You know what it’s like – your birthday is months away but you find the perfect present and you just have to have it – well that’s what I told the wife anyway!

Surfing is one of the most frustrating sports ever and one of the most difficult. I would like to think I am pretty sporty and can do pretty much anything that involves a bat and a ball, a team sport, or even high-intensity individual sporting disciplines like shooting, but surfing is different.

Every day is different, in fact, every wave of every day is different. There are so many factors you just cannot influence or control.

I have now been surfing for about 4 years, never surfed before, never skateboarded, never really skied, so I have started from scratch. Luckily, I have some amazing friends who have helped me, coached me, and pushed me to my limits and I am now what I would consider that I am classed as an intermediate surfer.

My style has always been leaning towards Longboarding and my age, fitness, and weight also has led me this way – Shortboarding is for the youngsters. Consequently, I moved from an 8ft beginner’s foam board to a 9ft intermediate board which improved my surfing no end. A year on that board and I was ready to move up to a proper Longboard. I tried a few along the way, but they always lacked the volume and the feel I was looking for.

I then came across Torq Boards. They have designed a series of Longboards that really hit all my criteria, and luckily we have a distributor in the next village so I pop over and checked them out. Having done all my homework, I knew exactly what I wanted, and sure enough, they had one – a 9’6 TET.

It is easy to paddle, catches waves easily, and is stable but very maneuverable, allowing me to really improve no end. I love this board and would recommend it for sure.