howzit brad
unfortunately for you your questions are probably going to get answered in a variety of confusing ways !

There is literally tons of info on this site, but I reckon you gotta drill thru it and try to figure out what could work for you. try some different boards if you can get hold of some.
You want a medium length board maybe 5'10" or so, 22.5 wide and nice thin rails. fins fairly far up the board , fcs or whatever so you can experiment with differnt fin combos...
i reckon only once youve "fooled around" on a variety of boards if possible should you start to try and focus in on what would be the best board for your style, then its a gradual progressive evolution to improve both your ability and your board...that could take a lifetime
