Slow shutter surfing

I dug this one out from a shoot in early fall last year ('04). I was having a hard time getting fast enough shutter speeds with my current surfing setup and I got a lot of images like this. Switched to Provia 400F and now there's no problem (just an empty wallet!). I like this one for some reason, however. Can't quite put my finger on it. I do know that I like being able to see his face with decent clarity. The only benefit I can see in a slow shutter here is that the wave is small and not very dramatic-- the blurred action kind of perks it up a little. But I'll let you guys be the judge(s). Thanks for your comments!
Elan 7N, Sigma 70-300, 2X converter, Provia 100F.

It's nice, but think your sort of stuck between two images.

Since you like the blur, I think you need to slow down the shutter more. so that you can blur the bg even more. and give a big sense of motion. a shalower DOF would help isolate the as well.

the other image would be to speed things up so much that everything is tack and frozen. but given the bright light this might be rather tough.