Which Surfboard Shape Is Right for Me? - Mid Length Vs Mini-mal Surfboards

By Max - Board designer and shaper

Hand Laid Eggs

Walk into any surf shop and ask which board is right for you, you'll probably leave more confused than when you arrived. The truth is there's no universal answer, every surfer out there is different, and every wave that rolls into our UK coastline is completely unique too.

Whilst trying to decide the best size surfboard for UK surf, it’s important to understand the ways a board is measured and how that affects it’s feeling under your arm, and in the surf. 

In this blog we take into account length, width, thickness, volume, shape and more to compare mid-length and mini-mal surfboards side by side.

Shape vs Length - which matters most?

For some reason, surfboards are most often labelled by their length. On our social media posts, we are guilty of it too, often casually referring to a board as a 7’6 mini-mal, or 6’8 mid length. It’s also more common now to label a board with length and volume, for example 7’2 and 51 Liters. 

Sometimes ignoring shape all together, people rely heavily on these two digits to decide if the board is right for them.

It’s also important to understand how thick a board is, where this thickness is distributed, and the width of a board and where that widest point is.

Other factors like rocker, rail shape, fins and fin position are often harder to understand, but will also affect how the board feels to surf. 

To keep this blog from becoming a 200 page essay - let’s hone in on length as a base point.

From here we will compare shape, volume, width and thickness of different types of board, without diving too deep into rocker, rail shape or fins - one step at a time for our understanding!

Two boards can be the exact same length, but have any one of the features above change, and it will surf in a different way

Choosing length as the only consistent variable, here’s some examples using our models

Scrambled - a high volume mid length designed for improver and intermediate surfers stepping down off a mini-mal. 

In a 6’8 length, it’s 21 ¾  inches wide, 3 inches thick and 48.6L volume

Royale -  a classic mid length shape for intermediate and advanced surfers to enjoy the speed and glide of a mid length.

In a 6’8 length, it’s 20 ½ inches wide, 2 ¾ inches thick and 43.5L volume

These shapes, if lined up with the same specs, are quite similar but aren’t identical.

Both outlines are a classic mid length egg shape, full but pointed nose and rounded thumb tail. The mid point on the Scrambled is slightly lower, and the Royale is more pulled in/less wide at the nose and even more so at the tail.

The biggest difference between the model’s dimensions is in their width and thickness, which helps to add up to a 5 litres volume difference between the models in the same length.

Pros and Cons at the same length:

Scrambled 6’8

Pro: Thicker and wider, more stable and floaty, easy to paddle

Con: Not as quick from rail to rail in turns

Pro: More room for error in smaller waves, less need to be accurate in foot positioning and pop up

Con: Too much float for much bigger/faster waves, board will ride on top more than engage in the wave face

Royale 6’8

Pro: Less thick, less wide than Scrambled therefore easier to engage rails in turns

Con: Wobbly/not stable enough for lower level surfers on slow waves

Pro: Easier to duck dive/manage in bigger conditions

Con: Less paddle power and stability in smaller waves

Another comparison would be our Poached model, which sits somewhere between a mini-mal and a mid-length, featuring a round nose and a smaller more pulled in pin tail.

Poached - a mini longboard style mid length that can do it all but prefers small to medium waves.

In a 7’2 length its 22 inches wide,  2 3⁄4 thick and 51.8 Litres Volume

Royale (again) but in a larger 7’2 is 21 inches wide, 2 ¾ and 47.9 Litres Volume

Lined up and only looking at the outline, there are larger differences in the curves. The Poached has a large rounded nose and really pulls in to a small point at the tail.

Because of this, the Poached has comparatively more volume in the front half of the board, aiding paddling on to the wave but limiting the ability to duck dive.

The width has one inch difference, which is clear when the Royale is designed to perform better in a bigger wave range. 

Whilst the thickness of the two boards in this length are the same, the volume is much different. This is due to the reduced overall width, and the large amount of volume stored in the front, which compensates for the thinner tail.

Pros and Cons at the same length:

Poached

Pro - Wider, more stable in smaller waves, when popping up or losing speed

Con - Not as manoeuvrable rail to rail through the middle section of the board

Pro - Large round nose provides lots of paddle power

Con - More ‘swing weight’ in turns, harder to duck dive

Pro - Reduced volume/shape in the tail means faster turns off the tail

Con - A wider tail would provide even more float in very small/weak waves

Royale

Pro - Slightly less wide, a balance of stability and turning speed

Con - Poached at the same size will be better in smaller/weaker waves

Pro - More pulled in nose is easier to turn, duck dive and control in steeper waves

Con - Less volume up front is less paddle power

Pro - Slightly wider tail to compensate for less width, a good balance for medium sized waves and above

Con - Less sharp turns if you were only comparing the tail of the Poached

Finally, let's compare two round nosed boards, more commonly referred to as mini-mals, that could be the answer to the million dollar question ‘what surfboard shall I get after a foamie?’.

Sunny Side Up - designed to be the best first hardboard when coming off a foamie or for improvers looking for a fun small wave board

In 7’2 it’s 22 1⁄2 inches wide, 3 inches thick and 57.1 Litres Volume

Poached - (as above) in a 7’2 length its 22 inches wide,  2 3⁄4 thick and 51.8 Litres Volume

The biggest difference in volume we’ve seen through the comparisons - the Sunny Side Up is much floatier partly due to the overall shape (particularly at the tail) being fuller and rounded. 

With both boards having a fairly similar wide point, the Sunny Side Up is ½ inch more width, and the thickness is ¼ more than the 7’2 version of the Poached. 

Also worth noting the thickness stays more throughout the Sunny Side Up whereas the tail of the Poached gets much thinner in comparison

Pros and cons at the same length

Sunny Side Up

Pro - Thicker means more volume throughout, floaty for small waves

Con - Won’t perform as well in bigger waves

Pro - Wider giving more stability for slower pop ups

Con - Less easy to turn rail to rail

Pro - Thicker tail for less accurate foot position

Con - Tail doesn’t engage as well in sharp turns

Poached

Pro - Wide nose for easy paddling onto the wave

Con - Not as thick of a nose so not as much paddle power in comparison

Pro - Wide enough for small to medium wave stability

Con - Not as wide as the Sunny Side Up so less stable in small waves

Pro - Thin tail holds in steeper waves and is easy to turn

Con - Harder to control for those with less ability

Hopefully the above comparisons have helped you further understand the features and dimension of surfboard shapes by using length as the consistent value - instead of using only length or volume to compare.

The shape and dimensions of our four base models were carefully designed to suit the level of surfer and what kind of waves they ride the majority of the time.

The models are split into abilities, with the Sunny Side Up being the most user friendly, for first time hardboard riders and above.

The Scrambled follows as the next progression up from this board, getting you out into bigger waves if that’s what you desire.

The Poached and Royale can also be a step up in progression straight from the Sunny Side Up or similar large mini-mals. Which one (or both!) depends on the size and also where the surfer sees themselves progressing, where and how often they surf amongst other factors.

That’s it for now…keep checking back for our next blog, where we use this understanding and go into more detail about surfboard shapes, incorporating shortboards, longboards and more. 

Thanks for reading, feel free to drop us an email to discuss anything in the blog and chat about our custom surfboards which are handmade in Cornwall, to your specifications and needs.