Best "off the rack" groveler boards for summer

38
200-210lbs
5'10
been surfing for 25 years on everything from giant sup, longboard, fishy groveler, handplane, boogie

 

Just talked to him, he's actually 260lbs, the Simmons he's riding is 6'6"x23.25"x3.25"

 

So it's an actual Simmons... not a mini Simmons.

 

At his size I don't think anything is classified as mini lol

 

Lol!

 

No... its straight poly, with no carbon strips or anything else. It is SUPER fast as is.

 

Edit: short version, anyone have experience riding a bonzer 5-fin setup in small surf? I'm thinking of picking one up, but if it's not filling a hole in my small wave quiver I don't need it. My short boart simply isn't cutting it in waves below waist high.

 

The bonzer bottom works everywhere. The board shape is important. Got a pick of the shape?

 

from my experience with them...and I have had alot of grovelers...CI, Fishcuit is by far my favorite.

 

I don't, but in my opinion it looked like a "good wave" board to be honest. I'm thinking it's not the solution to my surfing problems, despite how awesome it looks.

It was like 6'4 x 20" , pretty thick so it will float fine, but it looked a bit pulled in to really excel in small surf.

The more I think about it (and after this morning's surf on my 'fish'), my problem in small surf isn't riding waves, it's catching waves. I have simply got to have some foam under me to get into these waves- that's really what's holding me back lately.

 

Pulled in at the tail? That to me would be for better waves, not small waves. In small waves i'm guessing you want a thicker / wider tail to help you catch those waves. How big are you? Sorry if you've posted that already, just trying to help. Also, how small of a wave are we talking?

 

"Also, how small of a wave are we talking? "

Puddle jumper, Fishcut..all good. Guys developing science around mediocre waves and prolly average skills. It has to have foam and you have to be able to paddle that foam around. It is nice if you can use your weight to to make foam change direction. Fins are optional.
Shapers must love people like that. Just paddle out there and find out for yourself.

 

I'm pretty heavy- about 170 pounds, with wetsuite add a few more pounds.

Maybe this isn't the right thread. I'm in an all-around shortboard hole at the moment. I haven't invested in a proper east coast shortboard since I got here; I have a beater used one that works ok, but isn't really an optimal board for northeast beachbreak.

My Hawaii boards work great on the reefs, but for the beach break I can make the boards work sometimes, but more often than not I'm getting frustrated.

My biggest hole is in waves under waist high. Really, though, unless it's chest high + my shortboards just aren't working here. The bonzer isn't the solution. I know that, but damn it's friggin' sweet and I've always wanted to try one.

 

When I pulled the bonzer off the rack, my first impression was, "Damn, I'll bet this thing is FUNNNN in head high waves!" If it wasn't a bonzer, I would have just put it back, but it's so rare to find one...

 

170lbs isn't heavy lol, that was sarcasm right? I'm 184lbs right now and yesterday I was riding my 6'4" Fish / HPSB Hybrid made by Coil in knee to thigh with the occasional waist high sets and was catching and riding waves with no problem. The board is 6'4" x 21 1/2" x 2 3/4", which is 1.4cu.ft. volume. Flat bottom with V out the back and swallow tail, not too wide, not too pulled in. Most of the foam under chest, nicely foiled at the nose and tail for performance. At your size, this board one similar would do the trick and would fill that gap you're trying to fill. You could actually go a little smaller in all honesty, but the extra foam comes in handy when the waves get big. It's a great all-arounder. They call it a Flashback Fish.

 

paddling, especially in small waves, is essential (if you can't catch the wave, what's the point?). However, the better a surfboard paddles, the less it performs...just the way it is. All shapers can do is try to strike a balance between acceptable paddling performance and acceptable turning performance. The more a groveler is marketed toward sedentary types, the more paddling performance is built in...at the cost of turning performance.

 

Do you have legit LB already? If so, I say go for something like what i'm referring to or maybe consider a Simmons. If you don't have a LB, then I highly recommend that above all. Here's what my Coil looks like in case you haven't seen it before. I ride this in anything from knee - waist up to well overhead.