by adamrod » Wed Oct 09, 2013 5:30 pm
a few years ago, boards were pretty high volume. In the past year, most of the big manufacturers have figured out how to drop the volume of their boards but still maintain the stability.
simplifying things greatly:
1. get enough volume to float you. anything over that will reduce stability. the math is pretty simple, take your weight + wetsuit + board weight, convert to KG, and that number has to be less than the L of the board. So, for you, your total weight is like 95 kg, so anything over 95L should float you. Any volume OVER 95L will make the board less stable as you have a higher CG.
2. Stability comes mostly from width. A narrower board is faster and much better on the wave, but tippier. Generally, anything less than 30" is tippy, 30" is average, and 32" is nice and stable.
3. Longer boards are faster, but struggle in steep beach break. If you're going to surf point breaks in Santa cruz, a long board is awesome. If you're going to surf OB, get something short (sub 9') so you can handle the drops. Pacifica is a pretty terrible wave, so can't provide much help there :-) Longer boards are also more stable, as front-back stability can be tough on a short board.
For reference i'm on a 7'10" x 30 that's 97L. It's very stable for my 170 lbs. You should have no trouble on that board, but it's probably a bit aggressive for you at first.
If you're serious about surf and given your prior experience, look for something in the 110-120L range, that's 30-31" wide and less than 9'. I ride starboards, the 8'5" pocket rocket is a good board that fits those specs, you could get the 8'5" pro as well. nice low volume but decent stability still. You could go 8'10" starboard wide point if you want more stability, but it shouldn't be necessary given your weight and skill set.
i actually have a spare pocket rocket, so if you want to give it a shot and see what it's like to stand on, let me know. I'd recommend demoing several widths / volumes to get a feel for your comfort level, but keep in mind that with practice, your balance will improve dramatically, and it would suck to pay a bunch of money for a board that you outgrow in 5 days of surfing.
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