Hi,

im 5'11", 75kg. No surfing background, doing sports and in my 40s.
I only want the board for waves, i dont want to cruise with it in flat water as i also have an inflatable for that.

My experience so far can be around 20 days on waves, already catching waves on my current JP 8.8x32 134 litres.
I can catch waves i am starting to do bottom turns, and going down the line well frontside and backside.

Here most days are 0.5 to 1.5 metres waves.

Im happy with my current board but i think if i go smaller i could turn it better, and i have good stability on it when waiting for the waves to come, even in chop.

If its windy i could care less about suping as i also kiteboard.

Now i want to substitute my current board for another one, and i was thinking:

1- JP Surf slate 7.6x29 at 115 litres. seems a nice compact concept, maybe not so good for big days right? Is something i can handle now or is it too soon? Is it comparable in terms of stability to my current board? Could it be good for a 'one board' quiver?

2- JP Surf. Im afraid this type of boards are only for real nice waves, glassy, medium to big waves, which is not the case here all the time its more small to medium.

3- JP Wide surf as i have now but maybe go for the 8.2x31.5 120lts or even the 7'11x30.5 at 106 lts.

What do you think? I was biased towards the slate but im doubting just in case its a too technical board for me, dont know!

Thanks

Hi,
first a word of caution: in kiting, windsurfing, wakeboarding, the power is granted by something else than the board. So the equation is simple: the smaller the board the more manoeuverable it will be.

In surfing (and surf-SUPing), things are more complex as the power is also provided by the board. And given that the essential ingredient of turns is speed, there is a compromise: a smaller board will turn easier, but it will be more difficult to get the speed needed for turns.
So you should be careful not to get down in size too fast before having the proper technique (paddling, pumping, positioning on the wave) to generate the speed to compensate for the loss of speed due to the reduced size.

So, I would advise:
- going down in width and volume according to your balance abilities. At 75kg you should not need the "wide" models geared for heavy people, and you will find that narrower boards can be put on the rail faster, helping turns a lot. Do not go too narrow of course to keep stability.
- going down more slowly in length, as taking off will become harder, and you may miss a lot of waves and slow your progresses
- for your conditions (weak small waves), try choose shapes with wide nose and tails.

On the specific models, I don't know the JP line so I will let other give advice. But on the paper, the slate seems a good choice.. except for the length, as you will need to have a more precise positioning on take offs (relative to the wave) than your current board, but stability should be OK. The Fusion 8'5" may be the most efficient step for the learning curve.

Thanks a lot! That makes sense. If i understood correctly the surf shapes with narrower tail and nose like a 8.6x29 surf from JP need more power and size in the wave to work as otherwise i would miss a lot of waves right? Maybe in the future 2 board, one like the JP Slate surf type (paralell outline, shorter) for slow small to medium waves and one for bigger days once i got more experience, more surf shaped, narrower and not so short, does this make sense?

9.5 naish mana .

Yes, a lot.

The "narrower tail and nose" boards need to be driven at more speed, and in an hollower section of the wave to have fun with, whereas you can crank turns on a slate-like design (of enough volume) at low speed without sinking and stopping dead in your tracks. Plus it will be less sensitive to mistakes.

Note that a "slate" design can tackle big waves too, as its parallel rails make it stable at speed, whereas curvy outlines can "squirrel". But of course a sleek er slate design will work better in bigger waves (longer, narrower) for control.

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Tardy said..
9.5 naish mana .

The mana is a good example of wide nose and tail board, yes. As for plenty of boards in many brands.
The 9'5" will be a tad too big for 75kg however.

Thanks but that would be a longer board with same width than current one And with more volume

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colas said..

Tardy said..
9.5 naish mana .

The mana is a good example of wide nose and tail board, yes. As for plenty of boards in many brands.
The 9'5" will be a tad too big for 75kg however.

Whoops missed that you are only 75 kg ( Christmas shout ) .have you tried the 7.0 raptor .116 .litre ,wide but very loose or a 126 litre Hokua .
i recently got the 128 raptor for small waves(94 kgs) ,very fast easy to turn .JP also make similar shapes ...it's a throw around fun board .very very loose shapes .