carbon for beginners?

Hi there
I have been reading all about surf ski's for beginners and I am currently thinking either an XT or a Horizon.
The hard part is whether to go for carbon, or just the standard fibreglass. For some people this might be a no brainer (go carbon for increased speed); but my thinking was that since the boat would be alot lighter this would take away from some (or alot?) of the stability which makes these boats ideal for beginners?

What do you guys think?

Nick

If you are going to buy a beginner ski, spend the least you can on it.
If you never believe that you will upgrade to a tippier one, then the heavier one you have would still be just fine and last a long time as well as take the knocks.

If you do upgrade you will loose less money in the process.

A real life situation I have seen, is a beginner buying a carbon V10 sport.
He then sold that and got a carbon V10.

Had he purchased the cheaper layup sport, he could have kept the sport as a second boat and still paid no more money overall.

My vote would be fiberglass. First of all doubt you would see much speed difference, especially as a beginner. Speaking just for myself, whenever I take up a new sport I tend to be harder on equipment. With experience you will learn not only balance and paddling technique but also how to get in and out of surf, how to best transport the boat, etc. The light boats usually are cored construction and less impact resistant. Therefore I would recommend gaining experience with a cheeper and more durable glass boat.

2nd hand, fiberglass, cheap and nasty. Like Ali G said: "date the ugly ones first, coz you have to get through the semi's before you reach the finals"

You might possibly bash it into a rock or 2. So keep it as cheap as possible. Remember, it is just a learning tool. If you have too much emotional investment in it you are not going to want to paddle just outside of the comfort zone. Or try to surf waves close to rocks (like me). Luckily the Horizon has a very tough nose.