Mini mals as a second board

[themathteacher]

and to piggyback, my brother in law and I surf baja about once a month, his go to board is a 7'4" x 2 3/4 x 21 funboard. It was made as a wave catcher with perfromance in mind: deep single concave to a V on tail to hold up, very flat rocker for uber glide , rounded pin tail to tuck in. I've seen him on overhead and a half 9ft faces and he makes all the drops. He doesn't shred, far from it, but he does fun cutbacks and tucks into barrels with it. The board is an Eberly, the dude has been shaping forever and he scored on that one. The only drawback is when we get caught inside I make it out first, he has to find a channel for that board. I've used it before and loved the ease of catching waves and had a blast on it, I prefer shortboards but if not I think I would be a mall rider.

Be carefull of the chinese made board with no bottom contour and weird rockers, they don't glide, always trust your local shaper.

[teaweed]

I consider mini mals just another board to ride during certain conditions. At some areas, the break can call for a mini mal/fb 75% of the time. I know that's how it is here in Florida.

I actually just had a 7'8" shaped, to be picked up tomorrow. Like what was mentioned in the post above, I told the shaper to make it a little more performance oriented, as far as these types of boards go. I'll try and upload pics tomorrow.

[teaweed]

viewtopic.php?f=15&t=13687&p=128193#p128193

[Bub]

I have a 7'2'' Tim Bessell performance funboard and I'm having some trouble catching waves on it. It's a great board if you're an intermediate surfer (I've loaned it out to some of my more advanced friends who said its fabulous) but I'm still a beginner and think I probably would have been better off with something 8 1/2 ft to 9 ft long (I'm only 145 lbs as well). At this point I just want something that can easily catch any/every wave I paddle for from knee high bubble days to nice-yet-easy chest high days...and I think a log is the way to go to enjoy catching alot of waves with ease.

[Bub]

I consider mini mals just another board to ride during certain conditions. At some areas, the break can call for a mini mal/fb 75% of the time. I know that's how it is here in Florida.

I actually just had a 7'8" shaped, to be picked up tomorrow. Like what was mentioned in the post above, I told the shaper to make it a little more performance oriented, as far as these types of boards go. I'll try and upload pics tomorrow.

Y
es I agree with you. Up here in the murky cold grey waters of the mid-Atlantic in MD/DE, we get similiar breaks as down in Florida...particularly I've noticed that when you get those chest/shoulder height, hallow beach breaks, if you have a 7-8ft board you'll drop in and fit into the sweet-spot of the wave much better than on a longboard. So if you're generally a longboarder and these types of conditions present themselves you might have more luck on a board in the 7-8ft range.

[themathteacher]

gotta grab the rail like the longboarders do, it's not for looks, it actually does work. So, for beach break, catch, crouch, grab the rail and ride the face, it does work.

[oldgrom]

^^^^^ HA HA HA HA hell yea that's the way to turn and burn !!!!

[oahu mike]

if money is a concern, always get boards on craigslist. at least out here in hawaii it is a buyer's market for boards. i've seen cherry, barely-used fcs longboards for 300 and less. you can really low-ball people too, and if they are hard up for cash you can score big. when you are ready for something new, sell it back on craigslist and recover most if not all your loot, or keep it!

mini-mals are great boards, but i started on a 9'5 and jumped down to a 7'10 epoxy which i believe is called a funboard. small, incremental steps downward is definitely the way to go.