When purchasing a new board, to be used mainly in jersey, what are some of the critical items I should be looking at? I'm mainly concerned with catching as many waves, and chilling on the ride. I want to make sure the board is fairly versatile, my prior boards consisted of a 6'8 shortboard, and a 9'1 longboard - both got stolen - with the longboard receiving the majority of usage as I like to cruise down the waves. Most comfortable with 3-4+ surf, if any bigger than I take out the shortboard. I'm a 6'3 and full of muscle, or weight in at 220LBS. My ability level is intermediate, certainly no air judo's or supermans or 360's. Given my proportions, what is the best board to get which would allow a person of my stature and ability to maximize each surf session in terms of rides, technique and stoke. All help is appreciated. Bottles in da club
Try something that is around 6'2, 2 1/4 thick, > 21 wide with the greatest width towards the nose. plenty of rocker and a rounded tail.
look at the Lost Domesticated series- and @ 220 go with the 6'2 or 6'4 sizes. I had a board custom made based on a variant of those dims (Im 215) and i love it. Catches everything, very forgiving- surfs up to head high and still turns well for all the volume they carry
If you are gonna be in Jersey then it must have fold out legs so it doubles as a weight bench for impromtu bench off's.
Foam is your friend but too much is a pain in the arse to duck dive. Find your volume you like and go for it. +1 on the lost domesticated series for short boards
Find a custom and talk to him, too. Unless you see something that really suits you off the rack, get a custom. At least talk to somebody at a surf shop or whatever tho.
...lost Lazyboy sounds about right or maybe the RV. If you buy a Lost, be sure to dial in the right volume for your weight on their "Guild Factor" page...don't go over the maximum number or you'll get an over-bouyant/boaty board. Channel Islands just came out with the Average Joe model...might work well for you. Once again, check their "board selector" (CI's specific volume calculator) for your weight/skill level...I suggest go with the uppermost volume they suggest, but don't go over. If you buy a local brand, off the rack, volume will probably not be given...or it'll be wrong (handshapes frequently have exaggerated dims written on them), so you'll have to guess or take the "advice" of a salesperson and will most likely end up on the boaty side. If you go full custom, don't give the shaper too much info...just your size, skill level, and maybe where you surf should be enough (for instance, a convo with a local shaper somehow turned to eps/epoxy and I mentioned I thought it was too light...so, without telling me, he put extra glass on my poly board, making it way too heavy). Start with a model he already makes - don't bring in your own dims. The time to start tweaking dims is when, or if, you develop a relationship with the shaper/already have had a bunch of customs made by him.
the firewire addvance is what you're asking for. go for either the 7/2 or 6/10. i bet you'll be happy you did.
I have an 8'1" McTavish mini LB that is perfect for what you describe. I bet you could find one just like it and would have tons of fun on it. Mine came as a 2+1 fin setup but I dropped those and got a 8" FCS Dolphin center fin and now ride it as a single. It catches nearly anything, can cruise like you want or you can really rip on it if you so choose. It's good in just about any wave from 1ft to 8ft. Such a fun board.
get an ironing board first, paddle it out, catch some waves or whatever then decide if you want to keep surfing
I used to surf from Rumson to Manasquan (stopping in Belmar for a bench off at Eastern Lines) on a 9'2" HPLB. anything from two feet to head high it was great. I was just out of kookdom at the time, bought the board off craigslist, turned out to be shaped by Tom Nolte. Lotta volume for me, I am only 160 lbs, but it was a wave magnet and with that hull bottom, narrow profile and nose rocker it could do a lot for a long board. Good performance longboard will do you just fine, a McTavish Fireball for example, anywhere from 8 to 9 feet. You can surf a big boy fishy board or any of the hybrids that guys are talking about that are short, wide and floaty, but they won't be as easy at first to catch waves on, especially punchy Jersey shore breaks where you gotta get to your feet quickly, a long board, angled on the take off, will be more forgiving. Just my $.02. I had Nolte shape me a slightly shorter version of that first board, and I still love to ride it. Great for the soft waves in Rhode Island, even head high Point Judith, although I got other boards now.
I have the 6'10. You can ride it in anything, tons of fun. Although the rapid fire tech is questionable. I had a hole open up right between the swallow. Thats a place that doesn't even see wear. The deck caves like whoa. But, that's the price you pay... right? haha
