at the speed of the board and the more difficult transition. The Sashimi should be ridden 2 to 4 inches smaller than your typical shortboard and its good for small wave riding.

It seems like you have a lot of opportunities to surf (3-5x's a week) and to me the ability to get out there consistently and pay your dues will lead to ur success. I like CI Boards, however, nothing compares to a FIREWIRE in my mind. I have about 12 boards in my quiver and it blows them away.

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Originally Posted by JLEVY13

The 5'10 board seems way better for you in terms of catching waves and gaining confidence.The 6'0 at 19 may make the learning curve a little tougher and you may get more frustrated at the speed of the board and the more difficult transition. The Sashimi should be ridden 2 to 4 inches smaller than your typical shortboard and its good for small wave riding.

It seems like you have a lot of opportunities to surf (3-5x's a week) and to me the ability to get out there consistently and pay your dues will lead to ur success. I like CI Boards, however, nothing compares to a FIREWIRE in my mind. I have about 12 boards in my quiver and it blows them away.

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Of course the dims of the 5'10" Sashimi were listed incorrectly (I was wondering why the 5"10 would have 20.5 width, when a 6' had 19), so it turned out to be a waste of time after getting out the measuring tape.

So I'm gonna check out an old school twin fin board (5'10 x 21 x 2.75) in about an hour for real cheap. Similar dimensions and shape to the Bing Whippet I mentioned except almost 1/3 of the price. Somewhat fishy profile, but narrower in the back with a stepped tail.

Looks to be an older version of the Richard Harvey Magic X2, although not quite as wide as in the pic on the website.
http://www.harveysurf.com/surfboards/models/

Anyone know if it's trickier to pump on a twin (vs quad or thruster) given that it's more skatey? OTOH, it's also so cheap that I wouldn't be opposed to busting out the router and adding a center finbox (the other two are glassed on though).

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Originally Posted by shablagoo

Anyone know if it's trickier to pump on a twin (vs quad or thruster) given that it's more skatey? OTOH, it's also so cheap that I wouldn't be opposed to busting out the router and adding a center finbox (the other two are glassed on though).

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I've never found old school twinnies (deep swallow tails, keel fins) to be "skatey" and i've had at least three or four of them over the years as short as 5'5", but the best was a 5'10" x 21" x 2 1/2"

With regard to pumping, IMO there is nothing more fun in surfing that pumping frontside down a nice lined up chest high wall on a good twin fin.

Oh, and dont mutilate a good retro twinnie with some sort of center fin box fiasco. Its not needed, and you certainly dont need more fin area on a 5'10" than two keel fins.

I haven't been on a twin in a long time, but I seem to remember that pumping them is pretty much the same as on a tri.

A tri-fin is basically a twin fin with an added stabilizing center fin. The center fin keeps the tail of the board from sliding out on hard turns and allows you to dig into a bottom turn and drive you straight up the wave to bash the lip

I've been using only a small "trailer" center fin on my tri for years. The trailer fin works perfectly in waves even over head high, without the drag of a full size center. I don't like riding without a center fin because it's too loose. Slide outs don't happen every turn and the spontaneity can make you fall...I don't surf enough to be able to afford falling for that reason. I'm not saying you should retrofit a twin with a center fin, but twins are kinda sketchy/not for beginners.

I was in just about the same situation you were in when I started surfing. I did a summer on foam rentals, then got my first board, which was a 7 foot fun board. Then, after a year and more surfing, though less than you, i transitioned to a 6'2"x20.5x2.5. The guy at my local shop recomended it, it was a Kechele UFO, great board for mushier waves, low entry rocker, came with the 5 fin set up. I've surfed that for about two years and it's worked incredibly well. Just last week I got another board, a 5'10" WRV, but I'm definitely keeping my Kechele. Matt Kechele makes boards mainly for the east coast, with a lot of volume. There were definitely challenges at first, but that's just like anything when you stray away from what you're used to. I'd say go for the 6'2 to 6'4 range with a good amount of volume

You just have to be prepared to sux for a little bit. I was a solid longboarder and had to say that I am gonna b the scrub for a few weeks before I adjust to the speed, less volume, paddle differences and other changes. Remember if it was that easy, everybody would do it. I personally love my quad for pumping and solid top turns.
I feel like I can catch a lot of waves and its solid in performance.

But what exactly are you looking to do on a short board?

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Originally Posted by JLEVY13

You just have to be prepared to sux for a little bit. I was a solid longboarder and had to say that I am gonna b the scrub for a few weeks before I adjust to the speed, less volume, paddle differences and other changes. Remember if it was that easy, everybody would do it. I personally love my quad for pumping and solid top turns.
I feel like I can catch a lot of waves and its solid in performance.

But what exactly are you looking to do on a short board?

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Short term, I just wanna to learn how to surf a shorter board, get comfortable pumping for speed, performing tighter turns, and generally doing more maneuvering than I can with my current "funboard."

Eventually I'd like to learn to pull off fancier stuff (hitting the lip, floaters, etc) and rip, but that's probably a long ways away and not concerned with that right now.

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Originally Posted by mitchell

I've never found old school twinnies (deep swallow tails, keel fins) to be "skatey" and i've had at least three or four of them over the years as short as 5'5", but the best was a 5'10" x 21" x 2 1/2"

With regard to pumping, IMO there is nothing more fun in surfing that pumping frontside down a nice lined up chest high wall on a good twin fin.

Oh, and dont mutilate a good retro twinnie with some sort of center fin box fiasco. Its not needed, and you certainly dont need more fin area on a 5'10" than two keel fins.

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Great thread. Read only some of it. Watched Mark Richards blow away the competition & Buttons play around in double overhead North Shore both on twin fins. So when I hear a friend say its toooo big for that, I chuckle. Just back off a little on the bottom turn on big days & its game on – speed, release, and for cut backs – start high & as Mark Richards said “Find the soft spot to rebound” in big white water. This is the east coast. I learned a long time ago how much fun one can have on a twin fin. With heavy waters around the world I’ll fall back on my trusty tri. Around hear, twins fins like long boards can make a mediocre day soooooo fun! SHHHH Don’t tell anybody. The problem with finding that magic board has been and always will be one’s ability, style, experience, weight, quality/frequency of surf, and open-mindness to what can be really fun. I’m sure I’ve missed something but I simple wanted to put my 2 sense in. Until the next gooooood swell…..Lates!!!!

Those who spoke of the twins prevailed

I finally pulled the trigger Sunday and went with the Richard Harvey board (5'10x20.5x2.75). It's probably a little narrower in the nose than I shoulda gotten, but for 125 and your good words in favor of twins, I couldn't say no.

I'll prob be sanding over and redoing some of the ding patches, as many clearly weren't sanded down, and there's a fair amount of rough resin in some spots.

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JLEVY13
You just have to be prepared to sux for a little bit.

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Understood haha, took it out for 3 hours yesterday and an hour after work today, only caught 3 so far...but man, now I think I know what fast and loose means. Certainly a lot more responsive than the funboard. This thing is gonna be great to ride once I get the hang of it.

Leash plug question:
Almost lost the board tonight. I had to zip-tie my leash to the plug, cause my leash wouldn't fit thru it. Mis-timed a duckdive, got tossed, and I guess the zip tie gave. Fortunately another surfer out helped search for it (it was pretty much already dark), and found it about 200m down the beach 15min later.

What kinda knot does one use to make a rope extension loop around the current plug?

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Originally Posted by shablagoo

What kinda knot does one use to make a rope extension loop around the current plug?

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A simple square knot or something like this http://www.animatedknots.com/doublef...matedknots.com

Just make sure the loop isn't so long that the extension cord will dig into your rail when you're being drug along by the wave after you've fallen. The rail saver portion of the leash should be what contacts the rail.