Thoughts on new board

http://www.roystuart.biz/?m=1

 

If you have yet to venture under 8’4” I’d look for something in at least the very upper 6ft range, if not 7ft. You’re a bigger guy if I’m not mistaken. Dropping in length and overall size too fast won’t be fun, unless you are willing to suck for a while.

There are plenty of shapes tailored to what you are looking to get after, but it depends what you want out of it and how hard you want the transition to be. Some will tell you to dive right in and go straight standard shortboard, in my opinion I’d rather take baby steps and enjoy it because I’m surfing better along the way.

There are egg-ish and more progressive style mid lengths that might be a good start and there’s still room to push those in fun surf.

 

How big are you? I ask because I'm wondering if these smaller boards actually don't float you, or if your just not used to them.

Im usually the guy constantly suggesting a local shaper. But im going to stray from my norm here. Look into roberts. He makes some really nice stuff. Specifically his "big boy" SB stuff. A buddy of mine has one of his standard models in a 6'8. The thing has an incredible amount of volume. You look at the dims and your first thought is this thing is a boat. Then you ride it and it doesn't feel boaty.

Im not a big guy so it's hard to make recommendations. But from what iv seen he can pack alot of foam into SBs for bigger or less skilled guys. If i recall correctly, that's actually his thing as he's a bigger guy himself.

Could always have a local shaper copy his stuff but depending on that shapers skill, you may end up with a boat. Id go with the guy whos perfected that art.

 

Biggles, as a photographer, subjects rarely disturb me (btw, I am a female). Created the clad scantily thread, simply because I could and nobody else would have (since they are all males), occasionally posting in it. Good luck with your endeavor.

 

Here's one of roberts diamond model boards. At 7' it's 50 somthing litters
http://www.robertssurf.com/hope-diamond.html

And here's his big boy tri....less volume at 7'
http://www.robertssurf.com/robs-big-boy-tri.html

Im not saying get either on of these. Those are stock dims. And he has plenty of other models. Id shoot him an email, he'd be able to suggest a board and make some tweaks to fit what your looking for. Probably looking for 60-70 liters

 

No worries...realize you are only playing.
You can keep your replies from being sucked into the quote, via ensuring a closed bracket remains after "[/Quote". You can also go back and edit that (or any post), whenever you wish. Just add "]" directly after the "e" in quote.

 

I bet you could ride a SB in the 6’4 - 6’6” range with enough volume under the chest. Something slightly wider and thicker than your average short board but don’t go overboard with the volume or it will defeat the purpose of having a “legitimate SB”.

I’d take my advise on dims from LBCrew. He’s got a great mind for these things. I’m thinking a nice little entry rocker, single concave or maybe even flat bottom with V out the back. Nicely foiled rails at the nose and tail and slightly fuller rail line under the chest. 5 Fin converter. Maybe a pulled in swallow tail or rounded tail.

 

I don't own any roberts, so can't say from experience. The big 6'8 i ws talking about that my buddy owns is one of the diamonds. Not positive which one. My boards are local shaper customs that i designed with my shaper. Pretty similar to a meat cleaver or dream catcher by roberts. Sort of a mix between those two boards.

Like i said, I'm not suggesting roberts for any particular model. Im suggesting roberts due to the fact that he's a bigger guy and knows what a bigger guy needs. Id feel confident in saying he'd put the foam you need in the right places to give you that float but still keep the board responsive. That's what he does. If you emailed him id guess he would suggest one of the diamond boards, and hopefully have a way to get you a little extra volume.

One more side note. Everyone's diffrent. I hear you when you say your type A and get discouraged if it's not instant success. Baby steps are nice. Nothing wrong with it. But just diving into the deep end isn't bad either. In fact id suggest it.... sometimes. If you got a SB you'll have to get used to it regardless if you jump right on it or take baby steps down. You can't bypass that fact. But your personality definitely plays a role in that. If you can be self critical and not get discouraged, jumping into the deep end can be a better, less expensive, less time consuming journey

 

You’re not that heavy. No way you should be on something with 60 liters.

I’m 5’11 and 185 I ride 29-32L on most of my shortys.

If it’s hollow and fast, you do not want a lot of volume. In my experience (I’ve bought/surfed/sold over 30 boards since I’ve been in SD) you want to be sitting in the water not on top, when it’s fast and breaking top to bottom. If it’s a mellower wave go with mo volume

Just my personal opinion.

I’d reach out to Brian Wynn or another east coast shaper and get their feedback.

 

Yeah man. I weigh 140.... my 60 liter suggestion was based purely off those piece of crap volume calculators for his size. Im not even close so really had no guess. Good news is Mr. B should have an easier time getting somthing like he's describing if he don't need 60L. High 40s? If that's the case those boards i posted would be perfect and he could even go a little shorter than 7'.

Good luck Mr, keep us updated on your quest for the magic stick