Boat Surf board recomendations
 

We mostly wakeboard but have started to surf so I don't have any experience with different surf boards out there.
I had a nice board made from soulcraft this winter for myself but I need a larger board for guests.

Most of them are between 170-190lbs and would be beginners. Any advice? I'd like it to be a nice board that gets them excited to surf and spend time on the water.

thanks for any input

Inland surfer Tako....will take a beating and a pretty easy board to ride

4' 6" to 4' 8" is probably a good length for that weight regardless of brand you decide on. Doomswell Neo or Nubstep are good solid boards that are bouyant and stable and you can find blemish models (you cant tell it has a blemish) on sale at Nauticurl.com and sometimes on the Doomswell site too. The Neo is a bit more stable while the Nubstep is a bit more agile. I learned on a Neo and really loved how easy that board was to progress on.... Have since also went to a Soulcraft myself. Lots of good stuff out there, this is the time of year to buy!

Steve.

We have a very limited number of blemish boards available. In general a 4'4" to 4'6" would be the typical range for your riders, but since they are beginners cautioning on the side of 4'6 to 4'8" is the way to go. The sixer is a super easy board to ride, but does not hold an advance rider back. It is one of my biggest sellers and frequently copied designs.

http://chaossurfco.com/sale/

Nick

Thanks Nick. So sounds like the 4 6 would fit 95% of my guests.

Quick followup question. At what weight would you recommend moving to a 4' 8" board? I have some bigger relatives so just curious. I'm not sure if they will show up so just wondering for future thoughts.

do you take paypal?

Chaos Sixer is a wonderful board and can rip when you’re ready, too.

Yes, we take paypal. For an inexperienced rider at the 215-220 range we would push them towards at 4'8. I have experienced riders in the 260lb range using 4'4' versions, but they have good wakes, know what they are doing and are comfortable with a smaller board. The draw backs of smaller boards are they are not as versatile for a wider range of wakes and not nearly as forgiving when stalled or drifted too far back out of the pocket.

Nick

Steve,

I will go with Nick advice. Coming from doing what the mold was here using phase 5, nick got me set up at chaos xxl, at 320 lbs, i can ride it and carve wit small wave, so when it comes to big waves its a blast, plus i can ride smaller boards too. I am not down to the 270 mark, and well once i hit my goal weight ill be going with Nick on a new board. I will say this, if you get a big board,your smaller friends will love it too. Everyone loves riding the big board to ride with partners or on shoulders. Plus its very very easy to learn on. One thing i learned is make sureto get the nose guard for those newbies!

what do you guys think of a Byerly Buzz? im no surfer but rode this a few times from afriend and seems like anice board

We use the byerly buzz as our "boat board". I ride a soulcraft voodoo as my personal board. The byerly is not bad for a machine made board. Mostly surf style carving etc. Not that responsive but fairly easy to ride for beginners and affordable.

Check out Slingshot boards, not very expensive but deff on the cusp of might as well spend a hundred or two more to get what you want. Well made, they surf great are light & responsive. We have a Cobra Cat & a Butterbar. I prefer my Inland Surfer but I have a ton of fun on that Butterbar too.

define (non)responsive whats its downside for X tricks you are trying?

What I mean by non responsive is that it cannot turn the way the soulcraft board can and cannot Ollie the same way.

Are the bamboo boards just more durable?

I got on board a little late so the blemish were sold out. I went ahead and put in an order for the 4'6" Sixer. thanks for the advice.