Hi everyone, I'm 53 and 65 kilo's, living in Southern Tassie . I've been SUPing on flat water for around 5 years and occasionally venture into the surf (small - up to shoulder height) and while I can surf ok consistently, I am by no means highly competent !! Most of my surfing has been with my NSP 11 foot board - a board which is probably too big for me, however I started out with this board (both flat and surf) and it has had hundreds of hours of use - I love it. I find that in smaller surf it picks up waves VERY easily and seems to be very tolerant about whether or not I have placed myself in exactly the right place in the surf. When catching a wave I put weight forward but move back towards the tail when riding - the board seems very tolerant about where I stand too, enabling me to consistently catch and stay on waves even though I am pretty much a beginner (it gets a bit scary when the surf gets up though, with all that volume!).
I recently got a second board, a BIC AceTec 10 6, mainly for my 13 year old son. I love the board, good price for a family, nicely made , great on flat water. However, I am really struggling to catch small waves consistently with this board, I have to put a lot of weight forward to catch the wave and it seems very particularly about where I stand - if I move too far back (even on a wave), the wave passes me by....I have decided to go back to the NSP in the short term in the surf.
I realise that the issue is probably with my lack of skill, however I would be interested in peoples comments and experiences with these boards - do I just have to adjust my riding style with the BIC or am I doing something fundamentally wrong that the NSP just lets me get away with?
regards
steve
Hi Steve i learning to paddle on the same board the BIC Ace-Tec 10.6, for surfing in small waves you need to do foot work. When you feel the wave you have to paddle hard and also move forward for the board can slide down, otherwise the waves passing you. But in medium waves or bigger waves this board is really easy to catch the waves. Find the sweet spot for Balance, paddle and when you feel the tail lift, switch to surf position. And move to the forward for catch the wave, and then move back for control.
The Ace-Tec is a nice board and very durable, only becarefore with rails, had some rubber for manufactured that can scracht you skin. You can sander this border. I put a kick tail for avoid to fail down while learn to move on the board while taking the waves.
Have fun your board.
I have an 10'6 Ace-tec that I use for flatwater and small waves and its definitely a board you need to walk around alot on, always moving forward and back. Taking off in the middle then moving forward then back to the tail then forward and then back all on the one wave, keeps you on your toes and makes it interesting.
Edit- The two boards may be very different in volume and weight also. My mates wife has a 10'6 NSP board (not sure of model) and it clearly had nowhere near the volume of my Bic of the same length when I stood on it.