About me: Been surfing several times a week for about 14yrs mostly spring and fall. I would rate my surfing as beginner/average with most my surfing being carving, smacking the lip, cut backs and the occasional floater in there........ Nothing radical or advanced. Went from a 6'6" performance board to a 8'2" mini long board and now want something in the middle. Enter hybrid. I weigh 200 and am 6'2" tall.

Conditions: eastern NC surf typical 2' on good days and much bigger on storm swell. I do want to be able to semi-duck dive this thing as i have to paddle out in storm surf.

Board: Im sold on the addvance but dont know whether to get the 72 or 76. One of the biggest problems here is catching the wave. Im a strong paddler but i want to make sure i can takeoff on 80% of what i catch with the 8'2".

Fins: Im looking at the futures system with either the 5-fin rusty or AM2s. Im leaning towards the rusty since theyre supposedly made for this type of board but idk.

Suggestions? What do you think?