Surfing Waves

Hi all...

I did a fair bit of surfing in my late teens / early twenties and reached an intermediate-ish level. All I could afford back then was one of the old plastic Bic mini mal (7'3") but I had a lot of fun on that board. Now some 20 years later I am looking to get back into surfing more regularly. I have only surfed a handful of times in those twenty years but have done several sessions on hired Torq softdeck boards (7'2" / 7'6") over the last couple of months and would still consider my albeit limited skills to be a level above beginner. I'm now in the market to buy a board (with a healthier budget that the Bic days), but what to get?

I am male, 5'7", about 65kg and now in my early 40s. Generally fit but of course lacking surf practice. Will be mostly surfing North Devon beach breaks.

I recently put all this to a guy in a surf shop and he said i shouldn't be looking at anything short than 10". This really took the wind out of my sales, and I still find it hard to believe... I had originally been thinking something 7"-8", around 50L (I have a tiny flat and a tiny car, anything over 8" is just not going to be practical).

The reality is that I live a good couple of hours drive from my preferred spot so I get probably one or two solid weeks plus a handful of weekends surfing in a year. My head draws me to the greater bouyancy and durability of epoxy boards, but my heart yearns for a 'proper' fibreglass board. How much should I really worry about the differnce? And am I right that for my size, ability and the conditions i'll be surfing in i can afford to go under 8"?

Applejack, forget the surfshop advice first off….. I would look at 8ft, or at the smallest 7‘6“ you won‘t notice the difference as a “hard” board in an epoxy they are a little more buoyant. ( Corky) but more ding resistant…. investigate the Torq line, quite a few forum guys like them.
I know some hire places have hard Torqs maybe even a range to try out.
Don’t be in a rush to go short for right now you need paddle resilience, and stamina, relearn good surfing skills and reachieve enjoyment.
The journey re begins

Get the longest board that will fit in your car and home. If it happens to be a 7’6”, then so be it.

Here in Japan, the longest board ( in a case ) you can take on the train is limited to 2 meters.

I would forget about getting a “proper glass board” under your skills are more than above beginner. Get that “ proper “ board after you can bottom turn and cutback going backside consistently.

Please post or list the boards you might be interested in BEFORE you go out and buy it.

Great, thanks both. I know a place that hires out torq epoxy boards, I’ll give them a go and see if I can get my hands on a few demo boards. Once I have some more specific ideas I may well come back here to collect some views. Cheers