Do I bother with another Shortboard?

[themathteacher]

Ok, I don't need a new surfboard, honestly. Every board I have I have fun surfing.

The problem is that none are easy to duckdive since all are on the thicker side since I'm 200lbs. I can duckdive but it isn't easy to.

The problem is that, performance wise, all my boards are spot on, worried that if I get them thinner I won't like them as much

So, here are my options:

1) Buy the same epoxy shortboard I have but 2 3/8" thick instead of 2 1/2" thick. Custom epoxy, local shaper, so I can get it any size I really want.

2) Buy the same shortboard I have but in fiberglass so it won't be so floaty
(kind of the reason I went to epoxy is to get more float for my big arse...)

3) Loose weight so I don't need my boards to be so thick (which won't happen)

4) Let it be, I can surf, leave it at that.

What do you think?

[Manhattan Beach Grom]

Let it be, you can surf, leave it at that! That's what I would do!!

[naniekso]

the problem wit 3 is that you are eating like a 200lb guy wuld. if u wana loose weight you have to start eating like a 195lb guy lol. epoxy i much more floatier for bigger people but that makes it super hard to duckdiv with(like my fish). I reccomend let it be.

[themathteacher]

By the way, here is baja double overhead last Saturday. The picture is me on a wave that is only about overhead and a half, but man it was bigger on the choice sets:

[Manhattan Beach Grom]

Nice wave! Down here in Manhattan Beach the swell is supposed to be huge!! Some spots like El Porto and Chevron Reef are gonna be up in the 20 ft range!

[surfersdesk]

Get another board and just try it out. If you're surfing a lot eventually your paddling will get used to the less floaty board!

Have fun!

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[isaluteyou]

try it at 2 3/8 might work out just fine. Also you could go for a skinnier board with less full rails and see how that works for you

[kremerica]

I like going slightly wider, slightly shorter, and slightly thinner. I've had a lot of luck with a 6'0 with more volume in the nose but significantly less volume overall. It paddles very well and holds its own even in overhead conditions.

I'm also about 200 lbs and usually surf a 6'4 epoxy, but this new one is a wave catching machine even though it is very noticeably less buoyant (and therefore extremely easy to duckdive).

[themathteacher]

I like going slightly wider, slightly shorter, and slightly thinner. I've had a lot of luck with a 6'0 with more volume in the nose but significantly less volume overall. It paddles very well and holds its own even in overhead conditions.

I'm also about 200 lbs and usually surf a 6'4 epoxy, but this new one is a wave catching machine even though it is very noticeably less buoyant (and therefore extremely easy to duckdive).

I already had a 6'2" x 19.5 x 2.5 epoxy made and it paddles and duckdives about the same as my 6'5", which is why I'm thinking thinner rather than shorter.

I know what you mean about a shorter board with more volume, just had a similar 6'1" made and having a blast with it.

[themathteacher]

So I decided I do want try something different. I have actually narrowed it down to 2 choices:

1) Epoxy 2 3/8 thick instead of 2 1/2, no stringer with a patch of carbon down themiddle to make it lighter and, thus, easier to duckdive.

2) Try going back to PU in the same size since it's been over 4 years since I surfed a fiberglass shortboard. I got better since then so might not need the extra float any more.

[drowningbitbybit]

So I decided I do want try something different.

Ha ha, as we all knew you would TMT

[drowningbitbybit]

1) Epoxy 2 3/8 thick instead of 2 1/2, no stringer with a patch of carbon down themiddle to make it lighter and, thus, easier to duckdive.

But but but...
Not sure I understand you here. How will being lighter make a board easier to duckdive?
Quite the reverse - the lighter, the more bouyant, the harder to duckdive.

[themathteacher]

Sorry, I should have explained, all my epoxies are eps low density blanks, lighter thus easier to kick around and floatier. The one I have is 2 1/2 and getting 2 3/8, same matterials.

Also, after thinking about it and surfing a session today, I do alright in duckdiving, not perfect, but ok. So, going to go look for a used board with the size I want so I don't spend too much money on this experiment.

Will check back when I buy and ride one.

[naniekso]

Math teach, try looking at a relativly new design called grab rails. They reroute the pressure on the deck to the rails on the side. I havn't seen long term effects but from what i hear they work really nice.

[themathteacher]

Math teach, try looking at a relativly new design called grab rails. They reroute the pressure on the deck to the rails on the side. I havn't seen long term effects but from what i hear they work really nice.

Just ordered me a custom Becker, just could not find exactly what I wanted on craiglist. I'll update when I get it.

[themathteacher]

Here it is, had a regular fiberglass board made, decided I could do without the extra float because of the longer length. 6'5" x 19 1/2" x 2 3/8" Need to buy a track pad and I'm actually surfing my other boards this weekend, I'll post up details later:

[naniekso]

you should think about getting a al merrick flyer II or I.

but it definately looks nice that board you have up there.

[themathteacher]

I have a flyer, preety much it just hangs in my office cause I don't like it much. It's a tuflite flyer II. In all honesty, however, I really haven't surfed CI boards due to price, for all I know they are fun boards.

Update: Went out to south mission jetty, waves where overhead fun. To avoid people I found my own peak way from the crowds, not as good form but definitely some size and since mostly alone I charged all of them to really try it. So, beleive it or not, it paddles almost as easily as my epoxy, not quite, but almost. Caught a bunch of waves so dropping in and catching waves checked out. There wasn't much of a shoulder, mostly drop in, cutback and duck into the wall to keep from being crushed, so will have to check it out again in better form wave, but so far so good.

It definitely duckdove more easily, which was the purpose of getting it. The big difference, however, was in the impact zone after a big closeout broke 10 yrd away, under and out back with very little turbulence, much less than my current board.

[naniekso]

I have a flyer, preety much it just hangs in my office cause I don't like it much. It's a tuflite flyer II. In all honesty, however, I really haven't surfed CI boards due to price, for all I know they are fun boards.

Update: Went out to south mission jetty, waves where overhead fun. To avoid people I found my own peak way from the crowds, not as good form but definitely some size and since mostly alone I charged all of them to really try it. So, beleive it or not, it paddles almost as easily as my epoxy, not quite, but almost. Caught a bunch of waves so dropping in and catching waves checked out. There wasn't much of a shoulder, mostly drop in, cutback and duck into the wall to keep from being crushed, so will have to check it out again in better form wave, but so far so good.

It definitely duckdove more easily, which was the purpose of getting it. The big difference, however, was in the impact zone after a big closeout broke 10 yrd away, under and out back with very little turbulence, much less than my current board.

would you sell your flyer? just let me sell my liver first haha. I got a new board yesterday its a hyrbid its about 6'2, but the thing is so slow! i don't know if it has too much tail concave or if its the three huge fins in the back. Its epoxy too, my first epoxy! hope i don't get cancer. Do you have a retro fish?

[themathteacher]

would you sell your flyer? just let me sell my liver first haha. I got a new board yesterday its a hyrbid its about 6'2, but the thing is so slow! i don't know if it has too much tail concave or if its the three huge fins in the back. Its epoxy too, my first epoxy! hope i don't get cancer. Do you have a retro fish?

I've been thinking about selling it, it's a 6'6" flyer II, might be too big for your purposes.

My flyer seems very slow too, so I put on the K3 fins, the one that has the smaller trailer fin, and that seemed to let it speed up. However, I still don't like it much.

I have a 6'10 retro fish I use as a longboard, not the intended size purpose but I dig it for that. Just sold my 6'6" retro and had a 6'1 retro till last year. Dig retro fishes, they catch everything, but have moved on from them due to having shortboards and hybrids in that range that I like better for my surfing style. My latest is somewhere on this site, green and yellow in color.