At ~87kg, would I be light enough for the subject board, at 43L? I am a fit guy, workout and exercise regularly. My other option at this point is the 41L 5'10 TC signature. Have been encouraged to go the 5'10 because of my frame, but considering the 5'8 has greater volume, sounds tasty given bit more manoeuvrability, etc. Thoughts?

http://surfhardware.com.au/shop/softboards/softech-5'8-brainchild-performance-softboard

Yes and you will out paddle most people on it

Sorry I was still laughing when you mentioned it being looser...it is foamy mate embrace the joy for what it is

Wasn't exactly going for that, but happy to benefit! Have always been a fan of fish tails (as per the 5'10) but given it has a quad, keen on the round/wide tail for better carves. Such a dilemma! #firstworldproblems

TC is a legend...but based on what the net pics show I reckon the brainchild looks better coz of the fin options, I prefer quads in small beachies you would surf these boards.....& I don't know but the rocker appears to have more flat through the middle, generally better imo & outline looks better. Looks to be $100 more than the TC though...both boards are about 2 to 3 hundy more than I reckon they should be considering I generally pick up glassed boards at these prices. However your considering a new frontier of fun & if keen you should go for it. Definately has its advantages over the summer period

That's exactly what I'm going for. If I can't be assed with the effort required to get the SUP down to the beach to surf micro waves, it'll be whichever of these boards I get that I take instead. Both boards offer 5 fin plugs - that's why I'm getting tied up with the choice. Yeah, a bit on the expensive side, but then again, if you're long overdue another surf and these kinds of board would fit the bill for providing you a more fulfilling session over a fibreglass option, you've got a winner. Brainchild has been the more commonly suggested of the two so far, cheers for the feedback!

I just picked up the 5'2 mystery box. For the kids of course... I haven't surfed anything else in a month... so much fun... what started as a groveller has morphed into a full time addiction.. got barrelled on it sat morning, I'm still frothing... it's not like it's the best board I've ever ridden it's just so different to anything I've ever ridden.. full stoke.. and it gets into waves sooo easy... change the fins though... the soft fins make them really unresponsive.. after the first day I hated it because it tracked but changed the fins and my approach a bit and it's all good... definitely a good addition to any quiver...

@ my 84 kg, I would go for their biggest 6'3 brainchild.

I could only ride my son's 5'5 foamie as a boogie board..it was waaaaay too small for me.

I'm 95kgs and I picked up a 5'6 Catch Skipper at a garage sale about 3 weeks ago.

I'm loving it and haven't ridden anything else since I got it. If your local is like mine and throws up fast, solid close outs in shallow water you'll love surfing a foamy. You can take off and pull in without having to worry about breaking an expensive board and there's certainly a lesser risk of fin chop or other injury. Its also fun trying to land bigger floaters and little airs without destroying a glass deck.

It is however a foamy, and despite the marketing tripe about high performance, it flexes a lot and the fins aren't rigid enough for my liking. The rails are pretty chunky to the point where you have to nurse it through some turns. The deck can give you a pretty decent rash too if you surf for a few hours without a shirt.

Its a fun board for average days, and we have a lot of average days here in Perth - no wonder these boards are getting so popular!

Summed up better than my post....but I was laughing hard still from all the performance talk and advantages of having a 5 box option

I love mucking about on my one

I have an older model of the 5'10 Softech with only quad setup available. I hear the nursed turns aspect, have experienced it with my current board. I'm upgrading as the newer Softech models have more refined rails and 5 fin option. Putting a nubster fin in between the quad setup and the refined rails should make for a much more controlled ride while keeping the speed.

Good to hear the feedback re catch boards. They were on the radar for a while, but Softech boards, despite being more expensive are really rigid. Snapping one (accidentally or otherwise) has never crossed my mind as something to worry about. I used to have an El Nino foamie. Flexed every time I duckdived. Cheap for a reason.

Select to expand quote

sparki said...
I have an older model of the 5'10 Softech with only quad setup available. I hear the nursed turns aspect, have experienced it with my current board. I'm upgrading as the newer Softech models have more refined rails and 5 fin option. Putting a nubster fin in between the quad setup and the refined rails should make for a much more controlled ride while keeping the speed.

Good to hear the feedback re catch boards. They were on the radar for a while, but Softech boards, despite being more expensive are really rigid. Snapping one (accidentally or otherwise) has never crossed my mind as something to worry about. I used to have an El Nino foamie. Flexed every time I duckdived. Cheap for a reason.

Stop it

You know when JOB trusts a foamie enough at pipe and is happy to put his name on one, the technology is getting pretty good.

Nubster...fin set ups.... job...performance .....foamy

Welcome to the new age of surfing... where it's possible to surf without the board touching the wave and foamies are high performance.

I just got this 5'4

haha! everyone's buying into em now, huh? gonna be lineups full of stoked up adults riding kids boards soon

Select to expand quote

sparki said..
haha! everyone's buying into em now, huh? gonna be lineups full of stoked up adults riding kids boards soon

I call them bodyboards for adults!

Did you go the brainchild sparki? How's it going?