Board stupid?
Author: Alf Alderson
To learn more read Alf's book Surfing A Beginner's Guide
Many surfers are still riding shortboards, despite the resurgence oflongboards,
minimals, funboards, and a wide range of ‘hybrid’ designs in recent years. Choosing the right
surfboard is essential if you want to make good progress asa beginner, but it’s not just a case
of walking into your friendly local surf shopand sauntering out again 15 minutes later
ready to rip. Surfboard design is an art form in itself, and no two surfers will ride the
same board in the same way or get the same out of it. Here's a quick look at the most
popular surfboard designs out there.
Quick links:
Shortboards
Funboards
Longboards and Mini-mals
Shortboards
The majority of shortboards will be three-fin ‘thrusters’, usually within the size range
5 ft 8 in/1.70 m to 6 ft 8 in/2.0 m. Bigger surfers may go for slightly longer boards;
longer shortboards (excuse the oxymoron) are used in bigger surf; and some surfers will opt
for shorter, high performance models.
Shortboards are basically for more experienced surfers,being highly manoeuvrable, but at the same
time more difficult to control. Thickness and width vary from board to board, as do rocker
and vee. Rails may be hard or soft, the board may have
channels, the fin configuration can differ, and tailshape will also vary. (If all this is
as clear as mud, read Surfing A Beginner's Guide to understand the terminology.) As you can
see there’s a lot more to a surfboard than meets the eye, and a lot of time and money is
spent on board design and development.You should forget about getting a high performance
shortboard if you’re just starting out – it may look cool on the beach, but it will do you
no favours in the surf. You’ll find it difficult to paddle, difficult to catch waves with,
and difficult to ride. What you should be looking for is a funboard or a minimal.
Funboards
Funboards sit mid-way between a shortboard and a longboard. They’ll usually be around 7 ft
6 in/2.30 m in length, and be wider and thicker than a shortboard, with a more rounded nose. These boards are basically designed for having fun on, as the name implies. They make it easy to catch waves, but are still manoeuvrable enough to allow you to challenge yourself in the surf, and they’re a great option if you surf in an area where the wavesare generally small or lacking in power. They’re especially good for beginners but are often used by experienced older surfers looking for anadvantage in catching the waves.
Longboards and Mini-mals
Longboards are the boards that are associated with the halcyon days of the’60s, when they were known as Malibu boards after the famous California point break. Everyone who was anyone ‘rode the nose’ at every opportunity and drop-knee turns were the only turns worth doing. They were superseded inthe late ’60s and early ’70s by shortboards, but made a come-back in the late’80s, and now most breaks will have a number of longboards out in the line-up.A ‘longboard’ is generally considered to be over 9 ft/3 m in length with a much more rounded nose than the previous two categories, and a wider and thicker template. They may have one or more fins. Mini-mals are kind of ‘short’ longboards of between 7 ft 6 in/2.30 m and 8 ft6 in/2.60 m in length, and they’re another good option for learning on as they offer a lot of flotation and stability and are easier to paddle. However, in big surf they can be bulky for beginners to handle.
Longboards are the least manoeuvrable of the three main categories ofsurfboard and are ridden in a different way. The style is generally much smoother and more graceful than that of the shortboarder, with an emphasis on ‘walking the board’ (moving up and down on the deck of the board) and nose riding (surfing with five or ten toes over the nose – ‘hang five’ and ‘hang ten’ respectively). Having said that, high performance longboard surfing,featuring shortboard-style moves is becoming increasingly common as well as easier on modern, lighter, performance-oriented models.
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