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So, after many years of having a beer next to the sea, watching the surfers bob around and thinking it was a boring thing to do, just bobbing then catching a wave for all of milliseconds. I had a go this summer and.....got the bug.
So, I am looking for a beginners board, second hand. I'll mostly be heading up to North Devon, may be a few times a year, as need to balance it with my other hobbies.
Any board recommendations? I am 5ft 8, around 11stone.
Hi, stick mini mail into eBay. At a guess I'd say something like one of the 8ft Roger Coopers that are on there at the moment. You could probably go shorter at your height/weight but if you're only using occasionally you may want to give yourself an easier ride.
Other option would be to go full longboard route. Bit more pricey typically but you would catch a lot more of the typically smaller summer waves.
How much of beginner? Foam boards have advanced massively in the last couple of years.
stick mini mail into eBay.
Would be my answer too.
Me? Well I'd stick Mini Mal into eBay, but there you go...
Mini Mal in the region of 7’9” to 8’ ish. Something with plenty of volume. More volume means more float which means easier to catch a wave.
Plenty on the evilBay, BIC, NSP, etc. The BIC boards are available as starter packs from a few of the wetsuit warehouses.
https://www.wetsuitcentre.co.uk/bic-surfboard-7ft-9-2018-model.html
https://www.wetsuitcentre.co.uk/bic-magnum-surfboard-8-4-package-2018-model.html
7ft 10 NSP or 7ft 9 Bic would be my choices. A mate has an 8ft Roger Cooper after riding an NSP to start with. The Cooper is more twitchy and easy to ding. The NSP and Bic boards are heavier but much stronger. I've moved from my NSP onto a Cross 7ft 2 Golden Nugget which I'm yet to ding but I know it's going to happen at some point.
Another mate has an 8ft Cortez which is so easy to catch waves on but it's really fragile. Especially as it was touted as a beginners board.
Think what size you want and then add at least foot.
Mini mals are great, but a lot of people get them then move on. Personally I would go for a longboard , if you want to chill and catch waves on a crap day then get a traditional longboard with plenty of float, By the sounds of things you are never going to surf enough to get good so just enjoy actually catching waves on a stable platform
As above really.....lots of length and volume then head down to Sauton and crack on.
Longboards have their place, but their massive, a pain to store, pain to transport. Difficult to paddle out if it’s over about 3ft. Easy to catch waves on but hard to surf well.
Look for a magic carpet if you want the benefits of a longboard without the downsides. Love mine.
I am never going to have enough time to get good at it, it would be just for smiles every now and then when we head to North Devon. Already have paddle boards, so surf board will give us another option.
Storage isn't a problem, have a large garage and a LWB T4, so no issues transporting.
The Mini Mals seem a reasonable price too second hand. Don't want to spend a fortune on something I'll pick up a handful of times a year.
Similar height and weight to me and we opted for an 8'4 soft board and an 8' soft board for the kids to use/ grow into. For the amount of times we'll get to the coast maybe 4 times a year, they're undoubtedly the best option.
I'm a little taller and heavier than you, and bought an 8ft4 bic mini mal (magnum).
Pros
Much lighter and faster than foamies.
Cheap, it was about £260 which IMO was cheap enough to make it not worth sitting gone eBay for weeks then having to drive miles. Ordered and it arrived 24h later.
Tough, I've only managed to give it one small ding, and the surface didn't break unlike epoxy which needs immediate repairs.
Cons
<span style="font-size: 0.8rem;">Not as light as an epoxy board.</span>
The surfing equivalent of riding a Boardman/Careers/Voodoo.
Mr P,
i bought a cross 7’0” last week as a more wave-catchable option to my Reload 6’6” and instead of a Mal..... haven’t had a chance to use it... how do you find yours?
My pennies worth would be to not be tempted to go to short. You might look cool in the car park but it will be no fun in the sea! I lost count how many folk i saw trying to use a short board in the shallows with no obvious experience on our last trip South west a couple of week's ago. Your get bored in no time. Right length board = endless pleasure
Pop to somewhere like Tiki or preferably Ralph's surf shack / Pink surf shop in Croyde, have a chat and trial a board and see how you get on.
Be prepared to be frustrated by the weather, just lost four days on our two week holiday due to storm Ali.
My first proper board was a 9 plus magic carpet. Found it heavily discounted in a clothes shop in Woking! 6'10, I think. Lovely board, went really well in diddy waves, got it out on some overhead days too, and it while it was a bit more hard work than a short board might have been, it did the lot quite nicely. I wouldn't go for a longboard as a first board. You're fine on smaller/smallest waves, but it's not going to help you get out there when it's a bit bigger. a mid-length mini mal/egg/magic carpet/fun shape means you've got the whole range to play with.
Loved my magic carpet. It got nicked, along with my car, another board and quite a lot of other stuff. got a cheapy mini-egg at the moment, which isn't big/fat enough to work in small waves. Don't get in the water much these days, I wan' something that'll be fun whatever the conditions when I happen to be able to surf, so I'm looking at another 7ft ish egg.
from someone who surfs pretty much every day...
its not as easy as 'buy a mini mal', width, rocker, profile, volume etc etc etc all come into play and there is more awful crud out there than quality.
the bics, cortez et al are the halfords carrera and lidl specials. they are not surfboards just chunks of foam that look like surfboards.
beware surfshops, on the whole they will sell tea to china given half a chance and on a rainy day with no cash in the till a tourist with a credit card is a very easy target.
unless you are really tall and heavy and unflexible you do not need a 9fter, a wide floaty 8ft will do it all and is a lot easier to use. even a wide fat 7ft, depending on your size and fitness, is a mega easy thing to surf.
i really do believe that the best bang for buck for learning and casual fun is a genuine swell surfboard, used on ebay, especially collect up country, they often come up well under 100quid indeed ive never paid over 40 for one.
of all the foam boards swells are decent width and very good volume, they are a blast to surf. i love them.
Because no ones suggested it yet, have you considered a SUP. They're the fatbike of surfing and 'real' surfers hate them.
On the plus side they can catch waves that are barely a ripple which would be far more useful if your surfing is more likely to be at X beach on Y day, rather than being able to drag a family 100miles across Devon & Cornwall to an inaccessible beach because MSW says that's the only decent wave that day.
Caveat: never tried one but regretted not having one when I lived on the North Sea which except for a few days a year just doesn't have the swell period to produce any power in the waves regardless of height.
I bought a shortboard from secondhandboards.com ages ago when surfing a lot. If you are in Devon then there will be a fair selection of boards to pick from.
Have a look:
https://www.secondhandboards.com/used-surfboards
Bear in mind that a lot of people will be offloading stuff that they don't get on with, but occasionally people are moving to a different size and want some money back for the old board in the garage. Get a decent idea of what you want by renting boards for a few days first. My first proper board was a 7'10" mini mal from gulf stream that cost me a fortune but was super light and fast compared to the rental chunks I had been learning on up to that point. It did ding easily on those days when the bics were dropping in on you - learning on something with a heavy glass on it might be the safe option if going for a proper board.
Be prepared to spend a LOT of time on magic seaweed when you properly catch the bug. If you're within 45 mins to an hour of the beach then you'll be looking for prime conditions all the time.
Be prepared to spend a LOT of time on magic seaweed when you properly catch the bug.
^^^^ this!!! Spend my life on MSW!!!
MSW isn’t too bad for the swell forecast but their wind model is way off the mark at the moment.
i keep looking at the developer jobs they keep advertising in kingsbridge and wondering how much of a pay cut I could stand....
What with global warming making things stormer, you’ll need one of these in case a giant set rolls in!
in all seriousness, next time you are by the sea, visit a surfboard shaper, tell them what you want and buy new, used or custom board from them. It will cost more, but as others have said, with the right board surfing will be a pleasure, with the wrong board it will get old very quickly. Just like bikes!