I haven't surfed for a few years but I'm looking at getting back into the water. After many years of trying I had progressed to riding a fuller shaped short board / fun shape and could turn down the line and put in the odd turn here and there. Not top to bottom surfing but ok and the main hint was I could ride waves and was having fun. Realistically I will only be able to get in be water once or twice a fortnight so my surf fitness and conditioning is never going to be the best. I was thinking of getting a longboard for the ease of paddling and wave catching but I've still got my heart set on surfing with a top to bottom style rather than trim and glide. Someone suggested the McCoy Nugget shapes? Anyone else go suggestions for a wave catching machine that is easy to turn and goes where you want it to go?
Hmmm the McCoy nugget looks interesting. That fatter round tail on the board might be adventagous for our east coast slop. Any shapers or other knowledgeable people able to speak to that shape?
You can successfully surf any board with style if you commit to a board and learn how to ride it. You surf, your board doesn't.
Geoff McCoy’s bottom designs are what help make that outline work the way it does. His "loaded dome" design is a softly rounded, pyramid shaped dome, with flattened panels on the sides, front and back. Although it is technically a displacement feature, the front panel actually creates a considerable amount of lift, and a high pressure “pivot point” at the top of the dome for turning. Without that pivot point it would be very hard to get the responsiveness that design has, considering the extreme width of that tail. How this loaded dome is blended with rocker, rail, tail width, and other design elements is a highly detailed and sophisticated combination of design features. If you were having fun with a "big guy shortboard," you could always start there. Keep in mind you didn't progress when you weren't surfing, so a longboard is not a bad idea. There's always a place for a longboard in any quiver, and you could even consider a HPLB. Then maybe later, a hybrid (cross between a funboard and a shortboard).
thanks for the explanation.... how do you think the design would work for our sometimes junky east coast waves?
Hey, thanks for the replies so far guys. I take on board the comment that no boards gonna do the surfing for me! I'm looking at a HPLB like the McTavish or a McCoy at the moment then...
Fitz... it's been a LONG time since I've ridden one, and I'm a better surfer now than I was then. But I do recall that they worked well in the weak surf of Cape May County. Looking back, I'd attribute that to their overall higher volume, thicker rail foil, and wide outlines. Pom... or you could go talk to a local shaper...
