Buying your first surfboard is something that you will remember for the rest of your life, hopefully for the right reasons! If you have never been surfing before but would like to give it a go, I would recommend that you try hiring a board for a few days or even better take a course through a BSA (British Surfing Association) accredited surf school.
This way you will not only get some good tuition and public liability insurance, you will get your wetsuit and surfboard thrown into the deal to.
So you have had some lessons, or borrowed a friend's board and you have decided that surfing is 100% for you. Great stuff let your new life begin!
Best surfboard for beginners...
You may have noticed the surfers out in the water ripping it up on tiny pencil thin thrusters (surfboard with 3 fins) and thought 'wow that looks cool' Well it does look cool I suppose, but if you think that you can buy a high performance board and rip straight away; you are in for a humbling experience!
In order to aid your progression and have fun out in the water, the average sized beginner should be looking at a board around 6ft8" with a wide deck and very little rocker. A minimal is perfect for the average beginner, but if you want to look a little cooler then you can get loads of thrusters in this size range.
A larger board will help you in a variety of ways, the main one being the ability to catch waves. If you're not catching waves then you're not really surfing! A fat board has more buoyancy and will 'float' you better in the water. This in turn aids your paddling and makes waves much easier to catch. There is nothing worse than sitting in the water on your lovely 6Ft 1" pin not catching waves. You will stand out to other surfers as a kook, and you definitely won't have much fun!
So we have determined that you will be requiring a rather hefty board to begin with. There is no shame in this, we all have to start somewhere, plus other surfers will respect you for acknowledging your place in the line-up and paying your dues.
You may have noticed at the beach or in the surf shop that not all surfboards look the same. There are various construction methods employed to make surfboards. We have Custom Boards, Foamies and Popouts. As a beginner each has plus and minus points outlined below.
Custom Board.
Custom boards (as the name implies) are usually made to order by a shaper and specifically built to your requirements. The materials used are polyurethane or polystyrene foam, covered with layers of fibreglass cloth and polyester or epoxy resin. This results in a surfboard that is very strong yet super light and manoeuvrable.
It is possible to pick up a custom board second hand and most surf shops usually have a good selection in the racks. It is possible to pick up some bargains if you know what to look for.
your first surfboardIf you decide to get a custom board, the shaper will have explicit knowledge as to what type of board will be best for you. Expect to pay £$£$ for this, but if you have the cash available there is nothing like seeing your new board come to life, plus you know that your getting a product designed specifically to your exact requirements. The UK has some great shapers, check out the likes of Ocean Magic, Gulf Stream, JP, Fluid Juice, tunnel vision etc...
If buying second hand look out for troublesome qualities such as 'yellowing', this usually occurs when the board has been 'dinged' water has breached the fibreglass skin and discoloured the foam resulting in an area that differs in colour from the rest of the board. It is best to avoid this if possible and it usually causes de-lamination of the glass from the foam. To check for this, push your thumbs into the area gently, if it feels spongy, walk away!
If you look on the underside of the board you may notice small indentations. These are called pressure dings and are to be expected on almost any second hand custom board. Ordinarily they are nothing to worry about, use your own judgement and ask the seller, if you feel you're being fed a line; hot foot it outta there!
Check around any stickers or deck grip that has been added, sometimes this is done to cover up shark bites, jaunts of cliffs and hefty impacts!
Also check the fins, if the fins are non removable i.e. non FCS check for cracking around the base where the fin meets the board. If you see evidence of cracking, avoid like the plague as fin replacement is a costly business. Also check around the leash plug for evidence of cracking, as with the fins, avoid damaged leash plugs.
Your best bet when buying second hand is to go to a custom shaper rather than a retailer, many surfers part exchange their old boards with the shaper when getting a new custom build. The shaper ideally would like you to purchase a new board one day, so there is mores chance he is gonna play nice and hook you up with a decent board from the start.
Foamies
Just like you had at the surf school, A 100ft plank of foam! These are great for learning with and many people have caught their very first green face on one of these monsters. But, in terms of progression there is only so far you can go with one of these beasties before you will be looking at buying a custom board.
You can pick brand new foamies for around £100 on eBay!
Pop outs
A pop out board looks much like a custom board to the untrained eye, but it has a few differences. Pop-outs are mass produced or 'popped out' using a mould that replicates the same shape over and over. Pop outs are extremely hard wearing and durable but this does come at a price. They are extremely heavy and are absolutely solid, if one hits you in the surf, you are going to know about it!
The weight of the pop out makes it difficult to recommend to smaller surfers who may find the board difficult to cope with in all but the smallest of waves. For larger surfers the pop out shouldn't really represent too much of a problem.
Surfboard comes to life in the shaping room As with the foamies, there is only so much you can do with a pop out and you would not be advised to take it out in hefty surf, Duck diving on pop outs can also be problematic to all but the weightiest of surfers. However the average beginner usually does not need to duck dive, but there will come a time when you want to give it a try and you will struggle with a pop out.
The top brands for pop outs are NSP, BIC and South Point. New pop outs cost somewhere in the range of £100-£300 and can be picked up second hand for around £50 - £150. As always shop around and ask questions.
Extras
If you're buying a surfboard it is always a good idea to see how much you can get thrown in free for cash! You will need a leash, deck grip, wax, a board bag etc... no harm in being cheeky and seeing what you can get for nothing, it's almost expected and most suppliers will happily let you have at least a free leash and some wax to get you up and running.
