Super fat short boards

John_Rambo

Fun boards, without the hassle of a longboard?

Is this really the case? I'm not a short boarder, never was, I'm not twenty either! Is the wave count that good on the new fat, high volume boards? Looking at the Rip Curl Fat Fat, Maluku Flying Frog style boards. Anyone any experience?

Thanks in advance.

rodento

John_Rambo wrote: »

Fun boards, without the hassle of a longboard?

Is this really the case? I'm not a short boarder, never was, I'm not twenty either! Is the wave count that good on the new fat, high volume boards? Looking at the Rip Curl Fat Fat, Maluku Flying Frog style boards. Anyone any experience?

Thanks in advance.

For me it's all down to fitness, if you surf loads these boards are great, specially in the tropics, but heavy wetsuit and lack of fitness and your wave count will suffer

cpoh1

Its all about your own weight, fitness and the volume of the board.

Im 92kgs, reasonably fit and surf a 6'1" x 21 x 23/4 with 37L of volume and catch easily as many waves on tiny days as I would on a longboard. Anything from waist high and its on on that board to the extent i rarely if ever bring out the log.

If you prefer cruising and noseriding then I wouldnt bother with the smaller board but if the log is just for the small days the shortboard cant handle then I would ditch and get yourself one of these bad boys!

John_Rambo

cpoh1 wrote: »

If you prefer cruising and noseriding then I wouldnt bother with the smaller board but if the log is just for the small days the shortboard cant handle then I would ditch and get yourself one of these bad boys!

hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm! Thanks a million, both of you.

I'm about 5'7" and 75 kilos not massively surf fit, but not out of shape.

The logs for everything really, can't really nose the board to be honest and I find carving a bit difficult on it. Basically, I can catch waves in the green room, turn and cruise along gently turning up and down the wave going the one direction. I thought the fun board would be as easy to catch waves as the longboard, but easier to turn, be more maneuverable.

Am I completely wrong in my assumptions?

cpoh1

John_Rambo wrote: »

hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm! Thanks a million, both of you.

I'm about 5'7" and 75 kilos not massively surf fit, but not out of shape.

The logs for everything really, can't really nose the board to be honest and I find carving a bit difficult on it. Basically, I can catch waves in the green room, turn and cruise along gently turning up and down the wave going the one direction. I thought the fun board would be as easy to catch waves as the longboard, but easier to turn, be more maneuverable.

Am I completely wrong in my assumptions?

Its a fair summary. Its a lot clearer now that we know you dont look at the longboard in the traditional noseriding/cross stepping sense. The fun board will be much more maneuverable, easier to pump to get down the line speed, cutbacks, turns. Will be as easy to catch waves once its over waist high too. It'll be less stable than the log (paddling, popping up and when riding waves) so will take some getting used to but would be a nice step up if you are at the developing stage.

The key factors with any board you look at is width and volume under your chest and the type of rocker you go with. More width and volume up front and it'll be much easier to get into the smaller stuff.

Im sure there are shorter boards you could rent in lahinch or sligo/donegal to have a try out?

tigerballs

If you're a beginner/intermediate i'd suggest maybe steering clear of these types if you are just looking to increase your wave count.
these boards are designed to be ridden much shorter and wider than a regular shortboard and also have very little rocker, so as a beginner/intermediate you might find yourself going 'over the handelbars' a lot on steeper waves.

Saying that Having a board like this in your quiver can be great they excel in gutless waves but they still need sizey gutless waves if you know what i mean.

I have had a 5'8 21 wide 3 inches thick board in my collection for over ten years now and still surf it a lot. call it the Slop buster.
Edit
I just had a look at the boards you mentioned in the first post Op. they are not the kind of boards i had in mind in above comment.
egg funboards like those are good for picking up small waves and transitioning to a shortboard. the fat frog thing looks like fun!

John_Rambo

Jaysus lads, that's lots of top info and advice. Thanks a million, food for thought. I will take everything you said on board and have a good think and a look at the budget.

Damascena

Hey,

sorry to gatecrash this thread but I am at a similar situation to the OP. I too would like something a bit shorter and was looking for a fun board alternative. I would like to go with an irish shaper and was wondering if anyone knew of any shapers that have experience of shaping funboard type shapes! Thanks in advance.

myate

Conor at Wax On in Sligo does a fantastic board called a slipper...it varies in length from 7'2 to 6'10, very similar to a normal log but missing the middle section. I have the 6'10 version, and you can nose ride it, it turns on a dime, catches waves easily, not far off a normal log. You can also duckdive it no problems. You can surf it in big or small stuff also, it's super versatile. It would be good for somebody looking for a funboard type board, but it's a board that you can grow with. I sold all my other boards (logs & shortboards) as I was surfing this the whole time....I surf points & reefs mostly.

rodento

Don't forget glide from cork, he has been shaping me and supplying me with boards for na on 10 years, picked up a 6'10 * 22 * 2 6/8 'ish diamond tail quad called the RRV this year and haven't been able to put it down since

cpoh1

Personally if I was looking for a funboard like you described I wouldnt look beyond Mark McGuire (powersource) up in Sligo/Donegal. The guy churns out hundreds of top class small wave fun boards. Either Mark or Alan O'Riordan in Kerry for this type of board, everyone else a notch below what these guys are building from my experience.

His facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/McGuire.Surfboards.Ireland?fref=ts

rodento

Sorry here's glides facepuke page

http://m.facebook.com/profile.php?v=timeline&filter=1&id=201021076577094&refid=17

tigerballs

Im going to get one of these for the summer down under
http://www.mulletboards.com/boards/
probably under 200 euro
Four foot eight inches and a soft board, still easy to catch waves on.
I have a 5,8 albacore and its awesome fun, but so hard to surf well. keeps me coming back to master it.

rodento

Looks fun but you'll be buggered trying to replace a fin if you take her home

rodento

Looks like Pavel will be shaping boards in cork for a week, if your interested contact glide

VNP

Guys I know quite tall prob up on 80kgs surf 7'0 foot blue foamy boards and rips on them, they get a high wave count, don't get damaged as easily as hard board, bit harder to duck dive maybe but look fun on loads of conditions, probably not the greatest rail shape or rocker for vertical turns but an option for fun and half as many more waves on a fatter wave as a short board. 2nd hand might be half the price of a glassed board.