Hi Guys,
Long time reader, just starting to get involved in conversation.
I have been supping in the surf for about a year now on a beginners board. 10'6, its basically the titanic in the surf.
I am looking to advance now and have been looking around at a few boards.
I am only 65kgs and about 5'6 so i am pretty small. I would say im beginner to intermediate level (probably closer to beginner) and surf mostly summer in newcastle, smaller choppy waves (my board current doesnt handle anything else)
The boards i have looked at include the new 8'3 naish x32, fanatic prowave 8'5, JP 8'6 surf pro and 8'2 wide body.
Obviously it is each to their own, but i would love to hear other opinions on it.
If i have left out any info that would help suggestions, let me know.
Thanks in advance guys!
Select to expand quoteDavidJohn said..
Hi and welcome.. 
IMO you should add the new 8'5'' Mana to your list.
Thanks for the welcome!
Yeah? I might look into it a bit more, thanks.
I just want to be careful as i know the new X32's are fairly wide (obviously) and i read another smaller person on here had a bit of trouble with the width in the surf. So i am unsure, being smaller, that i need a wide board. I think id be fairly stable on the narrower performance boards plus they would allow me to surf more aggressively.
why would you be looking at the X32? they are for heavier riders, I have both pro waves in the JP and Fanatic and they are awesome boards.
Can't go wrong with either :) DJ's suggestion of the new Mana is a good idea too. 
Select to expand quoteFlyingKiwi said..
why would you be looking at the X32? they are for heavier riders, I have both pro waves in the JP and Fanatic and they are awesome boards.
Can't go wrong with either :) DJ's suggestion of the new Mana is a good idea too.
The X32 was suggested to me by someone. But after i read of a smaller person not suiting it, i all but crossed it out.
I think right now i am leaning towards the fanatic. Saying that i think i change my mind every day and i probably will again when i have a look at the Mana.
The trouble with the extra width is not so much the extra width but the fact that your getting extra volume. For some reason any extra width boards are designed for heavier guys so you end up with a thick wide board that's too corky for a lightweight and bounces around too much. No big brand that I know of designs a slightly wider, more stable but surf oriented board for lighter guys. Us skinny guys are getting the short end of the paddle here! How great would it be if some one put a 32" wide board that was under 4" thick, nice bit of tail rocker for turning, plenty of glide through the middle and not too much nose rocker so you don't feel like your shovelling half the beach in front of you when you get up on the nose. Oh and some nice fine rails that you could actually bury when you wanted too would be nice.
In the mean time I wouldn't go for the fanatic prowave at your skill level. Great board but not for a beginner moving toward intermediate, and really needs pretty clean waves to really come into it's own. I had one for a year. It was great when the surf was great, average when the surf was average and poor when the surf was poor. They really give your legs a work over too, not really a relaxing board to surf. The Jimmy Lewis Striker 8'11 would suit you down to the ground I reckon.
Extra width is also slower to paddle, and has more row for short people (they have the paddle blade well outside the center).
I would differ with MickMc, plenty of brands make boards for lightweights. Just not the brands geared for the overweight US market...
LRO, my daughters are your size, and were fine on 28.5" wide boards, you can go up to 30" I guess, not too short for an easy take off, but not too long as not to be cumbersome: something in the 8'6" - 9'6" range. around 110 - 120l would be fine
Select to expand quotecolas said..
Extra width is also slower to paddle, and has more row for short people (they have the paddle blade well outside the center).
I would differ with MickMc, plenty of brands make boards for lightweights. Just not the brands geared for the overweight US market...
LRO, my daughters are your size, and were fine on 28.5" wide boards, you can go up to 30" I guess, not too short for an easy take off, but not too long as not to be cumbersome: something in the 8'6" - 9'6" range. around 110 - 120l would be fine
Sorry Colas, maybe I didn't express myself clearly enough. I agree there are plenty of boards out there for lightweights. I'm saying no one makes a wider board for lightweights. The wider boards add stability on the less than perfect surf days .... as in most of the time. I prefer a narrower board on a good surf day and certainly wouldn't go wider than 30", but if it's really lumpy with a cross swell then a little extra width is what you need ..... just not the volume.
I agree with Piros, the boards you listed all look good for you. The only change I would make is to drop down to the 7'10" Naish X32, rather than the 8'3". Those Naish's are all super stable for their length, because of the width, so at your weight you don't need to go above 8' on that model.
My choice for an all round board that will surf small up to double overhead is the JP 8'6" surf pro...in carbon.
wider is slower on the wave, wider also catches more wind under it.
Remember when you could buy boards that were under 28 wide.....
Thanks so much for all the input guys i really appreciate it.
Now i still have to make a decision! haha
I want something to perform (remembering im no superstar) but i still want something comfortable on those choppy days. I want to enjoy being out even when the waves are honking!
I suppose from all of this i will start looking for something roughly 28-30" wide, around 8'6"ish and about 110L. That fits the JP surf pro description pretty well.
Time to start looking a bit harder, maybe tee up some test paddles!
If you have anything else to add, im more than willing to keep taking more advice!
Thanks agian.
Select to expand quoteLRO said..
Thanks so much for all the input guys i really appreciate it.
Now i still have to make a decision! haha
I want something to perform (remembering im no superstar) but i still want something comfortable on those choppy days. I want to enjoy being out even when the waves are honking!
I suppose from all of this i will start looking for something roughly 28-30" wide, around 8'6"ish and about 110L. That fits the JP surf pro description pretty well.
Time to start looking a bit harder, maybe tee up some test paddles!
If you have anything else to add, im more than willing to keep taking more advice!
Thanks agian.
The JP will work better for you in the choppier days too :) you wont be disappointed if you go down that road, they are very nice boards.
IMO don't get too hung up on widths.. It needs to float you and you need stability (in all conditions).. Demo, demo, demo.
If you have to choose between 'narrow and thick rails' or 'wider and thin rails'.. give me the wider board with thinner rails any day..
Select to expand quoteDavidJohn said..
IMO don't get too hung up on widths.. You need stability (in all conditions).. Demo, demo, demo.
If you have to choose between 'narrow and thick rails' or 'wider and thin rails'.. give me the wider board with thinner rails any day..
Yep demo's are really going to be the go now.
I really just wanted thoughts on those boards and also boards similar.
Theres so much choice and prices are up there, i really want to make sure i get the right board (for now... always room for more right?)
Select to expand quoteDavidJohn said..
IMO don't get too hung up on widths.. It needs to float you and you need stability (in all conditions).. Demo, demo, demo.
If you have to choose between 'narrow and thick rails' or 'wider and thin rails'.. give me the wider board with thinner rails any day..
Problem is with production boards in the more surfy end of the spectrum, there isnt a great deal of difference in rail thickness. I have a 3 or so year old Naish 8.4 at 27.5 wide, its rails are pretty much the same as the current players at 29-32 wide
Starboard Pocket Rocket 8"5 x30' 32" is wide for your weight but 29" might be hard in bumpy conditions 30" is a good width for interdimite! Pocket Rocket still has good volume and paddles on easy
Yeah well I suppose that's another thing, I want performance but I also want to just enjoy being out there if it choppy. I think I might have said that already. And being my level how much performance am I really going to get out of a 28" compared to a 30".
