Returning to Surfing

[Blinky]

Hi guys Just curious aboutr board types its been about 15 years since i surfed (i used to surf full 3-4 months of the year) and am looking at a tonne of new board options Kinda overwhelming. Im 6"3 85kilos and I like to jumpo into the deep end so i dont think a long board to get back into the swing would keep me interested any advice? oo will be surfing gold coast and sunshine coasts and was intermediate when i was in my teens

[waikikikichan]

i dont think a long board to get back into the swing would keep me interested

And why is that ? No interest in noseriding and drop knee classical turns ? You know there are high performance longboards too.

fast forward to :20

1) 15 years ago, what type/size board did you used to ride as a "intermediate" surfer ?

2) What type surfboards will your current mates / surf buddies be riding ? Are they riding single fin mid-lengths, twin fin Fishes, HP shortboards ? That kind of determines what you need to get also.

[Blinky]

I had a 7"2 Mark richards classic my uncle gave me and some long board i never rode lol..... im leaning towards some sort of hybrid fish ease me into it, 6"2 6"6 there are tonne more options than i remember lol. Good Mate of mine is trying to get me on a flying fish from surfbaord warehouse thoughts?

[waikikikichan]

If you used to ride a 7'2" 15 years ago, are you the same weight/kilos as back then also ?

Maybe you haven't change, but as you have noticed, boards have. But another thing that changed is the amount of surfers in the water. It's a lot more crowded(er). Hope you can out paddle other on that 6'2".

On a bright note, a good change from 15 years ago is the level of flexibility and warmth in the Wetsuits. Maybe you'd be able to surf more than just 3-4 months in the year.

[Ace864]

Agree! It is now harder to find a quite place to surf

[oldmansurfer]

so you don't want a longboard because presumably you will get bored with it quickly. I will venture a guess you don't want a board that will be so hard that you give up before you learn right? So do you want one that is going to make you almost give up or one that takes longer for you to get bored than a longboard? Why don't you rent a board to see how it's going to go? A modern 7'2" board is quite different from one long ago. Generally all sizes of boards are wider than the boards from long ago.

[dtc]

I’m 6’3 and 85kg and if I haven’t surfed for a few weeks then I pull out my 7’4 funboard for a few sessions, way before trying anything shorter. Other than just getting the paddling arms back and the rest, the first few sessions things are just a little bit ‘off’ and I need some margin of error (feet, timing etc) to get things back in sync.

The thought of going straight to a 6’2 after many years off creates visions of multiple sessions of flailing about and falling off.

Even if you just get a wavestorm and use that for a few months, that’s a much better idea than going short from the start. If you are against that, something 7ft+ in a funboard or egg shape. Perhaps you only need this as a transition board for a 2-4 months, but I suspect you will need it.