Catch Surf Brand Review: Softboards the Pros Actually Ride

A soft board was long considered rental and kids' equipment. Catch Surf built a brand on it that professionals ride. Here is how that happened.

What is in the range

• Surfboards and bodyboards: 88 items from 35 € to 547 €.
• Components: 4 items.

Main families: Beater Original (15 items), LOG (10), WOMPER (9), Classic Bodyboard (5), Heritage (4), Plank (4), 54 Special, Easy Rider, Retro Fish.

What a softboard actually is

Worth clearing up the main misunderstanding here.

A softboard has a soft top layer, usually foamed polyethylene, over a rigid core with stringers. Inside it is a proper construction; the softness is a skin.

How that differs from a supermarket inflatable: entirely. A softboard has a real shape, rocker and fins; it holds a line and works on a wave.

What the soft top gives:

• It does not cut. Hitting yourself or a neighbour means a bruise rather than a gash.
• It shrugs off impacts. A ding on a hard board is a repair; on a softboard it is a dent.
• No wax needed on the deck.

Why professionals ride softboards

The phenomenon that changed how the category is seen.

First reason — small waves. On weak, crumbling surf a hard board does not work: not enough volume or area. A softboard's thick profile rides where a normal board sinks.

Second — freedom. On a soft board you are not afraid of landing on it, hitting the bottom or catching someone. Hence tricks nobody would risk on carbon.

Third — the cost of a mistake. Wrecking a 300 € board is easier to accept than a 900 € one.

Hence the pro models in the catalogue: Blair Conklin, Clay Marzo, Kalani Robb, Ben Gravy — riders with signature versions. This brand does not sell "beginner boards", and its team roster shows it.

The families and what they mean

Beater Original — 15 items

The largest family. A short hybrid you ride standing, prone or on your knees.

A board for junk waves — shorebreak, whitewater, waist-high mush. Places there is no point taking a normal board.

LOG and Plank — 14 items

Long boards: the LOG up to ten feet at 547 €, the Plank Single Fin 10'0" at 504 €.

Ten feet is a classic longboard. A soft longboard is rare, and it offers what a hard one cannot: you can walk the deck without fearing your shins.

WOMPER — 9 items

Small handboards from 35 €. A subculture of its own: you swim holding the board ahead of you and catch waves with your arms.

The cheapest entry into waves that exists — and even here there are pro-rider signature models.

Heritage and Easy Rider

The Heritage 8'6" Single Fin at 482 €, the Easy Rider 9'0" at 416 €.

The Easy Rider is where people begin. Nine feet and a soft top: a board you stand up on the first day.

Collaborations and limited runs

The catalogue carries plenty of names: ...Lost®, T&C Surf Designs®, Realtree®, BeefsTV, FARTCO.

How to treat them practically: in most cases a collaboration is graphics on the same board. Look at model and size rather than the label.

The exception is the ...Lost® items: a well-known shaper, and there the shape may genuinely differ. The Crowd Killer at 438 € and the RNF at 307 € have real shaping pedigree.

Who it suits

Beginners. The Easy Rider 9'0" is an honest first board.

Anyone with weak waves. The Beater works where a hard board stalls.

Families. A soft board around children is safer.

Travellers. A softboard survives a flight better than a hard board.

Riders who already surf — as a second board for small days.

Who it does not suit

Anyone riding serious waves. Big surf needs a hard board.

Anyone wanting one board for everything. A softboard specialises in small and fun.

Anyone chasing speed. A soft top means extra weight and a different response.

Common questions

Are softboards just for beginners?

Not any more. The brand runs pro-rider signature models: a softboard works on small waves where a hard board will not go.

How does a softboard differ from an inflatable?

Entirely: a rigid core with stringers inside, a real shape, rocker and fins. Only the top layer is soft.

Which board should I start with?

The Easy Rider 9'0" at 416 € — nine feet and a soft top; people stand up on day one.

What is a WOMPER?

A small handboard from 35 €: you swim with it ahead of you and catch waves with your arms.

Are collaborations worth paying for?

Usually they are graphics on the same board. The exception is the ...Lost® models, where the shape may differ.

Where to look

The range is on the Catch Surf page. The section: surfboards.