What size board for my wife?

[Copple]

Hey there, my wife and I are looking into picking up some new boards. I think I've settled in on a ADDvance for me, but having some difficulty picking something out for my wife. She's 5'3 and 125 lbs. We've both been surfing for a little over a year. Just got back from a week in Costa Rica at a surf camp where we learned a ton and really advanced our surfing abilities. I would put our surfing at beginners making the transition to intermediate. Currently we have longboards, looking for something a little sorter but with some volume to help on the days the waves are steeper. We live in South Carolina so are somewhat limited by the East coast beach breaks.

It was suggested on the ADDvance forum that a Dominator or Baked may be a good option for her. We both need something that has good paddle power and not necessarily looking for a true short board experience yet, although it would be nice to be at that point in a few years. Mostly looking to have fun and gain some experience. We try to surf at least 2 weekends a month as we live 2 hours from the beach so please keep that mind as well.

Open to any advice, and yes we are going to try to demo some options and sizes before making the purchase. Just looking to get educated beforehand. Thanks!

[prjwebb]

Potatonator could be a fun one for her. Dominator is good too. Those would be my recommendations.

[Copple]

How would the Potatonator differ from the Dominator? I'm still having a hard time understanding the differences.

Largest waves we see around here are probably 6 feet, which takes a good swell to produce. Being a beach break they tend to build quickly before breaking, we both struggle a little as they become steeper. She would need something with good volume and easier wave catching, with her longboard to fall back on for smaller days if. Needed. She's tiny too, so a smaller board could be nice for her to carry around, provided it would paddle well. Would be nice if she got a slightly higher volume board to learn on, that I could move down to as my skills progress and we could get her a new board when she's ready. I'm 6'2, 165 pounds.

[prjwebb]

The Potatonator is a Dominator geared towards smaller conditions. It's carries more volume, has a fuller nose and a wider tail. It's going to paddle well and be pretty forgiving, but will find its limit when the waves get a little bigger and steeper.
The Dominator is a little more all round. It won't quite have the ease of use in the smallest of conditions that the Potatonator has, but it will be a little more stable when conditions are bigger and you're going faster.

Neither board has a great amount of rocker so they paddle well, but because of that it means late drops on steeper waves can be tricky.

I'd have thought a 6'0" Dominator would give her a good learning platform and be something you could just on too. Just not sure if the 6'0" would be a bit boaty for her. The 5'10" could work for you both possibly. Something worth trying with demos for sure.

[iggy]

Yeah PRJ, the Dominator will be a fun board for both of you but I will not discard the Potatonator.
What kind of waves are guys planning on surfing regularly?

[Copple]

We surf East Coast, Carolina beach break waves. We rarely see anything bigger than chest to head high. Most of the time there is some chop on the waves, occasionally we have some clean swell.

[Roger]

The 'Nator is a lot of fun and super easy to paddle and duck dive. If she prefers to surf smaller waves, you can't go wrong.

[Chris]

yeah I agree roger!! a good board to progress off of too!! Dominator might be a touch tricky...