Guidance on board purchase- Beg+/Intermediate
Hello everyone!
Quick context:
Landlocked surfer that has been surfing for 2 years now (I have done 6 week-long trips so far, as well as 5 surf pool sessions). I can bottom turn, ride down the line and manage to go a bit up and down the wave. According to the coaches, I have a good takeoff and good paddling speed. I am still struggling with maneuvers, like going back down the wave to go back in the pocket and up again, and with paddling fitness. I do downhill skateboarding for 10 years now, so I have a pretty good balance. ~63-65kg for 1m78, I do quite a lot of sport on the side too.
So far, I have ridden only foam board (my latest trip in Morocco May 26' I was on a 7' foamy with 54L and I was catching waves quite easily, even on weak waves, probably at a 80% success rate). In February, I bought a hardtop from Decathlon (https://www.decathlon.ch/fr/p/planche-de-surf-7-4-900-mid-length-blanc/348211/c4m8810718) without knowing enough about it, and I was struggling quite a bit, especially with the paddling. Note that it was before several sessions in the wave pool so I could have improved since.
My question is: I really want to have my own board for travelling and surf pool sessions (renting is very expensive). I was thinking about selling the Decathlon (or keeping it as a single fin midlength for when I'll be a better surfer), and buy a 7'4 Torq V+ Tec instead (https://www.hawaiisurf.com/products/m2-v-tec-planche-de-surf-funboard-7). My entire surfing inspiration is based on the surfing of pros like Mikey Feb and Torren Martyn, I'm really not interested in downsizing ever to a shortboard.
Would getting the Torq be a wise choice, should I stick with the Decathlon board anyway, or am I going too far and should stick to renting foamies?
Thanks ❤️