The Classic Longboard Surfboards

The Longboard Surfboard was taken from the original surfboards used by the Hawaiians who used boards ranging from 8 foot to 30 foot in length the modern version of the longboard first started to appear in the 50's and 60's with the introduction of polyurathane foam and fibreglass. Today the modern longboard is between 9 and 10 feet in length some ride boards can be upto 12 feet long but anything longer is normally a specialist made board for a particular surfer. The longboard will traditionally have a single fin configuration at the back which allows the board to pivet turn and stay on the curl of the wave. There are various variations of the longboard and modern materials have made the board much lighter than earlier versions.

Modern variations include the tri fin versions and The Gun which takes all the designs from a shortboard and puts it into a longboard configuration this gives the board good abilities on large waves and is typically 9 to 10 long. There are other longboard configurations and new types available which have made the longbord popular again after falling sales when the shortboard became everyone's choice of surfboard. Lots of famous surfers will carry a long board with them just in case the conditions are right there is nothing like a longboard in big waves to excite the modern surfer.

If you are beginning to get hooked on surfing a nice low-cost way of buying a quality surfboard is to buy a used surfboard. There are numerous sites on the internet where you can buy a good quality used surfboard at a bargain price. Even if you are an experienced surfer and want to change your present surf board then you can buy a used one for much less than a new surfboards price. You may also sell your older board to help finance your new surfboards purchase using the cash you get for your old board. If you are purchasing a surfboard you'll have to determine what type of board to get; see below for some surfboard information.

The shortboard is still probably the most popular choice of surfboard for the experienced surfer, this is because the shortboard gives you a better performance and higher speed than the longboard. This makes the shortboard ideal for fast manouverable turns and tricks. The shortboard is not suitable for beginners as they are short, thin and unstable, this makes them very hard to stand on and as a newbie you will usually want a more stable platform than a shortboard.

In countries which do not get big waves or when conditions do not allow for big waves the fish surfboard is the answer. A short fat surfboard which develops high speeds and is very manouverable even in the poorest of conditions. The fish surfboard is the master of generating high speeds from small or very little waves; this gives you more opportunity of surfing all year round thus maximizing your surfing opportunities.

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