Surfboard for advanced level
At advanced level the range is 36 to 44 per cent of your weight in litres: 29 to 35 litres at 176 lb (80 kg). The default shape is a shortboard, with a fish groveler for small days and a gun if you are going to big waves.
L/kg0.36–0.44
ShapeShortboard
At 176 lb29–35 L
Advanced means you link turns in almost any condition and the board is no longer what limits you. From here the conversation stops being how many litres and becomes how they are distributed: the same volume with the thickness centred or pushed forward surfs differently.
It is also the level where owning two boards starts to genuinely pay off, because the difference between a weak day and a good one shows up in the first bottom turn.
| weight | Small and soft | A bit of everything | With wall and power | Big and hollow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 110 lb | 21 L Fish | 20 L Shortboard | 19 L Shortboard | 26 L Gun |
| 132 lb | 26 L Fish | 24 L Shortboard | 23 L Shortboard | 32 L Gun |
| 154 lb | 30 L Fish | 28 L Shortboard | 27 L Shortboard | 37 L Gun |
| 176 lb | 34 L Fish | 32 L Shortboard | 31 L Shortboard | 42 L Gun |
| 198 lb | 39 L Fish | 36 L Shortboard | 35 L Shortboard | 48 L Gun |
| 220 lb | 43 L Fish | 40 L Shortboard | 38 L Shortboard | 53 L Gun |
Each cell is the recommended volume and the shape that goes with that weight in those waves. It comes from the same function that answers in the calculator, at average frequency and age 30.
The typical mistake at this level
Copying the volume of someone who surfs better without copying their hours in the water. The figure drops with frequency, not with ambition: someone surfing three times a week holds litres that someone surfing twice a month cannot.
When to move on
The step to expert is not a change of board, it is a change of frequency. Once you surf almost daily, the range drops to 28-35 per cent.