Please excuse the noobness once again, but I am interested to know if anyone else on the forum has a superfish XL (as I do). I am a geek so was expecting to see more youtube video's and articles than I can actually find.

Apparently they sell like hotcakes, but they must all get bought by noobs that never actually get wet or they don't have friends with cameras? A couple of video's plus marketing materials is all I can find on the net.

Now with that rant over, what I would like to see is what I can hope to actually do with this board when I get better? I don't mean carving or triple backflips, but it would be nice to see someone trimming along a slow right-hander gracefully to inspire me.

What sort of conditions should I be looking for to surf in?

If I surf a session in low tide I can take some green waves that quickly turn white and ride it straight to the shore. Can do that about 20 to 30 times in a session. (Noosa and Coolum)

Been out twice at high tide, caught no waves and just got thrashed trying to paddle out or get back. (Moffats & Currimundi)

Sunny coast is closest beaches for me. I keep going back to Noosa because I have had good sessions there but it is a long drive and just don't know any better.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Go straight to greenmount the super fish loves that, I know cos I surfed one there

Your right you will never see a pro on one,I believe asea has one

Hmm Noosa nice in winter mid week on a school day.Love the place but how many weeks pass without any surf.

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62mac said...

Your right you will never see a pro on one,I believe asea has one

Nice jab :), you gonna let him get away with that ASEA?

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Hmm Noosa nice in winter mid week on a school day.Love the place but how many weeks pass without any surf.

Funny, the day I was told it was "unsurfable, cos there's no waves" one one of my best days so far. Maybe whats not good for you is actually very good for noob me?

Get yourself over to the SB section mate. You don't need to deal with the pensioners over here . Jokes aside, the guys here are going to give you very valuable advice so take it all in. As a 'noob' too, my one advice really is: Keep it simple and just get out there!

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newguy said...

Get yourself over to the SB section mate. You don't need to deal with the pensioners over here . Jokes aside, the guys here are going to give you very valuable advice so take it all in. As a 'noob' too, my one advice really is: Keep it simple and just get out there!

Yeah good point, to get out there. What's going on with this weather though, guess the next best thing is to get off the computer and do some exercise.


BTW, does an 8' plastic fish qualify for the SB forum?

weather its grand,p-ssing down south wind and swell = less people its looking good Chrispy and I are heading south as the quickie pro is on at ours,enjoy 8 foot who cares but it belongs in here

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62mac said...

weather its grand,p-ssing down south wind and swell = less people its looking good Chrispy and I are heading south as the quickie pro is on at ours,enjoy 8 foot who cares but it belongs in here

Yeah, best day we had a at Noosa was after a good shower. Chased the crowds away, even chased the board hire trailer away.

Have to go to Caloundra tomorrow, and the 8' plastic will definitely be in the car, just in case.......

Haha looks like Macs made a bid for you. Don't worry, we'll get ya one day on a shorty

Sorry to hijack your thread but speaking about boards Mac, how does a single fin ride like? Found a cheapy of the 'longer range' and am curious. May grab it just to see how it rides.

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newguy said...

Haha looks like Macs made a bid for you. Don't worry, we'll get ya one day on a shorty

Sorry to hijack your thread but speaking about boards Mac, how does a single fin ride like? Found a cheapy of the 'longer range' and am curious. May grab it just to see how it rides.

you will need to know how to surf...or it will teach you how to surf beautiful lines. do yourself a favour and surf it for a bit and then see what you can do on your shorties

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newguy said...

Haha looks like Macs made a bid for you. Don't worry, we'll get ya one day on a shorty

Sorry to hijack your thread but speaking about boards Mac, how does a single fin ride like? Found a cheapy of the 'longer range' and am curious. May grab it just to see how it rides.

Feel free, but this radar image does not look good:



I would be surprise about the shorty, but never say never.

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chrispychru said...

newguy said...

Haha looks like Macs made a bid for you. Don't worry, we'll get ya one day on a shorty

Sorry to hijack your thread but speaking about boards Mac, how does a single fin ride like? Found a cheapy of the 'longer range' and am curious. May grab it just to see how it rides.

you will need to know how to surf...or it will teach you how to surf beautiful lines. do yourself a favour and surf it for a bit and then see what you can do on your shorties

single fin longie only way to go, I even pull out the sides in a performance mal as I think it is quicker down the line

Don,t forget your rain coat tomorrow Kadil

Kadil,

I have the 7S SuperFish XL in 7'3" running as a quad - and I love it. I'm a big bloke and 45yo and surf less often than I would like. I've had plenty of boards between 5'10" to 9'1" and this is my everyday go-to board for 90% of conditions.

I generally surf fast beach breaks and have no trouble with steep waves. Get your feet right and this is a fast board as it has a lot of surface area and not a lot of rocker front or back. It comes off the bottom and off the top (of the wave) no problem, and being a fish, is good for pumping through the flat/fat sections.

I like it so much that despite several new 'big bloke' fish type boards now being available I am going to get a SF XL II in Epoxy once I get the dosh together. I doubt you'll find any in the second hand racks... and it's not just the old fat blokes getting them - I see quite a few young crew with them in smaller sizes.

Having said that, they are not a high performance board - but they do everything I need a board to do in the conditions I surf most...

PS - I've ridden this in 1ft beachies and a couple of hairy days down south that were a bit too big for my comfort - this board will handle well over head high.

If you have any specific questions I'd be happy to try and answer them.

back to the 8 ' xl, I got one for a travel board, take it out in everything you can, mess around with the fin set up quad to thruster, you will get many years of enjoyment out of it and you will also find out what you can't do with it when you start charging some steeper drops. Thats part of the adventure

How heavy are you GPA I'm thinking of getting the 703 but I'm 97kgs and thought I might be a bit heavy

Time for a vid. Not an 8ft but 7S all the same

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Daneli said...

How heavy are you GPA I'm thinking of getting the 703 but I'm 97kgs and thought I might be a bit heavy

Somewhere north of 113kg - 97kg would be perfect. From memory the 7'3" has 53lt volume - and 3" in the guts of the board.

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Daneli said...

Time for a vid. Not an 8ft but 7S all the same

Anyone reckon they could do this on an 8' SF XL?

I will feel like I have achieved something when I can popup while coming down the face of the wave , and take the bottom turn like I am in control and trim along a long wave that just keeps breaking for ages, hair blowing in the wind......... no wait I don't have any hair :) But it would still be cool for me.

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GPA said...

Daneli said...

How heavy are you GPA I'm thinking of getting the 703 but I'm 97kgs and thought I might be a bit heavy

Somewhere north of 113kg - 97kg would be perfect. From memory the 7'3" has 53lt volume - and 3" in the guts of the board.

I went from 97kg down to 91kg these last 5 weeks, I am on the 8' SF XL

Never intend to duck dive this board

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62mac said...

weather its grand,p-ssing down south wind and swell = less people its looking good Chrispy and I are heading south as the quickie pro is on at ours,enjoy 8 foot who cares but it belongs in here

Not too enticing this morning

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Anyone reckon they could do this on an 8' SF XL?

Well, obviously it won't be as loose (agile) as that 6'0" in the vid, but I still throw my 7'3" SFXL around on the right wave. For what it's worth, I also used to ride an 8ft mini-mal and could also get that around OK. Just need to get your back foot over the fin area and drive the board into a turn - sort of prepare to turn by lining it up in your mind and making it happen. You cannot flick an 8'0" board around - it just won't work and will look stupid. You need to use the momentum of the wave...

And you should be able to duck-dive it - it's all about positioning on the board, using your weight to advantage and timing... and not forgetting that you need to go into the duck-dive with some momentum...

Keep going and it'll just come together and then you'll be stoked.

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GPA said...

Anyone reckon they could do this on an 8' SF XL?

You cannot flick an 8'0" board around - it just won't work and will look stupid. You need to use the momentum of the wave...

Already look stupid, and working on learning to use the momentum of the wave.

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And you should be able to duck-dive it - it's all about positioning on the board, using your weight to advantage and timing... and not forgetting that you need to go into the duck-dive with some momentum...

Really? I thought it would not be an option. I have ridden a few white water waves to a stop and balanced standing on the the board while it sunk through the water to sitting on the sand about 2 feet underwater. I suppose if I am heavy enough to hold the board under, I could somehow use the flow of water to help get it to duck dive.

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Keep going and it'll just come together and then you'll be stoked.

Enjoy every session, and it just keeps getting better. Thanks for the advice.

My little tip with the duckdiving dude is as your pushing your board down over the wave, try to push it as far forward as you can. Aerodynamically (I could be wrong) the nose of the board is like a thruster so you're really 'piercing' through the wave. Thats what I've found. And if you're finding yourself getting thrown back, you're not pushing down hard enough or paddling into the wave with enough momentum ( I learnt the hard way )

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newguy said...

My little tip with the duckdiving dude is as your pushing your board down over the wave, try to push it as far forward as you can. Aerodynamically (I could be wrong) the nose of the board is like a thruster so you're really 'piercing' through the wave. Thats what I've found. And if you're finding yourself getting thrown back, you're not pushing down hard enough or paddling into the wave with enough momentum ( I learnt the hard way )

I get the concept, there's some good training video's around :



I have been trying turtle rolls instead. My instincts tell me to roll right over but this video says to roll under, then get back on the same side:

check the "paddling out" video:
http://www.surfsimply.com/podcast/

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newguy said...

My little tip with the duckdiving dude is as your pushing your board down over the wave, try to push it as far forward as you can. Aerodynamically (I could be wrong) the nose of the board is like a thruster so you're really 'piercing' through the wave. Thats what I've found. And if you're finding yourself getting thrown back, you're not pushing down hard enough or paddling into the wave with enough momentum ( I learnt the hard way )

It's almost the same approach as you would take as if you dive through a wave if you were standing in front of it - time it, take a bit of a run at it (momentum), push the pointy part through and down (arms in this case; nose of the board) and keep down until the wave has passed over you... There's a good YouTube clip that has been posted on here before - worth a look as the camera work is underwater also... [EDIT - you found it ]

ok the 7'3'' 7s or the 8' 7s weighing in at 100kgs don't know which way to go need suggestions

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asea said...

ok the 7'3'' 7s or the 8' 7s weighing in at 100kgs don't know which way to go need suggestions

want to try an 8'?

Just picked up a Sumo 703 from Bob light blue tint bargain

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62mac said...

Just picked up a Sumo 703 from Bob light blue tint bargain

hoax or pics

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asea said...

ok the 7'3'' 7s or the 8' 7s weighing in at 100kgs don't know which way to go need suggestions

Asea - 100kg will go well on the 7'3" - I'm 45yo, 5'11" reasonable fitness and weigh in at 113kg+... and I would class myself as a competent surfer who is well passed his best and currently feeling well out of form. From what I read, you guys over there get a lot more surf than I do...

Personally, I think you may regret an 8ftér if you are looking to move more towards a SB type board. I think if you look at the stats an 8ftér would have the same volume as say a 9'4" HP mal.

IMHO.