Hey,

Surfed a little as a kid and always had a hankering to get back into it. Now 56, headed to Wilsons prom, Vic over Xmas and I will have time to give it a whirl. I want to buy a board to make learning as easy as possible.

Any advice on what I should get greatly appreciate.

Looking at a second hand 9ft RipCurl original but suspect it might be heavy compared to modern boards.

Given its a bit of a suck and see exercise i'll keep my budget at around $500.

Forum seems to suggest a lot of issues thought with cheaper Epoxy boards given poor process in manufacture.

Whats the considered opinion from you pros?

Weight and height?

Select to expand quote

obct said..
Weight and height?

looking at his model looks Id say 6.1 at 90 kgs Obct.

Welcome to the forum, where are you surfing is another important question.

Looks like it Mac, lets assume it's in the ballpark

OBG, that RC will be a good board but if we assume you're not just being modest about your past experience and you're not really much better than you say, your biggest problem on that board will be the pop up.

I'm going to assume a thickness of no more than around 3 inches, and at 9.1, the strength of your paddle, for the earliest entry possible, and the speed of your pop up, are going to be crucial, if they're both a bit suss, you're going to be on your feet too slowly because at that assumed height and weight, you won't be getting wave entry until the wave is at a critical point. You could be eating a lot of sand.

Consider taking one of those lessons on a foamy, if you're above the class average and all the old skills are coming back, go for the RC, and maybe even try to score a cheap second hand foamy to bang about on without doing too much damage to yourself or others.


Another concern is that at your age, you probably never experience longboarding when you did surf, you missed it by about 8 years, maybe you'll want to rip rather than step. That's why a lesson or 2 may help you make the decision.

Might be a good idea to look at a soft top.

Select to expand quote

obct said..
Looks like it Mac, lets assume it's in the ballpark

OBG, that RC will be a good board but if we assume you're not just being modest about your past experience and you're not really much better than you say, your biggest problem on that board will be the pop up.

I'm going to assume a thickness of no more than around 3 inches, and at 9.1, the strength of your paddle, for the earliest entry possible, and the speed of your pop up, are going to be crucial, if they're both a bit suss, you're going to be on your feet too slowly because at that assumed height and weight, you won't be getting wave entry until the wave is at a critical point. You could be eating a lot of sand.

Consider taking one of those lessons on a foamy, if you're above the class average and all the old skills are coming back, go for the RC, and maybe even try to score a cheap second hand foamy to bang about on without doing too much damage to yourself or others.


Another concern is that at your age, you probably never experience longboarding when you did surf, you missed it by about 8 years, maybe you'll want to rip rather than step. That's why a lesson or 2 may help you make the decision.

you da man Obct.

My thoughts for their worth are:
Get an epoxy board that will float you e.g NSP or an old Tuflite..look at the classifieds here or Gumtree, they will get you onto a wave a bit earlier (maybe) and like OB said the pop up to your feet at your age will take some work (no shizz intended, a lot of us are all older than you) so a lesson on the sand would help.

Also start doing stretches and trying to make your body a bit more flexible to facilitate the said pop up aka get to your feet..A good exercise for that is simply laying on your stomach and practise jumping to your feet several times after the stretches...Good luck..
Oh and stay away from the other surfers when you're learning..

Save your cash, borrow a board even hire a board or if you're set on buying a board look on gumtree
just can't see to many longboards for sale in Vic, as I didn't see many longboarders or logs In the lineup.
Depending on your fitness I'd be telling you to try a sup better known as a 666 for quick surf results.
if not time for some push ups and Burpies ol boy.

Good to here u getting back into it.
i got a nice 9 footer that that would be within your budget and a nice board to learn on...pm me if u want.
as concerns the surfing side...try and do some swimming before you head away on your trip...surfers forget how hard paddling is when u first start out , so afew Laps under your belt will make your first sessions in the waves easier.
also when you are out there and paddling for a wave....go at about 45 deg to the beach. That way if u do jag one you'll have half a chance of keeping the nose out of the sand.
have fun and stick with it!

good luck with it mate - it probably won't matter too much what you get at first , cheaper the better just until you know if it's going to work or not and you'll find that out pretty quickly.

Find somewhere small close to shore to practice until you get the hang of it

I would advise going the 666 route.
I have never surfed, got a 666 at age 51 I think.
First flatwater, then tried surf.
Four years down the track, with admittedly not enough time dedicated to learning to surf, I can sort of surf the 666.
I can ride a wave at the beach, usually ending badly.
But I can attempt well away from any "real" surfers, generally in reformed waves close to shore, very unthreatening.
Having had some success on the 666, I thought I should try a longboard.
Zuesman advertised one that took my fancy, gave me an excuse to do a roadtrip to Sydney to collect it.
Travelled back via the South Coast, Gerroa, Batemans Bay, Merimbula.
Finally decided to try it at Pambula River mouth.
11' Munoz Glide, possibly the biggest floatiest board you could find.





I got it off the Kombi, unwrapped it, and carried it down...

After tail standing the thing, I sort of figured out where to lie.
Sort of.
I was probably 94 kg, and the thing wanted to sink at one end or the other.
Impossible to paddle.
Managed to get moving.


Knee paddle


Just,
but it ended badly.
No way am I approaching surf on this thing.
So get a 666.
Surfboards Impossibly hard, before you go anywhere.
Unless you have residual muscle memory from your youth, forget it.
But I have bought a "Deep" prone paddleboard, to learn paddling lying down.
and it's going to take a long time.
But I will get this thing in the surf one day.
There you go Crispy, I reposted it.
Can't believe how you blokes paddle out, much less turn and catch a wave.
Pop up? Forget it!

So..Did oldbut gold find any merit in the boys input ?

Please let's know of your decision

Select to expand quote

obct said..
Looks like it Mac, lets assume it's in the ballpark

Snips....
Another concern is that at your age, you probably never experience longboarding when you did surf, you missed it by about 8 years, maybe you'll want to rip rather than step. That's why a lesson or 2 may help you make the decision.

I took up surfing at the age of 50. Mainly because I liked the idea of catching waves, and getting fit, after years of body boarding and missing some great waves. I got some lessons from the local bloke at Dee Why and on my first attempt had to be pushed back to shore because I was so out of puff. Joined a gym to get surf fit. Had a lesson a week for four weeks and went in the surf, no matter what, as many days a week as I could. I also tried a short soft top, but it really wasn't me, but the long board style seemed to fit, in my mind. I practiced my pop up daily and could only manage 5 or 10 at first, but after a few weeks could manage about 30 in a row. It's the single most important thing to practice.

I was given a 9.0 Farrelly, and to be honest I struggled a bit. A mate loaned me a 9'4" Soul Surf, and it made it so much easier, so I bought a 9'4" x 3" Wayne Deane, that I still have and love to ride. A few years later I went to 10' and haven't looked back.

I met OB in the surf at our local about 6 years ago, and his one and only comment was "To be able to surf, you must first be able to catch the wave."

You must strike a balance between buying a board that is easy to catch waves on, easy to paddle out the back and that you won't outgrow too soon once you get better at it. With the increasing number of people learning, and an increasing number of options available, you should be able to find a good 9'6" x 3" board that will fit the criteria for your budget. My Diverse 10'1" was $520 including a bag and a leash.

I'm now almost 59 and whilst I will never be a brilliant surfer having taken it up so late, it's the best fun you can have on a warm clear day sitting out the back with a couple of mates. Egg 'em on, rag 'em about their last wave, or just shoot the breeze if it's not that flash, but as I said, first you must be able to get on the wave.

Well said MR!

mr

Select to expand quote

MichaelR said..

obct said..
Looks like it Mac, lets assume it's in the ballpark

Snips....
Another concern is that at your age, you probably never experience longboarding when you did surf, you missed it by about 8 years, maybe you'll want to rip rather than step. That's why a lesson or 2 may help you make the decision.

I took up surfing at the age of 50. Mainly because I liked the idea of catching waves, and getting fit, after years of body boarding and missing some great waves. I got some lessons from the local bloke at Dee Why and on my first attempt had to be pushed back to shore because I was so out of puff. Joined a gym to get surf fit. Had a lesson a week for four weeks and went in the surf, no matter what, as many days a week as I could. I also tried a short soft top, but it really wasn't me, but the long board style seemed to fit, in my mind. I practiced my pop up daily and could only manage 5 or 10 at first, but after a few weeks could manage about 30 in a row. It's the single most important thing to practice.

I was given a 9.0 Farrelly, and to be honest I struggled a bit. A mate loaned me a 9'4" Soul Surf, and it made it so much easier, so I bought a 9'4" x 3" Wayne Deane, that I still have and love to ride. A few years later I went to 10' and haven't looked back.

I met OB in the surf at our local about 6 years ago, and his one and only comment was "To be able to surf, you must first be able to catch the wave."

You must strike a balance between buying a board that is easy to catch waves on, easy to paddle out the back and that you won't outgrow too soon once you get better at it. With the increasing number of people learning, and an increasing number of options available, you should be able to find a good 9'6" x 3" board that will fit the criteria for your budget. My Diverse 10'1" was $520 including a bag and a leash.

I'm now almost 59 and whilst I will never be a brilliant surfer having taken it up so late, it's the best fun you can have on a warm clear day sitting out the back with a couple of mates. Egg 'em on, rag 'em about their last wave, or just shoot the breeze if it's not that flash, but as I said, first you must be able to get on the wave.

great post except for that pop up tip. Did your coach tell you that mr? up here all the gurus will tell you pretty much what you said except the pop up part.

The reason that i was told made sense to me. They say do 10 at most ,especially for beginners . As when you are weak and trying to perfect technique you are setting your muscle memory up for some bad times ahead. obct once said about lying on a board cover and popping up on that,awesome ides,or just make some marks on the ground where your feet should land,

dfo heaps of push ups and 10 pop ups. its not always the case of practise makes perfect,but more so of perfect practise makes perfect