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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Dec 2016
    Posts
    1,820

    Best board for beginner?

    Recently moved to Maui.
    I'm old and fat. I live one minute away from the cove, which seems to be great for beginners and long boarders.

    At 6' and 230lbs I'm thinking this board in a 9'2" could work:
    https://shop.surfindustries.com/us/s...tty-surfboard/

    Hopefully could find it locally

    Thoughts?

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Aug 2006
    Location
    SFCA
    Posts
    1,354
    You get stinkeye the second you support GSI in most circles. Plus, at that price, isn't The Log from CatchSurf a better buy?

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    livin the dream
    Posts
    5,761
    Buy something massive and cheap off the local Craigslist. If you truly are a 230# beginner, it is going to take a while before board choice matters other than being able to float.

    Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk
    Best Skier on the Mountain
    Self-Certified
    1992 - 2012
    Squaw Valley, USA

  4. #4
    Join Date
    May 2009
    Location
    inpdx
    Posts
    20,197

    Best board for beginner?

    If you're new in town, suggest making friends at the local board shop even if it's a few more bucks...might help with advice in many areas of surf stuff

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Nov 2004
    Location
    YetiMan
    Posts
    13,370
    as a large beginner, I have enjoyed the 12' surftech softop. You will be in better waves there, so the 12' may be overkill, and I've always surfed in really uncrowded places so the prospect of kooking around with an enormous board is less dangerous to others than it would be in a crowded place.

    My advice would be to spend the first 20 or 30 sessions on a wavestorm. It will get beat up, probably mostly in transport...it takes some learning to get used to not dinging a longboard with the car and the garage and doorways and everything. It's a lot like moving furniture.

    Then you can get a nice used longboard. If you don't care about being kooky and you want something really durable, the 10 or 11' surftech softops surf very well, hold up to a lot of abuse, and are cheap. And you will have the wavestorm as a backup or for friends or to give or lend to a local youngster or whatever.

    As time goes on, as your surfing develops, you'll start to know what the next step will be....be that a nicer popout or something shaped for you by a local.

    also totally agree with this:
    Quote Originally Posted by acinpdx View Post
    If you're new in town, suggest making friends at the local board shop even if it's a few more bucks...might help with advice in many areas of surf stuff
    Last edited by ill-advised strategy; 07-07-2017 at 10:08 AM.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Dec 2016
    Posts
    1,820
    Thanks for the great suggestions.

    Will head down to the local shop and see what they suggest.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Nov 2004
    Location
    YetiMan
    Posts
    13,370

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Nov 2010
    Location
    Juneau, Alaska
    Posts
    124
    go see Jeff Timpone at the cannery in Haiku.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Nov 2004
    Location
    YetiMan
    Posts
    13,370
    Quote Originally Posted by tgray View Post
    go see Jeff Timpone at the cannery in Haiku.
    1 demerit for missing a haiku opportunity:

    Go see Jeff Timpone
    At the Haiku cannery
    That's the place to go

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Jun 2007
    Location
    Cruzing
    Posts
    11,911
    A 9'3" seems a bit small for a big beginner. The wavestorm even worse, although it is fucking cheap. They flex so easily at my 180#, and I've been surfing for over 30 years. I can imagine trying to learn on one, as an adult, 50# heavier than I am. If you were looking for a soft top, I'd go for at least 10'. Even a fiberglass board I'd go at least that length.

    Good advice on stopping by the shop - if even to just chat. Buy cheap, or look into a used fiberglass board on CL.

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