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Budget Beginner Surf Board


MustGoFast

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I've never surf'd behind a boat (did a bit of ocean stuff a couple of times) and was thinking about giving it a try this summer given the new boat (didn't buy it to surf but figure I should try it).

Looking for a recommendation for a beginner board for someone 5'10 190lbs to try it out without spending too much $$.  Quick searches led me to the Hyperlite Broadcast or Liquid Force Rocket - wondering if there's a better/cheaper option out there.

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cwb tsunami is a TMC favorite.  Personally I'd just scan your local craigslist or facebook marketplace for something used.  I saw an inland surfer blue lake local to me for like $50 last week.

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16 hours ago, shawndoggy said:

cwb tsunami is a TMC favorite.  Personally I'd just scan your local craigslist or facebook marketplace for something used.  I saw an inland surfer blue lake local to me for like $50 last week.

Been trying that, but haven't seen anything in the last couple months as I don't really want to spend 300-400 plus to try something I don't see myself doing much of.

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1 minute ago, MustGoFast said:

Been trying that, but haven't seen anything in the last couple months as I don't really want to spend 300-400 plus to try something I don't see myself doing much of.

It's sort of a self fulfilling prophecy if you get a cheap/garbage/slow/heavy board.  It won't be fun, so you won't do it.  Surfing on a "good" board is (or at least can be) totally fun.  

as compared to a broadcast, if you are going to buy new, buy this right now before it's gone: http://wakestore.victoriaskimboards.com/product/017-agent-51-1/

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28 minutes ago, shawndoggy said:

It's sort of a self fulfilling prophecy if you get a cheap/garbage/slow/heavy board.  It won't be fun, so you won't do it.  Surfing on a "good" board is (or at least can be) totally fun.  

as compared to a broadcast, if you are going to buy new, buy this right now before it's gone: http://wakestore.victoriaskimboards.com/product/017-agent-51-1/

Thought skim boats are for people who can surf already though?

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2 hours ago, MustGoFast said:

Thought skim boats are for people who can surf already though?

Maybe @wakemitch can chime in, but it's my understanding that the agent is a slightly detuned factor.  

I'm assuming that the "you aren't sure if you're even going to surf" sentiment comes from the fact that you are a good / competent wakeboarder?  Maybe that's a bad assumption on my part.  But assuming it is true that you can wakeboard OK/Well already, you are going to outgrow or get super bored with a broadcast or other "dead" riding beginner board real soon.  IMHO/YMMV/etc etc.

We've taught plenty of beginners to ride on a skim.  Shoot, the phase 5 grom (kids board) is nothing if not a pure skim.  

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1 hour ago, shawndoggy said:

Maybe @wakemitch can chime in, but it's my understanding that the agent is a slightly detuned factor.  

I'm assuming that the "you aren't sure if you're even going to surf" sentiment comes from the fact that you are a good / competent wakeboarder?  Maybe that's a bad assumption on my part.  But assuming it is true that you can wakeboard OK/Well already, you are going to outgrow or get super bored with a broadcast or other "dead" riding beginner board real soon.  IMHO/YMMV/etc etc.

We've taught plenty of beginners to ride on a skim.  Shoot, the phase 5 grom (kids board) is nothing if not a pure skim.  

Still a very novice wakeboarder (only tried it a couple of times but loved it)... looking to get a lot better and planning to do a lot of that and some skiing when the temps warm up... Not sure why the thought of surfing just doesn't have a huge draw, but maybe I'll love it - who knows...  I just want to ensure I don't give myself to high of a learning curve (can't get up isn't much fun) or waste money...

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1 hour ago, MustGoFast said:

Still a very novice wakeboarder (only tried it a couple of times but loved it)... looking to get a lot better and planning to do a lot of that and some skiing when the temps warm up... Not sure why the thought of surfing just doesn't have a huge draw, but maybe I'll love it - who knows...  I just want to ensure I don't give myself to high of a learning curve (can't get up isn't much fun) or waste money...

on the continuum of things people can get good at, I think it's way easier to get good/competent at surfing than wakeboarding.  And if you are good enough to get good at wakeboarding, surfing is a snap.

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On 4/28/2018 at 9:09 PM, Cole2001 said:

For staying in the wave yes but anything else, meh...

You run it as a twin with the 3.5 ‘s in the forward quad slots, no nub fins in rears , my old 4’8’ rips, 360’s, backside , toeside grinds and slashes both sides(dont make 4’8” anymore), 4’5” in a 2015 model would be a good substitute  

Surfed a purple color more recent year 4’10” with a lower profile rear of Board  snd it was a dog even as a twin , i had to surf it with a huge uncomfortable stance 

only problem is it’s a fragile board in the 15 model year

the broadcast is much more durable, but so much more limited but super easy to learn how to get up especially about flipping the board with other newbies you teach yourself while learning , gives you a hybrid of surf and skim , happy pill all surf

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6 minutes ago, granddaddy55 said:

You run it as a twin with the 3.5 ‘s in the forward quad slots, no nub fins in rears , my old 4’8’ rips, 360’s, backside , toeside grinds and slashes both sides(dont make 4’8” anymore), 4’5” in a 2015 model would be a good substitute  

Surfed a purple color more recent year 4’10” with a lower profile rear of Board  snd it was a dog even as a twin , i had to surf it with a huge uncomfortable stance 

only problem is it’s a fragile board in the 15 model year

the broadcast is much more durable, but so much more limited but super easy to learn how to get up especially about flipping the board with other newbies you teach yourself while learning , gives you a hybrid of surf and skim , happy pill all surf

Yeah I didn’t play around with the fins and this was probably a 16. 

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those both look like hella boring "watch me drink a beer while I surf" boards, but you seem more focused on the bottom line price than anything else, so it seems like you've found a couple of winners.

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18 hours ago, shawndoggy said:

those both look like hella boring "watch me drink a beer while I surf" boards

How do you determine that?  Honestly they all look the same to me at this point hence why I'm asking the question - what is the visual queue in the board that helps you see it as having a different ability?  When I looked at those vs. the victoria you poitned out I was like looks about the same, these are cheaper and have cooler graphics... would like to improve that thought process.

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Those are definitely not high end boards but they also aren’t total beginner boards. I’m not too familiar with either but have an idea. Being that they’re in the middle, they will allow you to grow your skills and see what you like. 

 

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The CWB Ride is a pretty good budget board.  It's still the favorite board of several of our crew and we have 3 other boards from a Hyperlight Shim 2015 (quick!) to a Ronix Koal Fish (for the big guy).

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Victoria has several of their boards half off, like 300 right now.  Not exactly beginner but no one struggles to ride them either & it's quickly become a fan favorite this year

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  • 1 month later...
On 5/4/2018 at 7:36 AM, MustGoFast said:

How do you determine that?  Honestly they all look the same to me at this point hence why I'm asking the question - what is the visual queue in the board that helps you see it as having a different ability?  When I looked at those vs. the victoria you poitned out I was like looks about the same, these are cheaper and have cooler graphics... would like to improve that thought process.

You're not going to be able to look at a board online and understand it's characteristics, and how they translate to the water.   An experienced surfer can look at a board in person and give you a good idea of what it will ride like, but it's still not going to be 100% accurate by any means. 

@shawndoggy was spot on with his original reply: The CWB Tsunami is (in my opinion) the absolute best "1st board" out there.  Here's why: It's stable enough for beginners, but is maneuverable enough that it can be ridden until you're an advanced surfer (I'm still on one after 15 years).  It fits a wide range of riders, size wise (120#-220#).  It's compression molded, so it's crazy durable. It fits in a wakeboard rack.   It's relatively cheap.  

And here's the other thing: Those other "beginner boards"......you are going to have absolutely no use for after a couple months. They're one-dimensional and their size makes for a really clumsy ride once you progress.  Basically, after you learn to catch the wave.........you're going to be over it.  The Tsunami isn't like that at all.  Even the people I know that wanted to "progress" to a more advanced board......still kept the Tsunami on their boat because it is so versatile.   Like I said, I'm on my second Tsunami after 15 years.....and I'm still sharing it with half the usual crew, who range from 120#.......all the way up to me at 205#.  My first Tsunami lasted 13.5 seasons and the only thing that was wrong with it is that it lost its rigidity (which a beginner/intermediate rider probably isn't even going to notice).

Anyway.......good luck with your search.

 

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17 hours ago, -BS- said:

You're not going to be able to look at a board online and understand it's characteristics, and how they translate to the water.   An experienced surfer can look at a board in person and give you a good idea of what it will ride like, but it's still not going to be 100% accurate by any means. 

@shawndoggy was spot on with his original reply: The CWB Tsunami is (in my opinion) the absolute best "1st board" out there.  Here's why: It's stable enough for beginners, but is maneuverable enough that it can be ridden until you're an advanced surfer (I'm still on one after 15 years).  It fits a wide range of riders, size wise (120#-220#).  It's compression molded, so it's crazy durable. It fits in a wakeboard rack.   It's relatively cheap.  

And here's the other thing: Those other "beginner boards"......you are going to have absolutely no use for after a couple months. They're one-dimensional and their size makes for a really clumsy ride once you progress.  Basically, after you learn to catch the wave.........you're going to be over it.  The Tsunami isn't like that at all.  Even the people I know that wanted to "progress" to a more advanced board......still kept the Tsunami on their boat because it is so versatile.   Like I said, I'm on my second Tsunami after 15 years.....and I'm still sharing it with half the usual crew, who range from 120#.......all the way up to me at 205#.  My first Tsunami lasted 13.5 seasons and the only thing that was wrong with it is that it lost its rigidity (which a beginner/intermediate rider probably isn't even going to notice).

Anyway.......good luck with your search.

 

Thanks!  That was a great reply really helped me understand a topic I know 0 about 

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18 hours ago, -BS- said:

You're not going to be able to look at a board online and understand it's characteristics, and how they translate to the water.   An experienced surfer can look at a board in person and give you a good idea of what it will ride like, but it's still not going to be 100% accurate by any means. 

@shawndoggy was spot on with his original reply: The CWB Tsunami is (in my opinion) the absolute best "1st board" out there.  Here's why: It's stable enough for beginners, but is maneuverable enough that it can be ridden until you're an advanced surfer (I'm still on one after 15 years).  It fits a wide range of riders, size wise (120#-220#).  It's compression molded, so it's crazy durable. It fits in a wakeboard rack.   It's relatively cheap.  

And here's the other thing: Those other "beginner boards"......you are going to have absolutely no use for after a couple months. They're one-dimensional and their size makes for a really clumsy ride once you progress.  Basically, after you learn to catch the wave.........you're going to be over it.  The Tsunami isn't like that at all.  Even the people I know that wanted to "progress" to a more advanced board......still kept the Tsunami on their boat because it is so versatile.   Like I said, I'm on my second Tsunami after 15 years.....and I'm still sharing it with half the usual crew, who range from 120#.......all the way up to me at 205#.  My first Tsunami lasted 13.5 seasons and the only thing that was wrong with it is that it lost its rigidity (which a beginner/intermediate rider probably isn't even going to notice).

Anyway.......good luck with your search.

 

We are beginner surfers and have this Hyperlite board. http://www.boardstop.com/product_info.php?products_id=6492

Would you say getting a CWB Tsunami would overlap this board too much? Our crew is all about the same place where we can surf ropeless for a bit but need help getting back into the sweet spot of the wave every so often.

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On 6/7/2018 at 11:20 AM, jaciche said:

We are beginner surfers and have this Hyperlite board. http://www.boardstop.com/product_info.php?products_id=6492

Would you say getting a CWB Tsunami would overlap this board too much? Our crew is all about the same place where we can surf ropeless for a bit but need help getting back into the sweet spot of the wave every so often.

Full disclosure: I've never ridden the Hazard, but I did take a long look at the older style Hazards a few years back (I was considering getting one) so I'm familiar...

That said, the deck itself is really similar to the Tsunami.   Based on the board alone: Yeah, you're exactly right; there is going to be a decent amount of overlap.

The new finpack that these are coming with though......that's going to create some fairly major differences based on how you've got it setup.   If you set it up as a twin, with the 2 small fins.......that's going to be as close to the Tsunami as you can make it.

This board has less, and earlier rocker than the Tsunami......which means its going to be a bit more "slippery"....a bit faster.....and not going to allow quite as nice of bottom turns as the Tsunami. (and it also means less of a weight range)

Side note; If you're having trouble staying in the wave (or sweet spot of the wave), experiment with your fin setup.  A single fin setup is going to be the fastest.  Those large fins (especially in the Twin configuration) are going to be really slow, especially on a compression molded board....  If I wanted more speed out of it, I would try the single small fin......if that is too unstable.....try the single large fin.

I'd definitely advise to either keep your eyes open for a used Tsunami OR try to demo one from a friend or local shop if that's an option.  They are just too versatile and inexpensive not to have one on your boat (unless you've been surfing long enough to know exactly what you want)

 

..anyway...don't know if any of that rambling helps..... :lol:

 

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