Surfing Waves

I'm 5'10" and 190lbs, currently riding a Mega Magic (9'0" x 24" x 4.25", 105L) and surfing Waikiki / south shore Hawaii. I also have a mini mal (23" x 3.2", 67.5L) that's too small for the waves I normally surf.

The Mega Magic is really fun on small days, but the big fat rails get kicked out of steeper faces so it's not as fun on bigger days. It also feels like I'm really on top of the water. What I'd like is a 9' board that retains the turning and most of the wave catching ability as the Mega Magic, but with thinner rails and a little more traditional feel than the 4.25" Tuflite.

*The Don XL is (23.5" x 3.5" 81.8L) which sounds ideal, but I don't if it would be different enough from the Mega Magic on steeper faces. My mini mal at 3.2" has nice thin rails, so maybe?
*The regular Don is (22.5 x 2.75" 64.7L) - a foot longer but with less width and volume than my mini mal, so I don't know if it will be enough for me on smaller days. Also the Don looks a little straighter, and the XL more curved through the middle like the Mega Magic.
*The NR seems like another option. I'm not really into nose riding, but (23" x 3.125", 77L) sits right in the middle and the description sounds a lot like the Mega Magic (stable nose, double Vee tail, hard rails, performance longboard, etc.)

Thoughts?

I just rented a 9’0” Torq “Longboard”, 23-3/4” x 3-1/8” x 71L. I definitely need more volume for an every day Waikiki board and I wonder if the Don XL would even be enough. The Torq board did sit a little higher and more level in the water than my mini mal, so a little better but not a huge difference.

The rails on this board seemed thicker than my Culture mini mal, despite being a slightly thinner board. I wonder how the XL would compare.

At least this reminds me that the Mega Magic is a good board for where I’m at.

HaoleKook wrote:but the big fat rails get kicked out of steeper faces so it's not as fun on bigger days. It also feels like I'm really on top of the water.

From a physics point of view:
1) Where is the board more thicker ? In the middle of the board or on the tail ?
2) Where are the edges sharper ? In the middle of the board or on the tail ?

On a side note, what did Duke Kahanamoku say ? "Surf the ________ not the ________." Can you fill in the blanks ?

HaoleKook wrote:I just rented a 9’0” Torq “Longboard”, 23-3/4” x 3-1/8” x 71L. I definitely need more volume for an every day Waikiki board and I wonder if the Don XL would even be enough. The Torq board did sit a little higher and more level in the water than my mini mal, so a little better but not a huge difference.

You will notice a big difference between the 9'0" and the 9'6." https://www.torq-surfboards.com/longboard/the-don-don-xl.html Keep renting before you buy!

So I just rented this 9’6" board. It’s 23-1/8" x 3-1/4" and about 81L. I surfed the best I’ve ever surfed with it - literally caught every wave, made front and back side bottom turns, and rode up and down the wave like never before! I actually thought it was easy/boring and that it cut more like a butter knife than a scalpel if that makes sense. It had a decent sized hatchet fin and a pair of small side bites. And had just enough float. But it felt so much more humane than the 4-1/4" Mega Magic and I liked feeling like I was in the water instead of on top of it.



This makes me not want to buy a board based only on size/volume since I feel like I’d want a higher performance board than what I just rented. It’s tough because there are few if any ~80L 9’0" boards for rent. I feel like the 9’0" Don XL would work for float but I have no idea how it will surf. It does say it’s more for nose riding than the regular Don, which I have little interest in.

Would it be crazy to consider a custom board at this point? I know where and what waves I want to surf, and that I want performance similar to the Magic but half way between Magic and Mega Magic in volume, and traditional glass (epoxy or PU) construction. A board like that should be fun forever in south shore Hawaii.

Maybe I could rent similar volume 9’6" boards to learn how bottom profiles, rail and tail shapes feel before I buy something. I feel like it’s the square tail, hard rails and double concave that I like about the Magic boards but that’s just a guess.

HaoleKook wrote:So I just rented this 9’6" board. It’s 23-1/8" x 3-1/4" and about 81L. I surfed the best I’ve ever surfed with it - literally caught every wave, made front and back side bottom turns, and rode up and down the wave like never before!

That 9'6" Southpoint is a great great board. I recommended it to my friend who was just learning and she still has it 10 years later. I used to borrow it when it was ankle high in Waikiki and catch everything. Sad to say it's not made anymore.

HaoleKook wrote: I want performance similar to the Magic but half way between Magic and Mega Magic in volume, and traditional glass (epoxy or PU) construction.

You just found the best board you have ever surfed on, which happens to be made in Molded Epoxy construction ( and a rounded pin not a squash tail) , yet now you want a traditional glassed board ?

Haole Kook you are overthinking the whole suitable surfboard bit.
Standard glassing easier to ding for one thing. PU has a different float density the epoxy EPS , EPS melded more durable!
If the board you really liked is no longer available then check out other South Point boards that they advise follow on from that!
When you get a board that expands your skill level stick with it until you really have an all round set of skill.
Right now you are trying to brain your way to improve rather than teaching your body

Thanks for the feedback. I think without more context what you’re saying makes sense.

My thought was that the South Point wasn’t so much the right board as the Mega Magic is the wrong board. I chose the Mega Magic as a novice because it paddled easy and was more challenging, like it had room to grow into. I’ve been taking lessons and surfing on it several days a week for the past 4-5 months, and this is the first time I tried another board since then. Considering 99% of surfers my size aren’t on 100+ liter boards, it doesn’t seem unreasonable that I might like something different now that I’m not an absolute beginner anymore.

And when I said ‘traditional construction’ I meant not Tuflite or other sandwich construction; glass and epoxy is ok.

I’ll rent one more board and see if I can surf as well on it - my hunch is that I can. If that’s true I’ll keep looking for the perfect board, if not I’ll make an offer on the South Point. If they’ll sell it for $300 (I doubt it) I’ll buy it regardless.

Ok, so clearly I’m the one missing the context of being new and not knowing squat about boards. I just rented an 82L 9’6” NSP and absolutely hated it, just a horrible experience. I actually did better with a 7ft pin tail, and that isn’t saying much!

You guys were right as usual. Thanks for being here and helping me come to my senses….again.

Hopefully they’ll sell me that South Point. Otherwise I’ll be back to figure out where to go from here.

They said they don’t sell the demos but can have their shaper make me a copy, so that’s not happening.

Stop wasting brain cells and your hard earned cash on "another" board that won't change things until ......... you learn to work the TAIL.

The board you currently own, the Walden Mega Magic, is plenty fine. If you would just learn to step back over the tail, all your problems losing the rail on steep waves and having a hard time turning, will be solved.

Plus, I wouldn't be buying a board for Waikiki in the "Off-Season".

I can turn the Mega Magic, and it's teaching me a ton since I can hop on a skinnier, more pulled in board and shred (for me), and even stand up on a 7ft on my first try - which is awesome! But I'm constantly fighting all that volume, not just on steep faces. It seems like, if I can hop on other boards and find them almost 'too easy' it might be an indicator that my board isn't the best fit. Still, I'll keep it and keep learning from it, but I'm also going to enjoy having an appropriately sized board to compliment it with.

So I'm selling my Mini Mal to help fund my next board: =D
https://arakawasurfboards.com/avis/

I should mention, I tried 7 boards over the past 4 days:
8’4" PU 71L “high performance nose rider”
8’6” epoxy Torque Horseshoe ~82L
8’6” pressure molded epoxy South Point ~81L
8’0 epoxy Torque Don ~72L
8’6” NSP epoxy long board ~82L
7’0” PU Album

And I’m familiar with:
9’0” 101L Tuflite Magic
8’2” 67L PU Mini Mal
9’0” 99L glass/foam sandwich rental

80 liter long board (maybe 77L mid length) is the perfect amount of float for what I want. The boards I liked the most are PU, shorter, stiffer, not necessarily lighter, with more curve and lower rails, more rocker, pulled in nose and tail, and bottom that’s flat/slight concave nose to shallow vee tail. I was able to feel and really understand what a nose rider is and realized it’s the polar opposite of what I’m after.

So I was looking at a random custom order form dreaming up basically a big fun board, then found that Arakawa Avis which is like everything I want in a board, if customized to a little more volume. I went to see a Holy Moli in a shop which is a pulled in version of the Avis and it was freaking beautiful! So I’m inquiring about a custom Avis and should hear back tomorrow. Arakawa is local and is one of the shapers available at my favorite surf shop. I saw some YouTube videos and he seems like a very genuine and decent man that I’d be happy to support, and has a pretty established shaping history. It will be amazing to chat with him about sizing and stuff, I think I’ll be in good hands.

Saying I’m so stoked is an understatement. I feel blessed.

Stoked for you then man!! Just remember to train your surfing, not just your quiver! Hope the board is fun for ya and go shred

Info about the Arakawa board is here:
viewtopic.php?f=20&t=41099

I've tried and purchased a Torq Don NR, and I'm very happy with how it rides. I've ridden quite a few different longboards and midlengths, shortboards and minmals, but for my local location, we have lots of small waves, and my old 7'8 was not suited. The 9ft 1 Torq Don NR is a gem ! I'm 84kg, and just learning to cross step, and this board locks into the wave and offers a steady nose riding platform for hang tens even in little 1.5 to 2ft waves with a 8" wide base single fin. I've got some really long nose rides. Plenty of lift from the nose concave. Plenty of volume in the board, as much as some 9'6 boards. Takes a little time to get used to the volume in the forward rails, it's also not the lightest of boards, there's a bit of swing weight. The beauty of this board is it's versatility. Just today I switched out my singlefin for a 7" + sidebites and big carves, cutbacks, big floaters are easy. The tail has some area, but plenty of drive off the bottom turns and the square tail still holds in steeper waves.

Kia Ora Tim, why do I have deja vu of split enz when I read your name?
Glad you areenjoying the board

Lol maybe because I'm talking about Finn's
Haven't got a photo of the bottom with the teardrop concave.. but you can kinda see the rocker..
It's very lively with the 2+1 fin setup but rock solid with a 8" single fin...

Timfnz wrote:Lol maybe because I'm talking about Finn's
Haven't got a photo of the bottom with the teardrop concave.. but you can kinda see the rocker..
It's very lively with the 2+1 fin setup but rock solid with a 8" single fin...

I’ll attempt to attach a photo of the teardrop nose concave. It’s quite a bit deeper than the original ITP but is a tad easier to paddle into waves and out in choppy conditions than the ITP.