Hi All,
My name is Darrin from Cape Town, South Africa. I am a newbie to kneeboarding, having spent many years waveskiing and surfing. Unfortunately due to major hip surgery, those are now out of the picture.
I have been offered a board to try out and after trawling through the forum thought I would ask if it is even a kneeboard or just a wide surfboard with pads! Board is made by "Wedge" Shaped by Gary Maisch.
It is a 5.2 x 20 1/16 x 2 1/4 tri-fin with adjustable center fin.
I am vertically challenged with a height in my socks of 5.6 and a weight of 69kgs.
Is this a suitable board to begin on?
Have taken a few pics of it but have no idea on how to upload them.
Ideal Kneeboard size for a newbie
Moderator: Moderator
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Terence H
- Ripper (more than 100 posts)
- Posts: 115
- Joined: Sat Nov 29, 2008 4:03 am
- Location: Durban South Africa
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Darrin are the fins on the Wedge forward or back like a conventional board ?
Wedge have made Kneeboards in the past , have not seen anything lately.
All of the Maisches (Wedge) are vertically challenged so it could be one of theirs
Go to the album pages to upload , choose new boards and follow the prompts.
Most guys are riding longer boards but there is no reason a smaller board could not work for you , in fact i think most boards look too long , but it is a current trend and they might be right.
Regards
Terence
Wedge have made Kneeboards in the past , have not seen anything lately.
All of the Maisches (Wedge) are vertically challenged so it could be one of theirs
Go to the album pages to upload , choose new boards and follow the prompts.
Most guys are riding longer boards but there is no reason a smaller board could not work for you , in fact i think most boards look too long , but it is a current trend and they might be right.
Regards
Terence
Hey Darrin, howzit! Welcome to the brotherhood 
You will probably realise quickly that the answer to your question aint so simple !
Some of the many variables to ponder include where you surf/wave type/your style & ability/etc etc. From the dimensions you gave I would venture to say the following:
Typical average board dimensions 5.10 to 6.0 x 22.5-23.5 x 2.5. Of course there will be a thousand other opinions on this site - watch this space!
But for your size/weight maybe your board will be ok, smaller board ie less volume probably loosely relates into harder to paddle & take-off, easier to duckdive, possibly higher performance in more powerful surf (the flipside of which is less forgiving!)
Of course reading all this stuff will only get you so far
Get into the surf and give it a go. Try and find some other kneelos (yes there are a few around) and scrounge some of their boards.
Posting photos is quite easy, I will PM you with the info,
If you are ever up the west coast way, give me a PM,
cheers
Andy
You will probably realise quickly that the answer to your question aint so simple !
Some of the many variables to ponder include where you surf/wave type/your style & ability/etc etc. From the dimensions you gave I would venture to say the following:Typical average board dimensions 5.10 to 6.0 x 22.5-23.5 x 2.5. Of course there will be a thousand other opinions on this site - watch this space!
But for your size/weight maybe your board will be ok, smaller board ie less volume probably loosely relates into harder to paddle & take-off, easier to duckdive, possibly higher performance in more powerful surf (the flipside of which is less forgiving!)
Of course reading all this stuff will only get you so far
Get into the surf and give it a go. Try and find some other kneelos (yes there are a few around) and scrounge some of their boards.Posting photos is quite easy, I will PM you with the info,
If you are ever up the west coast way, give me a PM,
cheers
Andy
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SA newbie
- Grom (25 or less posts to site)
- Posts: 5
- Joined: Tue Apr 12, 2011 10:57 pm
- Location: Cape Town, South Africa
Hi Guys,
Thanks for the input. Popped into SurfZone to pick their brains as well. It seems that all is good just need to be on the right waves. Surfed Tableview on Saturday and sunday, had some good rides but them also seemed to get my tail stuck and the wave overtook me, thus my concern.
Tableview, Big Bay and Kamers appear to have sweel coming this weekend.
Gonna see how it goes this time.
Cheers
Thanks for the input. Popped into SurfZone to pick their brains as well. It seems that all is good just need to be on the right waves. Surfed Tableview on Saturday and sunday, had some good rides but them also seemed to get my tail stuck and the wave overtook me, thus my concern.
Tableview, Big Bay and Kamers appear to have sweel coming this weekend.
Gonna see how it goes this time.
Cheers
-
Terence H
- Ripper (more than 100 posts)
- Posts: 115
- Joined: Sat Nov 29, 2008 4:03 am
- Location: Durban South Africa
- Contact:
Durban crowds
Bramo if you do not like crowds Durban New Pier with a good swell running is not the place for you
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Terence H
- Ripper (more than 100 posts)
- Posts: 115
- Joined: Sat Nov 29, 2008 4:03 am
- Location: Durban South Africa
- Contact:
Yes Bramo it is really a good wave , but all of the Pros and wannabees are all over it especially when the cameras are out , drop ins all over the place , i tend to surf on the edges and at Wedge , i am not up for the hustle any more.
The pics in the mags tend to hide the crowds somehow.
Going to be really good again tomorrow and the weekend warriors are going to be all over it.
Have a good one.
Regards
Terence
The pics in the mags tend to hide the crowds somehow.
Going to be really good again tomorrow and the weekend warriors are going to be all over it.
Have a good one.
Regards
Terence
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SA newbie
- Grom (25 or less posts to site)
- Posts: 5
- Joined: Tue Apr 12, 2011 10:57 pm
- Location: Cape Town, South Africa
Hi Andy,
Nope never managed to upload photo's. Got PO'd when it told me photos were too big or had a virus so gave up on that. Surfed yesterday morning at Big Bay, besides being the coldest I can remember for a while it was OK. Kinda come to the conclusion that the board is a little too short and narrow for me. No matter how far up the board I managed to get, ass kept on dragging. If I had control with skegs in the water I was dragging and if I got forward skegs didnt have any grip.
I am looking at a board that Haydn has (Not sure if he is a memeber here but the name sounded familiar)
5.9 x 22.7/8 x 2.3/8.
Hopefully that is better suited for the conditions out here.
Will keep you updated.
Cheers
Darrin
Nope never managed to upload photo's. Got PO'd when it told me photos were too big or had a virus so gave up on that. Surfed yesterday morning at Big Bay, besides being the coldest I can remember for a while it was OK. Kinda come to the conclusion that the board is a little too short and narrow for me. No matter how far up the board I managed to get, ass kept on dragging. If I had control with skegs in the water I was dragging and if I got forward skegs didnt have any grip.
I am looking at a board that Haydn has (Not sure if he is a memeber here but the name sounded familiar)
5.9 x 22.7/8 x 2.3/8.
Hopefully that is better suited for the conditions out here.
Will keep you updated.
Cheers
Darrin
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kneelogrl
- Grom (25 or less posts to site)
- Posts: 20
- Joined: Sat Oct 20, 2007 11:33 am
- Location: Gisborne, New Zealand
Hi Darrin. I reckon your board is too short, but I wouldn't go to 5'9". I'm about 1" shorter than you & 12kg lighter. In 2008 Bruce Hart shaped me a 5'5" thruster. (can't find the rest of the dimensions, don't have a non-metric tape measure. can you help me here, Bruce?). That board is magic!!! (I'll order another, Bruce, when I've finished loving this one to death.) Try something closer to your height.
Kneel before the mana of Tangaroa.