Types of Surfboards

This is my first summer to have a wakeboat and my first summer to learn anything about surfing ...

I thought there were essentially 2 types of boards; a surf (long) board, and skim style boards. However, after looking at some pictures (ScottnAZ) for example and a few others i cant remember, i see more "serious" boards. Boards with fins that could take someones head off. Is this a different style board, it looks like to me it basically be a "signature" series or something the pro's use. So in summary ...

What types of boards are available to us newbies? What do you recommend having on the boat? Fun for all, Fun for people progressing, Serious performing board?

I've got basically the same questions as KG for you experts here. I went to Inland Surfer's site. I entered my data as a beginner and it spit out these boards: Squirt, Red Woody and Blue Lake. Tons of other board manufacturers and choices... it's kind of mind boggling.

I'd like to try the Squirt since it's sold as a "price point" board @ $360

Well.... Considering I think I have 6 or 7 boards in my garage right now, I should know a LOT more. I don't. Surfboard shape/design/fin configuration seems to be a little bit of voodoo. I'm big and I've looked at boards that I thought I wouldn't have a chance at riding and I've been able to ride them better than larger boards that won't push me at all. There seems to be a lot of different manufacturers and a lot of different opinions about the "best" board out there. I'm not sure there's a best.... but here are some general observations that i'm going to make up (so take them with a grain of salt.)

Wake-style boards -- These generally are larger and have one or two wakeboard fins on them. They're thick and usually heavy (but durable.) Not sure what they're made out of but they don't feel like surf-boards -- they feel like big, surf shaped wakeboards. Good for beginners. I think every boat should have one so that first-timers can feel the thrill of wakesurfing.

Skim style boards -- Smaller and thinner, either small surf fins or wakeboard (bolt-through) style fins. Usually with a center fin but sometimes with twin fins. Easy to break loose and spin... Has less push and won't cut as hard as a true surf-style board. More forgiving and will track fairly straight. Hand laid fiberglass with a foam-core. The weight of the foam seems to have a huge effect on how they ride.

Surf style boards -- Usually similar length to a skim board but with more aggressive rails and shape. In my experience, thicker than a skim style board and rides higher on the wake. The more advanced types of these boards won't track in a straight line and require you to be constantly on edge or pumping. The larger fins are typically toed and angled in to get you more push through the water and help you build power into airs and more aggressive tricks.

Curious to see what others think.

The IS Squirt seems to be an all around board. Mess with IS's sizing chart and check diff ability levels, etc... the Squirt just about always pops up as a board option regardless. I've never tried one but would love to.

My one and only board is the LF Venture. It is a great board for beginners and will always be on the boat for that reason (agree with Wotan).

I am ready to purchase a skim style board b/c I want to do some 3's. I can't really do this on my board. A friend just bought a IS 4-skim black pearl "yellow" and I pulled off a 3 my second time up on it.

I'm prob lookin to by a phase5 just b/c my buddy has an IS and it would be something diff for us to try.

I've got an IS black pearl and a phase 5 oogle. I haven't ridden the pearl yet but I can't say enough good things about the oogle. If I was going to recommend one board that I own to someone looking for a versatile board -- that would be it. I think it's a hair too small to learn on (I think a first timer would get frustrated) but it's a very well riding board for anyone else.

I'm no expert, but the ones you are referring to are generally hand-shaped boards made by wakesurf-only companies. They are generally $5-700. The cheaper boards are compression-molded like any wakeboard. Typically only hand-shaped boards have the bigger fins you are looking at. There are dual-fin and quad-fin models. The fins are not in the middle of the board like a wakeboard, they are along the rails to generate speed and keep the board going straight.

Boards with bigger fins are generally surf-style models designed for getting air, but since they are shorter than a true longboard, they are still turn 360's. They don't spin like a top like skim boards will (some people can do 1080 spins).

Check out any thread on wakeworld about Walker boards or rider Jamer Walker (no relation) he gets mad air and his wave is INSANITY biggest i have seen. Surfdad is his dad I think and he posts like crazy. Also ragboy is the Wake9.com guy and his crew is awesome to watch. Check this thread for big meaty Tige wake and Walker boards getting mad air http://www.wakeworld.com/forum/showthread.php?t=779092

I have an IS black pearl and is a super fast skim board but I can't get air on it yet. It is an epoxy board which is different and generally considered superior to traditional compression molded boards. IS and Phase5 both use this construction.

techsledder i would comment that those IS boards are all pretty different. The Squirt is a slightly larger skim board, at 5.0' it has very little rocker and small fins. Should be fast and loose. Looks like it may have bigger fins that would make it more of a surf style board.

The red woody is a true longboard, for big guys, true beginners or for (obviously) longboard tricks. No agressive carving, no 3's, no airs. Basically it is locked in pretty straight and it stays in the pocket very well. Longboard tricks are pretty fun though, like the fire hydrant (front hand on board, rear leg lifted like a dog peeing on a....), sitting or laying on the board, etc.

The blue lake is more surf-style (big turns and airs) than a longboard but it's still pretty big for that stuff. A lot of people like this board as their beginner board.

Personally if I were to go the hand shaped route I would for sure look at Walker, Walzer or Shred Stixx.

I've got a couple of walkers, a walzer and I've ridden a shred stixx. The shred stixx was completely different.... I couldn't even ride it. It was a quad fin and wouldn't do anything but dart back and forth. My ability level wasn't NEARLY at the point where it would need to be to ride that thing.

Hmm, starting to think i should have posted during the winter before buying boards.

I bought a CWB Ride which I'll be happy with keeping on the boat as it was a great board to learn on and nice to get out there and cruise. My thought is that this would fall in between surfstyle and longboard? Not a an agressive surf style by any means i wouldnt think.

I also bought a Hyperlite Swell as I had heard great things about it. This def seems to be more of a skim style board. It is very loose but its fun to ride and there are 4 fins (3 in back, 1 up front) that can be removed.

I may be looking for a surf style board by the end of the summer. Sure dont want to spend a ton of money on one, though.

There seem to be a few boards that are compression molded but get rave reviews. One is the CWB ride, the Hyp Swell seems to be another. We have been pretty happy with the short Hyp Broadcast as a big guy/beginner board but the Asylum Mojo Grande we have comine should support up to 220lbs so should be more fun for them.

I have the oogle phase 5 and I really like it,, I agree maybe not the best beginer board but a good all around board,,

its good to have a bigger more rider friendly board on the boat like others have said so everyone can play,,


but I agree there are so many options and differnet opinions,,,, keep in mind each board will ride different behind differnet boats and wake sizes so i think thats why opinions vary so much.

Yeah that Oogle is prolly better than the short Broadcast. I will look into that this summer thanks.

Yeah my deal is that with the Squirt it was cheaper and from what I've read so far, Inland Surfer is a good company. I really don't want to spend $500-$600 on a hand made surf board being a beginner. So as far as I can tell Walker's are out. I can't justify their $$ right now. I still have to get some ballast system rigged too for the ol' SS. Everyone else in the family that'll be using the board is heavyer than I (bros 200lbs+), except for the wifey and sister-in-laws, they're all smaller. Will a bigger board, 5.0+ length, for the guys be hard to ride for the ladies in the group? What's the comfortable range on these things?

On the Squirt the description says: "The Squirt comes with two Delta 6.0cm Speed Line 4Skim fins". WTF does that mean? Is the longer the fin better/more stable thus better for the beginner?

The small fins are fine with the squirt, and that actually looks to be a good board out this year. Similar to the broadcast and other entry level boards, but at a better price, and you can't go wrong with anything made by Inland.

There is no need to look at Walker/Shred/etc hand made boards until your riding progresses. By then, you will also have a better feel for what you want out of a board. I can tell you, these Walker boards are very delicate and heel dents happen the first time you ride them. I think the life span of these boards is only a couple seasons, depending on how hard you ride them and treat them. It was very hard to drop the $$$ on a board I knew I'd want to replace after a couple seasons. But, no regrets.

Having just skimmed this thread, and not really formulated my thoughts, here's what I believe to be some basics with boards/fins. The production models are flatter (less rocker), and have a hard/sharp rail to them, and that is essentially what holds the board on track and gives it forward drive. So the small fins are a good fit because they just help with some of the tracking of the board, there would be no real need for larger fins. The hand shaped custom boards have more rocker and a softer rail, and therefore have essentially no tracking in the pocket. For tracking they need the large fins. The larger fins actually create more drag on the board, but give the board more stability and speed for airs. Here's a quote I read on wakeoutlaws a while ago from surfdad,

Quote:

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A common misconception about surf style fins in wakesurfing is that the depth of the fins somehow provides more drive. That isn't the case - visualize for a moment two really stiff yard sticks attached to the bottom of the board - they offer stability - making it harder to roll rail to rail but there is nothing to push against and so the increased area only adds drag slowing the board down - NOT increasing drive. They also stiffen the tail up, making it harder to slide the tail (which is basically the failure of the fin to hold).

Typically, for surf style fins, that are used behind the boat, that do have more depth - say 4.5" deep they also have a longer base. It's the length of the base that increases drive not the depth of the fin. The added length provides a lateral surface to push against without a significant increase in drag, which is associated with more depth. If you've got a bench grinder, try cutting down a 4.5" fin to 3.5" depth. Same drive, but it reaches failure much easier so it allows the tail to slide.

Factors that increase drive are less rake, less toe, less cant and more base length. There are also trade-offs. Changes in these attributes negatively impact the way a board turns.

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I didn't mean to deter anyone from picking up a custom board, or imply you have to be a great rider to own one, hopefully no one took it that way.

The custom boards are a lot more work to ride, and even more difficult to learn the basics on. The first dozen or so times I rode my Walker custom, it was a different feel. I couldn't just stand there and surf, I had to constantly be pumping and moving the board to ride the wave. There was also less tolerance for recovery from the back of the wave. On my other boards, if I got too far back on the wave I could hang on and adjust my weight and do a little pumping and get back in the groove. The Walker board responds a little differently, and until I was able to figure out what this board wanted me to do, I'd just fall out if too far back. There was no gray area to the back of the wave, one second I was riding it, the next I was swimming. With that said, once you start to get comfortable on the board and learn what it takes to get it to respond, it's a thrilling board to ride. Very fast and responsive, and I'm still learning how to ride it.

The Walker Project does make another great line of boards called the Composite X line.

Quote:

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A true hybrid concept in wakesurfing. The Composite X Series offers the drive and speed of a surfboard and the thinner more responsive characteristics of a skim model.

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There were a couple for sale on wakeworld recently:
http://www.wakeworld.com/forum/showthread.php?t=778973
http://www.wakeworld.com/classifield...g.php?view=455

Great post Scott. I have an ocean surfboard at home that is hand shaped and although it's not shaped for wake, it still rides much different then my other boards.

Tech, like Scott said, there is not any bad Inland Surfer board. They are one of the oldest companies who have been refining and releasing improved shapes for years. Their epoxy boards are very durable and fit in a standard board rack (except the blue and red boards). They are a little bit flat on rocker, which (at least for my board) means that dunking the nose is a little bit easy.

You might want to consider that 90% of wakesurfers are for riders 180lbs and under. A quick search for the Squirt says 'riders up to 200lbs'. Your board is 5.0'. My inland surfer black pearl four skim is 4'5". I have friends about 180 that can ride it, but it's not easy. So for you it should be better, but still I would recommend a dedicated big-guy board for anyone above 180lbs.

I recently bought the Asylumboardz.com Mojo Grande rated for up to 240lbs rider! Also got their SkimSkate - the rocker design is patented and they claim the board does not nose dive - their videos show riders sinking the nose and pretty easy recovery.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mQ2Q...yer_embedded#!

Price tag of $ $240 is pretty nice as well!

I just got an email from Larry the creator and he told me they have made several improvements to their first epoxy boards and they are a pound lighter now at 5lbs (before traction though I THINK). He said because they are a small company and times are tough he has had to delay final production while he focuses on the Fresh Air Exhaust. He said he expects to get going on the final production in the next month. I hope so because the time is ripe to get new boards!