Begginer strapless surf board - North nugget, airush mini monster, firewire evo or suggestions

[knotwindy]

Grab any board between 5’10 & 6’5 and about 19-20 wide that is cheap and ride it till it breaks. Repeat as necessary. At some point you will find a style and board you really like. Then buy a nice one.

[BigZ]

I think a very wide board like the Nugget will make it much harder to waterstart and carve.
After 3 sessions when you can stand on the board, width won't really matter.
I say buy a $100 used surfboard and ride it til it breaks (maybe a season, maybe less). By then you will now what kind of board you want. Cheers!

[greatlakeaddiction]

I think a very wide board like the Nugget will make it much harder to waterstart and carve.
After 3 sessions when you can stand on the board, width won't really matter.
I say buy a $100 used surfboard and ride it til it breaks (maybe a season, maybe less). By then you will now what kind of board you want. Cheers!

The stability of wider boards is nice when learning to gybe though, I agree that carves can be more difficult. I still ride my old beat to hell, slingshot dialer just have better set of fins on it. Super stabile as I'm always trying new things with it. Wider boards can get a little hairy in rough water, so you have to control board speed.

[tomato]

I am at similar situation- thinking to learn strapless next coming summer. I am 80kg, we do not have big wave, just from wind and storms, some chop normally. Surfing is not popular in area and therefore no cheap old surfboards available for 100 euros.

So far I have been looking at North Nugget, GA Solar and Flash, Brunotti S-Brymm and S-Bryck. IN descriptions those boards are marked as good beginner boards.

Regarding Nugget- should I get bigger or smaller one? Also TT vs classic construction?

Any advices from more experienced guys?

[Rob_85]

Because there’s no real surf where I am, most of the boards on sale are long boards (6.5m+ and SUP).

I’ve been doing more research and the Shinn Shinnster looks like a good option to get into strapless riding. Easy plane, good lighwind, good in chop (lots of chop at my local sites). Think it will be a bit more hard wearing than a traditional surfboard also, also good whilst learning! Not seen a bad review of it.

Rob

[Onda]

Don´t get the Shinnster. I´ve had the Paipo from BRM (nearly identical board). It is very special to ride and more for the experienced wave rider. Due to the missing board volume and the small fins it feels very slippery (hardly any traction from fins) and it doesn´t carry you during a tack / gybe (missing buoyancy). During carves you have to really edge this board, like a normal twintip. Totally different to a "classic" (kite)surfboard.
My recommendations are older Cabrinha Phenom or Skillit (2014/2015 models, cheap!) or a Firewire Evo (expensive, but excellent also for later progression, very versatile in different conditions). I´ve ridden them all. They are all very robust, so no real chance to ruin them - longtime joy
I´ve ridden the 5'10" Skillit back to back with the Paipo and there´s hardly a difference in light wind performance. The Skillit is very easy to ride / gybe in every aspect.

[Matteo V]

Regarding Nugget- should I get bigger or smaller one? Also TT vs classic construction?

More surface area, more width, harder rails (not likely to change inside of a single model offering) are better to start out with as they help you get upwind better. If you go small, you will likely feel lied to about the "surfboards are great for light wind" ideology that some of us have the experience to caution against.

Once you get good and start to attack waves with a bit of confidence, a smaller but still properly sized for your weight surfboard will likely be more fun. That said, your conditions dictate the choice even more than your skill.

[Rob_85]

Thanks for the advice guys!

I’ve done a 360 and am probably back at the mini monster or maybe a FireWire evo. Mini monster probably wins as has the option to put a foil an at a later date if I want.

[Slappysan]

I’ve been doing more research and the Shinn Shinnster looks like a good option to get into strapless riding. Easy plane, good lighwind, good in chop (lots of chop at my local sites). Think it will be a bit more hard wearing than a traditional surfboard also, also good whilst learning! Not seen a bad review of it.

This is the way to go Rob, if you want to have fun on a strapless board that you don't have to baby the Shinnster is the ticket. The Shinnster is super smooth and very forgiving and while it's not the easiest board in the world to learn jibes on it's not hard to learn them on either. Another big plus of the Shinnster is it rides fantastic backwards if you wax the nose, this is both fun really helpful if you are learning and need to change directions in a hurry but don't want to risk falling on a jibe/tack (close out wave, another kiter, etc). The Shinnster eats chop very well and does not ding. The Launch Pad is a great pad but a bit expensive I've had to glue mine a few times as it peels very easy.

The only area Shinnster suffers is:
- bottom turns are loose as hell, which is fun on small waves but not good on real waves
- strapless airs don't work well at all, the board is just too heavy

Don´t get the Shinnster. I´ve had the Paipo from BRM (nearly identical board). It is very special to ride and more for the experienced wave rider.

No offense but this is bad advice.

First the Shinnster and the BRM Paipo share the same shape but totally different flex patterns. The Shinnster has waaaaay more flex and does ride a bit differently.

Second the Shinnster is a beginner strapless dream board. It's just fun and easy. I lent a buddy mine to learn strapless on 2 months after I taught him to kite and he bought his own a week later.

The only board that might be better than the Shinnster is something like:

https://www.amazon.com/Wave-Bandit-Perf ... ndit&psc=1

While I haven't actually tried the Performer 5-6, I ride the Performer 4-10 pretty much all the time. I'm only 75 kg though. Another option would be the Odysea Stump 5-0 or RNF 5-5 but the Catch! Surf boards use triple stringers and are a bit heavier than the Wave Bandit ones. A big plus to the Stump 5-0, Skipper 5-6, and RNF 5-5 is that you can prone surf them too, the Performer 4-10 is only proneable for smaller people or super elite surfers like Ben Gravy.

What I love about my Performer 4-10 is that it only weighs 6 lbs and surfs like a champ. Strapless airs in 12 knots. All that for $150.

https://youtu.be/dY-22c2zwSk?t=40

[Rob_85]

Thanks Slappysan.

They are good suggestions, but in the UK the Odysea boards are nearly £300 (over $400)! Can’t seem to find the wave bandit.

Ignoring price, do you think they’re better to start on than mini monster, nugget, ....other surf boards others have suggested.... etc.?