Surfing Waves

Hello!
I've been surfing for 3 years, at least 4 months out of every year surfing daily. 6'3 - 87kg - athletic, very fit
Stuck with longboards and most recently a 7 6 mini mal for the whole time.
Now I am ready to move on from the mini-mal.

The options in my country I have narrowed it down to are:

HaydenShapes Atelier Cruiser - https://www.haydenshapes.com/collection ... uiser-teal
Size options:
6’8” - Width: 21 3/4” Thickness: 3” Volume: 48 L
7’0” - Width: 22” Thickness: 3 1/8” Volume: 53 L

Performance Cruiser - https://www.haydenshapes.com/collection ... -blue-moss
Size options:
6’4” - Width: 22 1/2” Thickness: 2 7/8” Volume: 48 L
6’8” - Width: 22 7/8” Thickness: 3” Volume: 54 L

My preference is more towards the Performance Cruiser - I want to surf shortboard style eventually - cutbacks, spray throws
But I think the 6'4 Performance Cruiser would be too much of a drop in size.
And the 6'8 version wouldn't work well because at that point it's an oversized shortboard? (from my research this is a common mistake)

For the egg style Cruiser - the tail and nose suggest it is for bigger quality waves with a face?
Can I get the 7'0 and surf it as an everyday board in a wide range of conditions?

Perhaps there is no perfect choice, and any option will have pros and cons.

Advice is appreciated.
Thank you

Dropping down in size more than 6 inches can be a problem so my advice would be the 7 foot board. You can surf shortboard style with a longboard. It's all about speed. Once you get going fast enough if you are standing over the fins where you need to be for that kind of turn essentially you are surfing a shortboard because the part of the board in the water is similar to a shortboard. It will require more effort to turn as you have to swing the whole part of the board that is out of the water around for a turn but it's not that hard to do. Having a shorter board won't make you able to do those turns but it's slightly easier on a shorter board. Most surfers keep dropping around 6 inches shorter till they have trouble catching waves. That you are surfing intermittently is going to affect your choices as well. If you haven't paddled in a while the shorter the board is, the more challenge to catch a wave until you get your arms paddle fit. Hopefully the others will post their opinions as I am sure there are many. The problem with going too short too quick is that you won't catch waves and then you won't be learning to surf as you have to catch waves to learn to surf. Shorter boards require better paddle fitness and better wave knowledge as you have to be more accurate where you are lining up.

Hey, glad to here things are progressing and youre enjoying the stoke! I'm around the same weight and 6'. I would probably go with the Cruiser, given those 2 options. The wide nose will give a lot more paddle power during the transition from your mini mal. Also the pin tail will probably make it easier to practice turns etc. I would probably stick with the 6 inch shorter suggestion from OMS.

I would think the other Performance board would probably be more like an oversized shortboard like you mentioned. Much tougher to paddle coming from a mini mal and might feel kinda skatie from all the foam packed into a much shorter board than you might be used to.

I personally would not go for either of those choices. Both are types of specialty niche boards that each suit a narrower range of conditions than the board I think you should get as a bigger guy. I think you would be happier on what used to be called a funboard; I think new terminology calls them hybrids….usually around 7’x 21 to 22” x 2 3/4 to 3”. That keeps in line with OMS recommendation of steps of no more than 6” board to board. BTW the fungun OMS is poed with in his profile pic is 7’ I think and would be a good shape and size. Funboards have pointy noses and tails are somewhat pulled in, rails somewhat foiled and a bit of rocker so you can catch waves easier with a deeper and later take off like you will have to do/want to do with a smaller HP tyoe board that you aspire to. Something like this should be a good fit I would think:

WKK posted about the Aipa big boy sting in another thread. Everyone raves about that board and they make a 7’ and a 7’4” size. One of these days I’ll save up and buy one.

Thanks all for the advice and replies!! Appreciate you taking the time.

I'm still taking my time to buy my next board - my current 7 6 works great so I'm not in a rush.

I will definitely check out those hybrid boards - I think it's exactly what I'm looking for.

I think the key is to get a hybrid board that is designed / shaped to be bigger at around 7" - rather than getting an oversized shortboard.

Lucky888 wrote:Stuck with longboards and most recently a 7 6 mini mal for the whole time.
Now I am ready to move on from the mini-mal.

I want to surf shortboard style eventually - cutbacks, spray throws

Advice is appreciated.

Questions:
#1 Are you able to consistently Cutback on your 7'6" mini mal ? Frontside and Backside ?
#2 When you do cutback, isn't the turn creating "spray" ?

waikikikichan wrote:

Lucky888 wrote:Stuck with longboards and most recently a 7 6 mini mal for the whole time.
Now I am ready to move on from the mini-mal.

I want to surf shortboard style eventually - cutbacks, spray throws

Advice is appreciated.

Questions:
#1 Are you able to consistently Cutback on your 7'6" mini mal ? Frontside and Backside ?
#2 When you do cutback, isn't the turn creating "spray" ?

#1 Yes, easily. The limiting factor to this is the type of wave. When the waves are bigger and better I am finding the 7'6" too big and cumbersome - I want something more snappy to make use of the bigger and faster wave now.
#2 Haha, I think it is, but I'm not really looking behind me. I really mean that I want the feeling of being able to BANG SNAP and explosively come off the lip.

Does that help?

I do have a old quad fin 6'4" board with medium FCS 1 fins - my friend let me borrow it. I've tried it a few times and it's just a bit too wobbly at the moment. I've been working on my leg strength with exercises like squat holds, single leg lunges etc.

I've taken 2 weeks off due to an injury, and been practising surf skate, and other mobility exercises.
The surf is picking up now for the next 2 weeks so I'm going to start with the 7'6" again, and then try the 6'4" after a few days.
I can report back here how that goes

https://ibb.co/0jj6QDJ0

Here's my two boards currently