What surfboard should I move down to?

Question

I am 5'2 and weigh 112 pounds. I have been surfing the Seal Beach/ Huntington Beach area for 3 years now. My board is 7'4" x 21 3/8 x 2 3/4. This is the only I have surfed with, and I want to move down to a shortboard around a 5'6. What size board should I go down to? I was thinking a 6'0, but I'm not sure... What do you suggest?

Answer 1

I can't claim to be real familiar with your local breaks, but, at your size, if you're up to it skill-wise, why not go for a 5'6". Changing in increments of less than 6" is usually pretty irrelevant. Do you have the $$$ to buy a 6' board this summer, then move to your ideal 5'6" board next year?

I started surfing on a 9'6" in '66, and like everybody else, I went progressively smaller every summer during the 'shortboard revolution'. I ended up with a 6'4" twin fin that I rode for over twenty years. (of course, by '70, lots of my fiends were riding 5'2" boards!). Bottom line, if the 6'4" had been 'cool' in '67, I would have ended up on it, instead of my 8'6" plastic fantastic V-bottom. (which was followed by my 7'6" Rick round tail).

Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Go to a local surf shop, where the guys who work there surf the local breaks, and get yourself a nice 5'6"!