Potential new recruit...

[Dantastic1985]

Hi longboard chaps.

I am trying to improve my surfing and feel that maybe a bigger board would be useful. Im not looking to go huge but around 8ft I think would be good.

Ive currently got a knackered 7ft3, 21 1/2, 2 1/2 mal. Its got some right dings on it including a trench and is made from polyester. I am toying with the idea of buying something like these two (see links) to help with my progression. I live 125 miles from the sea so more than once a month is very good going. Im thinking thicker, floatier = more progression and more fun?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BIC-Magnum-su ... 1e78483788

http://store.magicseaweed.com/Surf-Seri ... Item/6207/

I can catch unbroken waves on my board and dont find it too flighty. So the other question is do I just save my money and keep going on the faithful Mal?

Any advice much appreciated.

Dan

[esonscar]

If you can catch green waves then all you have to now do is stand. I reckon keep your current 'weapon' and learn to stand on it. (Can you angle take-off? . . . doing that would help you enormously).

[Dantastic1985]

Yeah I generally catch 2-3 waves a session where I can ride the face for a good period of time. Just thinking that will a bigger floatier board make progression easier?

[jaffa1949]

hI Dantastic, either of those boards will make it easier, they are not bad starter boards and both are tough, my personal preference is the surf series,but go for the deal that suits you.

[Dantastic1985]

Cheers jaffa. You said in a different post you had a theory on my board. Would you care to share it? Im very intrigued...

[jaffa1949]

I had to scratch my head for a moment and go back and read my posts, but my thoughts were with the resin filled trench= extra non buoyant weight, + if your repairs were not so good you will have a board with lots of water in the foam= extra non buoyant weight! = by now the foam would probably be less buoyant as the cells get crushed and the the deck and bottom start to be compressed.
If I remember rightly your board was a mass of deck dents and delaminations, it was close to the end of its life when you posted its pictures before, time to go new
The new board syndrome , It's a happy one.......

The stoke of a brand new board, wake up and smell the resin
A board more suited to what you are doing
NO paddling weight that you don't need around
Easier to paddle
Easier to catch waves earlier
More stable for pop up
An extra feeling of confidence

More than 2 or 3 green waves per session successfully ridden
More enjoyment as you achieve more
So many lols it could be a lolly shop got get your fill.
Just don't regress to a soft board it would be a mistake at this stage.

[Dantastic1985]

Wise words. Sounds like I am going to get myself super stoked on some new board smells!!

Ill definitely not be going to a foamie, it will be an 8ft ish long board or nothing else.

Thanks Fella's, Ill post back how I get on and what I decide to buy.

[Dantastic1985]

Decided to go half way. Bought the bic surfboard off eBay. Looking forward to getting it in the sea!

[jaffa1949]

You'll be slick and quick
when you try your BIC.
You maybe a tyro
when you ride your Biro
But you'll see in the sea
from your old board you're free
and that will be Dantastic

[esonscar]

Decided to go half way. Bought the bic off eBay. Looking forward to getting it in the sea!

When you can stand on the bic . . . look to get a custom and learn some more.

[Dantastic1985]

Im pretty sure ill be able to stand on the bic. I could ride my old board fine just struggled to paddle enough to catch the waves.

[billie_morini]

Paddle and ride,
paddle and glide.
New board is smooth,
new board has groove.
Dantastic has style,
Dantastic's new board ride measured one mile.

[jaffa1949]

Billie's waxing lyrical instead of his board,
Has he been to Napa Valley,
or terminally bored.
I think it because of two waves in a day
Lyrical is his way of saying OK.
He 's happy because of Dantastic's new log
and because of his own very new dog.

Motto; "be happy for every new cause."
Take pleasure whenever you pause.

Take pleasure in all of life's bliss
cause if you worry you end up looking like this

jpg.jpg (22.53 KiB) Viewed 5403 times

Then no matter how hard it goes
life is still better than picking your nose

[billie_morini]

Bless you, Jaffa.

[Dantastic1985]

So feedback time. Had the Bic in the sea at the weekend. My god it is heavy. Like its made from floaty concrete. i found that it didnt seem to 'take off' like my other board and seemed very slow but I did catch more waves than I previously did which was good. As a board though I didnt like it, that new board stoke disappeared within minutes as it whacked me on the head on wipeout 2 of the morning. It just seems very hard to turn/manouvere when sat in the line up, I was looking at the sets coming and and before I had turned to catch one they had long broken.

So i am going to try and sell the Bic as I feel I have moved backwards and look at getting something a bit bigger than my mal but not too big like the Bic. NSP 7ft 6+ style I think, or blow the lot on a custom mal and be stoked to high heaven but still bad at surfing.

More time in the sea needed...

Thanks for your wise words and lovely rhymes.

Dan

[billie_morini]

New board is a log,
put his stoke in the fog,
didn't swim like a from.
Dantastic don't like it,
He gonna chuck it.

[dtc]

Dantastic got a new Bic
Stoked? He was almost sick!
But after only one go
He said 'F-it, this is sooo slow'
And he just had to give it the flick

[jaffa1949]

Really sorry to hear about the awfullness of the BIC, they do make better pens than surfboards! But in the exercise you found out about some likes and dislikes. A thought for you, your fin placement on the BIC would make it stodgy in turns the further back in the fin box the centre fin sit the harder the turns are. The NSP you are thinking of sounds the better option, I thought that from the first, BTW any board may turn and attack you in a wipeout, I have at least 3 broken noses and a couple of good groin beltings from my beloved boards . I still function!

It does make sense when you just know a board is not suited to you how you reclaim much of your "investment."

You've achieved a major first on this forum=POETRY
Finally your experience will genuinely help other people in your position please post your advice when you see it would help!

[esonscar]

Hey . . . where is your knackered 7ft3, 21 1/2, 2 1/2 mal ?

[Dantastic1985]

Still got the bad boy. Wanted a bit more float and found out that the bic is waaaay to much float and slow.