difference between surfing board and skim

guys, little help here. I have been a skier and kneeboarder most of my life, and we finally picked up a tow boat to do some wake boarding and surfing.

It turns out we are huge into surfing.. just love doing it. We purchased our first board this year which was a Hyperlite broadcast as a beginner board.

I am looking for a slightly more manuverable board now, keeping in mind we are still advanced beginners to intermediate riders. I don't know much about any of the boards. Looking to spend under $400 for a new board to try.

I will never be a pro so spending $900 on a board just isn't for me. Looking for something durable. I just don't understand what the difference is between surf and skim and what i should be looking for.

I found the following boards;
Inland surfer IKA
Ronix Mashmellow
Liquid force rocket
inland surfer TAKO

any ideas? when do i want a surf board vs a hybrid vs a skim style?

All of those boards are at about the same level as the Broadcast.

The board style depends on what you see yourself doing in the future. It's an easy and mellow sport, so progression will happen faster than most board sports.
Do you see yourself standing and cruising for 30 minutes at a time? eventually doing spins? trying airs? or don't want to limit yourself?

want to get better. But also want a board that grows with my skills. Right now we just cruise along and go up and down the wake etc... i hope to get some spins in this summer. The broadcast is such a large wide board that i just don't see it being easy to progress.

Its easy. skim boards are short and large and only have one center fin in the bottom. You dont have any on your list. Skimmer or mostly for spin tricks and its a different sensation than a surfstyle. Skim are easier to crouse too. Surfstyle give you more sensation, you already familiar because your board and all your choices are kind of surfstyle boards. 3 fins. Surfstyle is more responsive, it bite on waves unlike skim that just floating. Like mitch says it depends what you want to do in the future. If you wish to do lot of spin trick and crousing on your board allday with a beer in tour hand go skim. If you want to gain speed and make air tricks and feel more like a sport go surfstyle.. hybrid are a mix of both, they are really good beginner intermediate board. Most of them have adjusteble fin so you can put some or remove them to switch style. I think you should go with a hybrid after reading your concern, good skimmer and good surfstyle are quite expensive hybrid are more budget friendly and really does the job.

You can get just as much air on a skim style board as you can on a surf style board. It all depends on what you ride more often. If you learn airs on a surf, that will be easier. If you learn airs on a skim, that will be easier.

Here is a massive roast beef grab on a skim style board by Erika Sos who is only 13

Okay so now we've seen how a 13 year old girl (a total ripper) can get nice air on a skim, why would anyone ever want a surf style board given the plethora of benefits of a skim style? Not tryin to start an argument. I genuinely want to know. In fact, I'm glad this thread was started because I bet a lot of people would like to know the pros and cons of each style. Personally, I'm here to learn.

I ended up with the TAKO as they told me its more of a hybrid. Can also remove fins and place them in 3 different areas on the board from 3 down to one. I know this isn't a pure skim board, but this board seems to allow for some growth over my HL Broadcast which is nice, just very large and gets in its own way.

The reputation of Inland Surfer boards is also very good. Got a great deal on mine as well. I also figured this board could be used for the whole family which is another concern. Wife surfs, teaching son how to surf, and we would need a few boards if we were to go skim and/or custom. Since i weigh about 210 and the wife weighs 115, there is some difference there.

Originally Posted by markj

Okay so now we've seen how a 13 year old girl (a total ripper) can get nice air on a skim, why would anyone ever want a surf style board given the plethora of benefits of a skim style? Not tryin to start an argument. I genuinely want to know. In fact, I'm glad this thread was started because I bet a lot of people would like to know the pros and cons of each style. Personally, I'm here to learn.

I think a lot of people don't understand skim style boards. They see the one little fin and assume that it most be really loose and hard to control. People see the massive fins on a surf style board and they think it will be more stable.

But as you get more educated on board shapes and construction you find out that skim style boards offer a lot of control depending on the rail shape. They can be loose and sloppy with a round thick rail or they can track hard and have a ton of bite with a thin crisp rail. Surf style boards can be extremely responsive when they have an aggressive fin set up or they can be lifeless and stable with smaller straight fins.

Basically, newcomers see a big thick board with a bunch of fins and think comfort and stability.
Cheaper wakeboard brand versions of these boards have given riders a false perception of what a surf style and skim style board are.
An advanced surf style rider doesnt want a comfortable stable board. They are going to ride a surf style board that is nimble, responsive, aggressive, and easy to break free.
And an advanced skim style rider does not want a loose sloppy board. They are going to ride a skim style board that tracks well and bites into the wake for a lot of control and response.

Technically and ATCE, it would be really difficult to get an air as big as one can achieve on a surf style board versus a skim board. That is a modest air from Erika, but it is not huge and the angle leaves it all distorted and misleading. Mitch is correct in that the generalization of boards, the dumbing down of boards, and the mixing of boards has left many completely confused. For your average rider that is fine, because simply put you can literally ride anything. The ride experience for most has more to do with their own skill level and the wake, the board is secondary, even though the board naturally receives all the blame when the riding experience is bad. When looking to advance or progress your riding experience with more advanced maneuvers, that is when you need to look past your typical wake brand and your johnny come lately diy'ers.

Although traditional skims may look all about the same, there are fine details that generally differ. These details make the difference. Inherently, a skim board is going to be more slippery feeling than your average surf style board. The difference comes in riding. If you try to ride a skim board like a surf style board you will have a hard go at it, and vice versus. The simplest way to look at it is for a skim board you ride the edge/the rail, for a surf style board you ride the fins. Airs are not the exclusive realm of surf style boards, just like surface maneuvers are not the exclusive realm of skim style boards. However, board attributes can make maneuvers in these realms easier or more difficult.

Nick

Here is another angle of Erika, this time on the Project V. She gets up there. No camera tricks

That is a good air, but not nearly as high as surf style riders are getting.

Nick

Nick, how many surf style guys are actually getting that high though? Probably the same number of skim style riders getting that high. It's not the style of board.

We are splitting hairs though. Most regular riders on either style are barely getting fins out, to be honest. It's up to the rider to push it

I disagree. I can post pictures of at east a 100 surf riders launching airs as big or bigger. Can you find a 100 skim board riders launch comparable airs?

It is apples and oranges. Very few riders find it easy or launch big airs of a skim board. Most riders can't ride a skim board on bigger steeper waves that progress aerial maneuvers. Most skim riders gravitate toward boats that produce rolled over skimmy waves. These are not absolutes, but to say that a skim board is just as good for aerial maneuvers as a surf style board is fiction. That is like saying a surf style board will spin on the surface as easy as a skim board. With or without fins a surf style board in general will not spin as easily on the surface as your average skim board.

Nick

Most people are riding poorly designed skim style boards that are super thick and chunky that don't ride right. They ride flat based and use a big fin to hold them. That makes it very difficult to set up for big airs. The only legit skim style boards are by Victoria Wake, Phase 5, Exile, Black Revolt, and Keenan's pro model from Inland Surfer.

I have done many lessons and teaching airs on a skim style has been just as easy as teaching surf style riders. It's up to the rider.

Bottom line, you can air on any style wakesurf board. Not all of us are Hunter Clement, but you can boost airs on both styles.

Only Legit. Maybe legit in your mind.

Nick

Maybe they ride right for them. Maybe that is what they want or how they want to ride. Who are you or anyone to decide what wake skimming is?

Jake Caster is a really progressive and strong wake skimmer. He doesn't ride any of those boards. Is he not legit?

Nick

Honestly, for being like a 8years wakesurfer, teaching and being rider for ronix i tried lots of surf.. ok i tried mostly all haha.. i understand all your concern and both skim and surf have their positive and negative! Some prefer surf and other skim. Both are 2 different world of feeling, it really depends on what you like.

Yes you can have great airs with skim like you can do spins with aggresive surfstyle. But you know its easier to make spins with skim cause its made for that like its easier to make airs with surf cause its made for gaining speed.. every board had their cheap version and phenomenal boards.

Im a soulcraft fan But before i was swearing on Victoria's boards (after my obligations for ronix haha). Really My Victoria Factor is the best skim i had even compare with my phase5 danielo. But with years my Vic stay on the rack most of the time.. because i mostly surf now with a soulcraft pro model. Just a personal choice. Getting tired of spins and begin real surf hahaha just kidding. The only fact i want to say is you have to push much harder on a skim to have a surfstyle sensation.
I dont know why some poeple want that much surfstyle sensation with skim and skim sensation with surf!? Thats why hybrid been created
No offense to anybody.
When you have a cheap surfstyle boards are mostly big and really stable like a dunky Liquid force. A good surfstyle gonna be less stable and shorter for more responsive and agressive sensation.
Skim is like the oposite if i can say. You gonna have a short board, sloppy and really unstable as a cheap. A good skim like phase5 diamond gonna be more stable and had really good slash.
It really depends on the shape of the board on both style.

The WAVE make a real difference too and lot of people missed that too.
Lots of waves out there: big, small, long, short, push, transition, lip.
I can give some exemple. You can have a really big wave with no transition and its a skimmer paradise or a longggg wave with a insane transition but smaller height and its a surfstyle paradise.
Riding behind the moomba with 3 600 pounds ballast was great with my victoria a monster wake perfect for skim tricks
Behind my Tige my wave have so much push and so long that i am just obligated to have a surfstyle haha with agressive surf i can gain so much speed that my airs are phenomenal and i can tell you for sure that my victoria cant even come close unless i speed down my boat and push crazy. And even with that im still not equal.. but with skim i can spin like a monkey and cant with my surf

Hope it helps !