is this worth it?

sure but move that pad closer to the center of the board

 

Concur with that. I bought a beautiful and very similar board last year, 7 ft, but narrower in the nose, for $250. I've been out on it a number times (including 5 weeks straight last Sep-Oct), but still haven't got the knack of it. Caught only a few waves with it here in VB where conditions are often anemic at best. There's a definite learning curve.
I had been riding a very high volume 8-4 beginner board. I'm 188 lbs, age 58. I take the 7-0 board out from time to time when it gets over 3 ft. It's harder to paddle than the 8-4. Much is about positioning, when to take off, etc., so it's probably more me than the board. Just need to stick with it longer. But I've only been surfing for less than two years, like catching a lot of waves, so I keep "regressing" to my bigger, beginner board. I surf year-round and average 3 session/week.
Don't know what size board you've been riding, but for me I think going to a 7-8 to 8 ft funboard/egg would've made my transition easier. Or a longboard, which what I want to get next.

 

without seeing more it's hard to tell what theat board will do. It might be a big boy fish. For surfing up here in RI, where we mostly get mushy short period stuff, I have been trying to get away from my longboard by surfing a 7 foot fish, it's three inches thick and 22 wide. It's a lot of board, and learning to catch waves on it has been a learning experience-- need to be further forward, take even more extra paddles and catch a bit later. Once up, though, it moves better than my 9' longboard.

 

What's up with everyone riding these big ol' fish? Since their southern CA creation, the fish shape has always been designed to be ridden shorter than a standard shortboard.... I mean, my real "Fish" in my quiver is a 5'7". And its plenty of volume, even with the short length.

A board like the one pictured, to me aint a fish. Its just a big guy, step up quad board with a HUGE swallow tail.

Am I right in thinking this? Or is a board of any length/volume with a huge Swallow considered a "fish" these days.

I know there is a market for a "Big Guy Fish"... But I have friends over the years, that surf and are plenty big. I have buddies who are 6'6 that surf and I have buddies that are 5'11 but look like Santa Claus. None of them ride fish that big.... My Santa Claus buddy has a bigger board, probably about 8 feet, with a huge swallow, but it is not a fish. Its just a huge "Big Guy" board with a swallow on in....

I have heard numerous dudes on here talk about their "Fish" that are longer than 7 feet...

I am just wondering, WTF is the application of that? A huge tank, with a quad setup no less, with all that volume and a huge swallow. I could see that working on a mushed out, racey point break that is chest high, but I see no real application to the average east coast waist to chest beach break....

Drop in, maybe set a straight line, go straight, MAYBE get a floater into the flats if you can get the tank up on the lip for a second....

Maybe I am crazy, but that doesn't seem like a fish to me. That is just a big ass board.

Not sure what I would call that, but unless you are Andre the Giant, that ain't no fish.

Just don't know any dudes that rock 7'8 High Performance Shortboards. Cause their standard Fish Length would then be about 7'4....

 

I'm with you on this Zach. to me, a big part of a board being a fish in the traditional sense is the short, wide, template with the width pushed forward.

Putting a swallow tail on a 7'4" doesn't make it a fish. To me that is a swallow tail fun shape.

 

I agree. My 7' fish is just a floaty fat funboard with a swallow tail.

 

I say, run away from that thing at any price. at 130lbs, that board is completely wrong for you. At 220lbs, I wouldn't consider that thing. If i ever push 300lbs....maybe.

The outline is fish-like, but it's just huge. You can get a board that long, or longer, but a fish type design that long will not allow you to progress at all. Catching waves and going straight is all that thing will do. You'd be better served on a fun shape, a longboard, or even a much smaller fish if your atheletic.

my 2 cents

 

all you guys are tiny. that board is too small for me unless its solid chest to 23 foot tall...

 

I saw Andre the Giant surf. And he was shreddin' on a 7'6.

 

this too..

 

I have to say I despise that board. Seeing a 130 lb guy carry that monster down the beach will be a red flag that you have no idea what your doing. Some good advise here on alternatives.

 

summer will be over and it will be just in time to surf

 

Keep looking on craigslist man. Something good always pops up eventually, but sometimes it takes a few weeks. Hang around the local surf shops and ask the old crusty surfers if they have any beater boards they'd be willing to sell you. DON'T ORDER A CUSTOM MADE BOARD. You're gonna beat the **** out of your first board...dropping it on the nose, waxing it with the fins scraping on pavement, grinding into shore on an ankle size wave. $200 should be your limit. Plus your needs are going to change drastically once you get the hang of it. 8' fun shape is what you want. My first board was a "7' fish" too and it held me back my first couple of years until I bought a longboard.

 

I got a 6'10 WRV FunFish with a thruster fin setup that I don't ride much anymore since I got my 6'4" Coil Flashback Fish. The 6'10" is really a big guy fish (it's really too much board for me now), but for a beginner it's a great board. I'm not selling it at the moment but you might look around for one similar. Mike Daniel shaped mine and I've had a lot of fun on it, it's all in the design of the shape. The one you are looking at I would pass on personally. For all the reasons stated above. You'll be better off with a used mini long board in the 8ft range, kinda like my McTavish 8 Ball, which is a BLAST to surf in most conditions.

 

Dont buy it. Shape is poo. Rawson makes a decent ride normally. The person who bought that is prob 6'7" 280lbs. My guess.

Why dont you just get a lb? Look into linden and vernor, they make a bunch of fun shapes. Prob not to expensive new.

Oh and $400 is way to much for that other thing he is calling a board.

 

back from the dead? that IS impressive.

 

It's why we're all just mere mortals & Andre is a Giant.

 

Way better looking board.