Hey surfers,

I had a board once that I started riding it on a trip to Indonesia. It was great. Great trip, great waves and I was surfing well. Yet, upon return to a normal beach break it was average at best.

That's the power of really good waves if you don't surf them on a regular basis. Almost any board will feel amazing. Waves are long, powerful and always the same. But most of my surfing happens on crappy waves and I stuck with that board for far too long. I didn't even realize what I was missing until I switched to a different board. And that brings me to some important questions:

How long does it take to test a new surfboard? How do you know if it's a keeper or not?

Speaking to one of our readers, Francisco (details in community boards), he's enjoying the Gamma from Slater Designs. It took him awhile to get use to it though. He even put the board for sale. A board that he almost sold is now his go-to.

Surfing is unique on this front. So many things affect how much fun you have. The board, the fins, the waves, if you're in shape or not and how you're reading the wave. When the surfer and gear clicks there's no shortage of stoke!!! That's part of the magic as Zé said a few weeks back.

The truly horrible boards I think we all know immediately. But those that we're not sure after a couple of sessions, ughh, those are tough. The thing is do you insist on a OK board thinking the next time you'll get it or do you move on? After how many sessions?

For me, I think 3 to 5 sessions in a short period of time, less than a month, to know if it's a no-go. Probably another 5 to 10 sessions to know if it's a keeper. During this time, I'd say that I'd need a really good session in average waves.

Do you have a framework for testing new boards? Let us know.

Yeww,
António