Hey all

I'm pretty keen to have a crack at surfing for the no-wind days, but was wondering if there is any particular size that I can use both for surfing, as well as for kitesurfing down the track (started kiting in winter on the twinnie).

Any recommendations? as for surfing, I'm 63kg, 175cm tall, and will not be riding anything big as i'm only just starting out (e.g. middleton in SA)

for kiting: I ride a 2012 9m north rebel and 2008 7m north evo, average wind 15-25 knots in adelaide.

I was thinking maybe getting a 6'1 board, 3-fin set up?

any helpful advice welcome!

cheers, elise

I agree with Stamp, if you have no surfing experience then the mini mal around 7 ft is the way to learn. Otherwise you are going to struggle just to paddle into a wave let alone get to your feet.
The catch is you will outgrow it quicker with a kite (it will be hard to turn,l bounce around a lot and not have the performance you want) so buy a second hand one and as you progress get something shorter.
If you want something shorter now look at a Fish style board, but you will learn to surf quicker on the mini mal than a Fish and quicker on a Fish than a higher performance board.

i fully totally agree with stamp, flying high and beezlebub ;)

I'll take it one step further and say that you won't progress at all with a 6'1". Why? Cause you'll get the poops with it and walk away from the sport. I've got no idea what middletons like but at you size I'd grab an 8'0", nice round shape, and spend the next year or two on it. Learn to trim, walk it, throw 5 over. It might not be the style of surfing you want to do now but the skills from surfing a bigger board, particularly a single fin (maybe get a 2+1) setup for now) will provide a fantastic base once you decide to change things up.

Get something separate for kiting and then begin an unspoken competition with every other kiter/surfer over whose got the most number if toys

As RUDE said.

Get a cheap second hand mini mal for surfing and nail that separately to your kiting.

NAISH, NORTH and CABRINHA are going to be in toen this coming weekend.
Get down and try some boards.

Theres so many options out there so try as many as you can.

Such a shame to grab a big board to learn to surf if you are already up and kiteing - why not get the 6'2" or even a 5'8" and just kite it??

I've never surfed but am in the waves now with my 5'8" and 6'2" boards and loving it!

No - you right , I'm not into surfing and so i wasnt saying you would be able to surf on a small board as a beginner - I agree with the previous posts in that respect - but why - just get out there with the kite in the lower end of the wind range and just do it!

If your question is specifically about learning to surf ?? - I'll bow out now.

Lambie said...
Such a shame to grab a big board to learn to surf if you are already up and kiteing - why not get the 6'2" or even a 5'8" and just kite it??

I've never surfed but am in the waves now with my 5'8" and 6'2" boards and loving it!

I never kited but the difference between surfing and kiting is that initially you have to generate your own speed with surfing...the biggest mistake newb surfers do is lie on their board and think the wave is going to take them....The best way to catch a wave is to get some speed up paddling and then the wave will take you quicker, otherwise pass you by.

Like windsurfing, you dont just jump on a small sailboard and expect to be able to float, balance etc....similarly with surfing it will be so much harder on a short board....Perhaps ebay for a pop out mini mal and then a shortboard in 6-12 months if you surf 3 or 4 times a week...IMHO out of the 3 sports surfing would be the hardest to master, sometimes taking people several years to progress to linking turns....however, I guess its all what you put into it.

beatlloydy said...

Lambie said...
Such a shame to grab a big board to learn to surf if you are already up and kiteing - why not get the 6'2" or even a 5'8" and just kite it??

I've never surfed but am in the waves now with my 5'8" and 6'2" boards and loving it!

I never kited but the difference between surfing and kiting is that initially you have to generate your own speed with surfing...the biggest mistake newb surfers do is lie on their board and think the wave is going to take them....The best way to catch a wave is to get some speed up paddling and then the wave will take you quicker, otherwise pass you by.

Like windsurfing, you dont just jump on a small sailboard and expect to be able to float, balance etc....similarly with surfing it will be so much harder on a short board....Perhaps ebay for a pop out mini mal and then a shortboard in 6-12 months if you surf 3 or 4 times a week...IMHO out of the 3 sports surfing would be the hardest to master, sometimes taking people several years to progress to linking turns....however, I guess its all what you put into it.

And in reply to this, paddle hard, really hard, pop up, and push the nose down with your front foot when taking off. Most common mistake from newbs is to try and avoid a nosedive by standing hard on the tail. The result is you stall the board, get caught in the lip as the wave builds, and then go over with the lip nose first. Push down with the front foot and commit to a rail, allowing the rail volume/profile and the rocker to bring you around.

Also to learn to surf you will need to commit to surfing at every opportunity for 6-12 months. Get those arms and chest fit and don't get disheartened.

I am trying to learn to kite so I have something to do when it is windy and on my trips up north every year.

That board belongs on a nice bowly indo reef, probably not the best for learning on a small little beachie.

Thanks for the tip Gwendy, I will practice on land again for sure.
I had a crack at surfing a few years back when I was travelling and during that time I ended up just borrowing boards from people I met, and because I didnt have a board of my own I actually learned on a smaller board than this.

However, I didnt have one to practice with when I got home, got distracted and 3 years later kitesurfing has stolen my heart. Since I am now spending more time in the ocean, I felt like taking up surfing again too (when there is no wind of course)..

so while I posted my question here on sb, I also spoke to quite a few people locally, who told me that a board around the 7' mark would do for me, for the same reasons as thedrip listed :-)

Now it is just finding the time and some swell! yeeeoow!!

keep the advice coming! always wanna learn more

Rudebeef said...
That board belongs on a nice bowly indo reef, probably not the best for learning on a small little beachie.

Perfect board for NAPALMS or onepalm when it gets double overhead..not that I got it that big

Hey Elise,

Definitely a nice board you have there, but as someone said, it belongs 9ft deep in a heaving double overhead, foam spitting, sunlit, bluewater cavern.

All of us here have our own opinions and mine goes with most here in that I recommend getting a board with A LOT OF VOLUME just so you can easily catch the damn things.

The hardest bit about learning to surf is actually clocking up wave time.
A two hour sesh surfing can leave you stoked and it's common that your actual wave time would add up to a whole 2minutes if you're lucky! That would be 24 x 5 second waves - highly unlikely for a beginner on a short board. You can learn to kite upwind and be on the water for hours in a couple of weeks if you have wind and flat water every day, you can't learn surfing that fast unless Greg Webbers wave park is going to be built on your neighbours property.

Your board is not the best for learning but will be awesome for when you are ready to charge heaving kegs.
Save some coin or trade it on a high volume (ie wide and thick- 20"+ wide & 2 1/2" minimum thick) fish or hybrid or egg from 6' - 7' and you will triple your wave time compared to what you'll have on that beast slayer you scored!
The Fat shorties will glide you over the 'flats' on to the next section where you simply won't have a chance of being with your beast slaying excalibur there. Mushy days will be your bread and butter whilst learning and your Fish/hybrid/eggs are the right board for these waves - flat rocker - lots of volume. Good luck

Coolio, & cheers to that, bring that stuff on have fun - it's howling SSE now - cya!