I am about to buy a very cheap 1st shortboard. 6'1 from Napapa. I am an keen beginner Surfer with good waive-sailing background. Is the transition will be too challenging ? How about the brand itself ? Lots of people don't recommend it on other forums. But as I said I am a beginner and it doesn't bother me at all what brand it is (Unless i get booed on the water !).

Thanks for helping me.

The Frenchy

I won't comment on your board selection..all I can say is that " good wave sailing background " doesn't help much..

get yourself a longboard skateboard cruzer type and improve your swimming if you haven't done it already..good luck

I have a Napapa 7'9 mini mal bought about 10 years ago. It's a nice shape but the glassing is terrible and it's been repaired 5 or 6 times (I use it a lot when the surf is small). I bought a Napapa fish but it was a dog and I got rid of it.

Get a mini mal if you're a learner and you can keep it when you progress as your small wave board. I windsurf too and sorry but it won't make an ounce of difference, you're still starting from scratch as a surfer.

The online reviews are accurate..
Cheap **** sold to backpackers.

They're definitely badly made (the glass job was like a toffee apple and I've ripped multiple fin plugs out). However the shape is actually nice and I'd get a local shaper to copy my 7'9 if I snapped it (Na Papa is now defunct anyway). I mainly surf custom short boards so I know what a decent shape and glass job looks like.