Selecting Your First Surfboard

You’ll always remember your first board, so choose well with help from our quick-start guide.

BY ROBBIE NELSON

Surfers will tell you that your first board is special—and the first waves you ride on it will stick with you forever. But the dizzying array of surfboard options can feel overwhelming to beginners. New or used? Softboard or fiberglass? Mass produced or handcrafted? This basic board guide can help you tame the confusion.

Coaching To Catch Waves

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Softboards

Consider starting off with a soft surfboard from a category often referred to as foamies or soft tops. Softboards are not only light but also generously wider and thicker than other boards, making them more stable so it’s easier to catch waves. As a result, they’re relatively safer as well.

The downside? Softboards have a limited threshold for performance and typically last only a few seasons because they inevitably get waterlogged.

Fiberglass Surfboards

This category breaks into two major subsets: Pop-outs are surfboards that are mass-produced by manufacturers in Asia, typically Thailand or China. American surfboard manufacturers coined “pop-out” as a derogatory term because many of these boards were made of inferior materials in factories by people who never surfed. This remains partially true today. Yet pop-outs are popular with entry-level surfers because of their relatively lower price tags, while many surf shops appreciate their economical wholesale costs. Surf shops also know that these boards provide a great introduction to higher-performing fiberglass models.

Hand-shaped surfboards have been made for centuries by expert craftsmen known today as shapers. Using specialized, often handmade tools, these skilled masters create a perfectly crafted surfboard from a thick block of foam. Each board is like a piece of functional art created for the rider for a more personalized experience.

Composite Soft Tops

In the world of soft surfboards, composite soft tops are often favorites. They look and perform like hard, light, fiberglass surfboards, which is essentially what they are. That makes transitioning to a regular fiberglass board much easier. What sets composites apart is that they have neophyte-friendly soft rubber decks and rails. They’re also tougher than other surfboards.

Unfortunately, processes for building (and shipping) composites can make them expensive. What’s more, leaving them in direct sunlight or a hot car can cause the materials to delaminate—and they’re difficult and expensive to fix.

Local Shapers

New Jersey is home to many local shapers who know how to build a surfboard for a particular surfer’s height, weight, skill level and experience. Shapers also craft boards that work well for New Jersey’s unique surf conditions. Exceptional shapers have mastered every step of the building process such as shaping, glassing and sanding, and can personalize your board with custom art and colorwork using techniques like air brushing and colored resin.

One such shaper is Brian Wynn, who has been in business since 1994 and has hand-shaped tens of thousands of surfboards under his Wynn Surfboards label (www.wynnsurfboards.com). Before opening his own shop, Brian worked for several larger manufacturers such as Rusty Surfboards and Sharp Eye Surfboards in San Diego. He also honed his skills as a glasser, sander and color specialist at the internationally famous Moonlight Glassing.

Knowing a few basics about surfboards gives you talking points for the best way to learn more: Walk into a local shop and chat with a shaper or surfer. Start by asking about their first board.

Robbie Nelson has been a surfer for 45 years and a surf instructor for over 30 years. He is lead coach at Pro Surf Coaches and founder of the Adaptive Surfing Foundation.