Your Funboard Surfboard Buyers Guide & shopping advice

What is and can a funboard do?

A funboard is often referred to as an evolution surfboard. These surfboards are between 6.6 to 7.10 feet long and close the gap between the minimalibu and a fishboard / hybrid board. A funboard is much more agile than a minimalibu. This makes it much easier to surf turns and manoeuvres.

• Size: approx. 6 - 8 feet
• waves: Small / Medium
• Skill Level: Beginner / Advanced

Compared to the Mini-Malibu, Funboards have a less voluminous nose and a sharper cut tail. This means that you can surf sharper turns with your funboard and perform more radical surf manoeuvres.

The extended circle of a funboard also includes an egg surfboard. These boards are slightly shorter and make up for the lack of volume with their width.

Steve´s conclusion:

Funboards are quite easy to surf in small waves due to their relatively high volume and offer you a higher wavecatch ability. As an absolute beginner, a funboard is not recommended. For beginners who have stood on a surfboard before, are ambitious and have certain skills, a funboard can be the right choice.

These are the advantages of a funboard!

A funboard offers you many advantages when surfing. We have listed them for you:

• Increased wave yield
• Good buoyancy
• Relatively stable in the wave
• Good planing behaviour
• relatively forgiving surfing behaviour
• suitable for small waves
• suitable for medium wave size
• more manoeuvrable than a Malibu
• more stable than a shortboard
• Duckdives are possible
• good all-round surfboard

The wider outline of the surfboard allows you a relatively easy take off. Due to the larger volume than a shortboard, it glides easier and you catch more waves. Lets you ride around weaker sections of the wave and generate speed on your own.

Surfing on a funboard is very different from surfing on a minimalibus. You get the waves much later and the take offs take place on a steeper part of the wave. However, it is much easier to turn.

Steve´s conclusion:

A funboard is the first step to a shorter surfboard. You should not skip this step.

These are the disadvantages of a funboard.

Where there are advantages of a funboard, there are of course also disadvantages. Here we have compiled a list of them for you.

• not as manoeuvrable as a hybrid shape or shortboard
• does not glide as well as a Minimalibu
• limited suitability for steep, fast waves

A funboard is not as forgiving as a minimalibu and does not glide as well, but it has other advantages.

Even though a funboard is not as forgiving as a minimalibu, it is still suitable for ambitious beginners. However, you should have already stood on a surfboard and done a few green wave launches.

Funboard and beginner - does it fit?

There is no general answer to whether a funboard is suitable for beginners. A funboard is much more agile than a minimalibu and not as tilt-resistant. This means that paddling on the surfboard is not quite as easy and keeping your balance is much more difficult. If you have already surfed several green waves and have good paddling power, a funboard is also an option for a talented beginner. 

Steve´s Tip:

For all other beginners, I recommend a Minimalibu.

What you should pay attention to when buying a funboard!

If you want to buy a funboard, it should be well considered! The workmanship of the surfboard is definitely important. You should not make any compromises here. Cheap surfboards break much faster and the performance is not the best either. If you are looking to buy a surfboard that is not so harmful to the environment, see if it is made with bio-based epoxy or at least with epoxy. Polyester resin is very harmful to the environment.

You should also be clear about what you want to use your funboard for.

• Which waves do I want to surf? (e.g. size of the wave, beach break, reef break, soft waves, powerful waves, wave height).
• What manoeuvres do you want to surf with your funboard? (first snaps, cutebacks, tighter turns, etc.).

Some funboards can be turned better than others. Each shape has its own area of application. 

Your height and weight is another very important point in finding the perfect surfboard for you. You should choose a funboard that is approximately your height + about 15 cm. 

Here we would like to write down the most important points in keywords:

1. Which manoeuvres do you want to surf?
2. How tall and how heavy are you?
3. How is the funboard made?
4. Which waves do you want to surf with it?

Steve´s Tip:

If you want to start with a fun board, look for a board with more volume and a slightly wider outline. Contact us for advice on finding the right funboard for you.

These different shapes are available for funboards.

Funboards also have different shapes for different conditions and different manoeuvres.

There are funboards that are designed for retro surfing, single fin surfing, these surfboards are very difficult to surf, but these boards also bring a lot of fun if you can surf them.

There are fun boards that go more in the direction of a minimalibus and are much more forgiving and easier to surf. There are EGG shapes, which are shorter but wider, and there are funboards that are already very performance-oriented and come very close to a shortboard or hybrid shape. 

There are funboards with different fin setups like thruster, 2 + 1, 4 +1, quad and with 5 fin setup.

These are the most important funboard shapes:

1. Egg - agile and more challenging to surf.
2. Funboard with roundtail (standard funboard)
3. Funboard with narrow outline and nose (performance oriented)
4. Funboard with wide outline (easier to surf)
5. Funboards with Tri-Fin Setup (stable and good hold in the wave)
6. Funboard with single fin (very demanding, for retrosurfers)
7. Funboard with 2 + 1 fin setup (demanding, for retrosurfers)

Steve´s Tip:

For beginners, a funboard with a wide outline and a thruster or 5 fin setup is suitable.

The length of a funboard is very important when deciding what to buy.

When buying a funboard, you should definitely pay attention to the length.

The following rule of thumb applies to determine the right size.

Body height + approx. 15 cm

When buying an Egg, look at the volume of a standard funboard and choose an Egg with the same volume.

For heavy surfers, there are, for example, the VP models with extra volume at the same length at TORQ.

• If your funboard is too short, your surfboard will be too agile and your learning progress will be limited.
• If the board is too long, you will find it harder to turn and you won't have fun with your board.

Steve´s Tip:

To find the right funboard for you, use our professional buying guide.

Which fin setup should I choose for a funboard??

There are some important fin set ups for a funboard. Which fin setup you should choose depends on what kind of waves you want to surf and which surf style you follow.

• Single Fin: Single fins can be found in most longboards. Thanks to their size, they have a good drive. By positioning the fin in the fin box, you can change the surfing behaviour of your funboard. The further forward you place the fin, the more manoeuvrable the board. For big waves, place the fin all the way back, which gives your surfboard more smoothness and control. This option is for the retro surfers among you and is very challenging.

• 2 + 1: The 2 + 1 setup is also very popular with soul surfers. For this, a single fin is supplemented with two small side fins (sidebites) to make the boards more performance-oriented, because the two small side fins give the board more hold in the wave wall, especially for down-the-line rides. This fin setup is also very demanding.

• Thruster: A surfboard with a thruster fin setup makes your board surf more controlled. This setup is perfect for beginners because turns and surfing are very controllable and forgiving. Also suitable for surfers who maintain a controlled surfing style.

• 5 Fin Setup: Here you have the possibility to surf your funboard as a quad or thruster. 5 fins are not surfed at the same time and only make your board slow and restrict you in turns.

Steve´s Tip:

We recommend a pure single fin setup for retro surfers. For more performance a 2 + 1 system and for beginners and all other surfers a tri-fin system with three fins is the best choice. If you want to experiment with the fin setup, a 5 fin setup is a good choice and you can change the surfing behaviour of your board by changing the fin setup.

A fun board is suitable for these waves.

You can surf a fun board in the following surf conditions. However, this depends on the basic shape of the surfboard. You can surf a funboard and egg in small and weak waves. Due to the length and the volume, the surfboard glides relatively easily and generates speed independently even in weak waves and less powerful sections of a wave. 

You can really have fun with a fun board in conditions around 2 - 6 feet. Here you can surf all manoeuvres and play with the wave. 

A funboard is suitable for:

• small waves
• medium waves
• soft waves
• point breaks
• reef breaks
• Beachbreaks

A fun board for children? Does that make sense?

The answer to the question of whether a funboard for children makes sense is a resounding YES. 

Children can easily surf on a funboard and improve their skills. You should just make sure that the board is not too long and has a Tri-Fin setup.

What does a funboard cost?

You can find fun boards starting at a price of 500€.  These surfboards are usually poorly made and their performance is also rather poor.

In the middle price segment around 600€, you can find quite decent funboards with good workmanship and solid performance.

For more than 800€, you get an absolute top model that guarantees you good performance on the wave and a lot of fun. If you love this sport, you should definitely look around in this price range - it's worth it!

• from 500 Euro - poor quality and average performance.
• around 600€ - solid workmanship and performance
• from 800€ Premium funboards for real enjoyment