The Biscuit

i've really never been too happy w/ biscuit type shapes. i had a version of the ci biscuit shaped by brian wynn to the exact ci stock dimensions (5'8"x 20.25"x 2.75") & i felt like i couldn't get any drive out of it. i first thought i'd just gone too small & that there wasn't enough board there.
then i picked up a rusty dwart, 5'10"x 20.75"x 2.7", that i liked at first...paddled really well, caught waves easily...but the rails were too full to allow me to set the rail & really turn the board. i also felt like i was going to blow my shoulder out when i pushed it down to duck dive.
on the other hand, i know some people who really love that type of boards & ride them in all kinds of surf. i prefer my rails to be a little bit more foiled...i found the biscuit & dwart's rails to be very blobby. not really refined. i think a lot of people see these boards as a "cure-all"...they catch waves easily, paddle easily. what's not to love? well, i don't think they surf very well. there's no edge to the rails, so they have no bite. any concave or vee is extraordinarily subtle, so they have almost no bottom contour. my biscuit worked best in waist-chest high surf. but then, i have several boards that would fit that range & work better in that size surf, too. the dwart did nothing except paddle well.
i would rather ride a longboard in really weak or small surf. the different style of riding a log as opposed to a shortboard makes you a more versatile surfer, i think. plus it's just fin to mix it up sometimes.
not saying that i'm not into the "shorter, wider, flatter" idea. my primary, "grab a board we're going surfing but we don't know what the waves look like" board is a 6'0"x20.5"x2 5/8" bonzer egg. 4 inches shorter than my standard shortboard. i have found that well shaped eggs work well in the widest variety of conditions.

 

You know its okay to move around on a longboard

 

I know you are not downing longboard just busting your stones LOL, You ever think about getting a new longboard?

 

I agree with njsurfer...unless you're a big guy you dont need your 5'10" egg or fish shape to be 2 7/8" thick. Ive never had a biscuit but have owned similar short boards with really thick rails and flat rocker. The extra thickness makes them a bit easier to paddle but once you're up and riding the thick rails and tail and flat rocker actually make the board harder to snap around turns and it sounds like your looking for something that isnt a cruiser. Of the webber boards you mentioned, i dont think the afterburner is gonna cut it in small DE slop..the spoon looks like a good small wave shape.

 

I agree with Mitchell and NJsurfer. I feel the exact same way about the rail volume of those things. I always felt like my style got a little sh**y on those things. You gotta stay to upright through turns and stuff so you dont lose your rails and slide out...

But with all that being said, Rob Machado is probably the best small wave surfer I have ever seen, and his style on small waves is second to none. Watching rob on tv at pipeline against kelly back in the day was great, but I have sat at the beach up in cardiff watching him ride 2 foot seaside on a little biscuit looking thing and man, it was a thing of beauty. I know we all arent rob machado, but Im saying, if there was one guy's advice I would take about small waves, its his... best ever at it... looks like a really fun board.

 

I've actually had more luck with a shape similar to the CI MTF altered. You keep the speed of a twin finner but it has a lot less foam than something like the biscuit. I feel like its easier to whip around and it still has the rocker to not catch in waves both tiny and big.

 

I've ridden a one-off Biscuit and thought it was pretty fun. Definitely an option for small surf. Other options would be a trad fish, mod fish, or quad designed for specifically for small, local surf. They all ride differently, and they're all fun. Coming off a longboard I'd actually recommend a fish over a Biscuit. I think it's easier coming the other way... from a shortboard to a Biscuit.

 

The Biscuit shape is sick. I shape tons of biscuit(4'11" to 7') shapes for guys, the dims are super important, as well as a subtle change in bottom contours to better suit NJ surf. These boards work best for a front footed surfer.So take a look a your current board if you see big dents on the front of your deck your probably front footed.If your interested I have 2 biscuit style shapes for sale. Check out One Ninety Five Surfboards on Facebook /Currently shaping sleeve of wizard//////

 

Im not shaper, but the most successful boards I have owns that were shorter and wider for small surf had either swallows for good take off speed and easy top turns, or a rounded off tail that will help keep you speed through the flats and give you a pretty good take off. The boards I have not liked with those shapes are the really pintail kinds or the squash/square tail. Just my take. Most shapes these days that I see that are biscuits have a slight swallow. Not a huge v shape cut out, but a slight one. Those tails give you a little more punch on the take off. Those two points can grab water at the last second and push you over and down the face a little late when its smaller or your surfing those late drop chunky tides.

 

Been surfing a wynn biscuit (5'7"x20"x2 3/4"--railed pulled down a bit more than ci) for the entire winter. Surfed it in everything from knee high to 2ftoh and is hands down one of the most fun boards I have ever owned! Took it to CR in Febuary and again rode it straight the entire week. Definitely a worthwhile east coast board for most of our stuff---however, agree with the other assessments that I it is a bit beefy--but I think a descent amount of rail volume is worthwhile in a small wave board (think a typical Jersey summer day). However, a foiled out tail would definitely be worthwhile--thing does push back on you with all that foam in the tail...but just get back on that pad!

As for the tail design, I think the round is a great tail design and will force you to begin to round out your turns rather than straight up pivoting---smooths things out (especially your style). As for bottom contours, a straight single (with a slight vee in the tail) would probably benefit you the most in a typical beach break...just my $.02

Works in the good stuff too--here you go LBI before the fill...