Any ride reports / feedback of Akila Aipa's Contemporary or Modern Fish?

trifish

Gerry Lopez status
Sep 23, 2009
1,338
3,791
113
Shred City
The Akila Contemp fish felt sooooooooo good today on cutbacks. This board keeps blowing me away the more I get to ride it. Whatever secret sauce he put into it is working for me perfectly. Got me buzzing after today's session.
 

j_mac

Legend (inyourownmind)
Aug 16, 2020
418
1,567
93
What fin set-up are you running? I have been searching for Contemporary fish for some time with zero luck. This board definitely piques my interest.

I have been surfing a 5' 6" Album Plasmic and it's a blast, but its a little chunky at times and was looking for some refinement. After searching for boards that are in stock to get now, I ended up picking up CC Lane Splitter - 5' 10" guessing about 33L. Lane Splitter has met and exceeded my expectations. Volume seems to be in the right places, paddles and gets into waves well, and feels solid on waves. It is fairly versatile and it is the board that I grab for most surfs.
 

trifish

Gerry Lopez status
Sep 23, 2009
1,338
3,791
113
Shred City
What fin set-up are you running? I have been searching for Contemporary fish for some time with zero luck. This board definitely piques my interest.

I have been surfing a 5' 6" Album Plasmic and it's a blast, but its a little chunky at times and was looking for some refinement. After searching for boards that are in stock to get now, I ended up picking up CC Lane Splitter - 5' 10" guessing about 33L. Lane Splitter has met and exceeded my expectations. Volume seems to be in the right places, paddles and gets into waves well, and feels solid on waves. It is fairly versatile and it is the board that I grab for most surfs.
I've been running it just as a twin lately. He recommended his Pivot fin template for the board. He had a set of the handmade fiberglass ones in stock that Brian Bills makes, so I had him include those when shipping the board. I played around with a guitar pick trailer he included also and a small NVS trailer I had. I didn't notice much from the guitar pick in there honestly, but the NVS small trailer noticeably stabilized the board more. It works great at a twin +trailer, but I haven't had the need to put the trailer back in after getting more reps on the board. These are the BB ones i'm running. https://akilaaipasurfboards.com/products/pivot-twin-fin?pr_prod_strat=copurchase&pr_rec_pid=4701342040111&pr_ref_pid=4164308205615&pr_seq=uniform

I haven't been on the Plasmic or the Lane Splitter but they both look fun. CC's outlines always look visually appealing to me. The tail on the contemporary fish is very wide and the rail outline is pretty straight. It gains speed quickly in the weaker/softy stuff. I haven't had it in anything over head high yet to see how It handles more size with all the speed it has. Mostly just been in waist to head high surf which it was worked very well in.
 

Aruka

Tom Curren status
Feb 23, 2010
11,990
22,531
113
PNW
I've been running it just as a twin lately. He recommended his Pivot fin template for the board. He had a set of the handmade fiberglass ones in stock that Brian Bills makes, so I had him include those when shipping the board. I played around with a guitar pick trailer he included also and a small NVS trailer I had. I didn't notice much from the guitar pick in there honestly, but the NVS small trailer noticeably stabilized the board more. It works great at a twin +trailer, but I haven't had the need to put the trailer back in after getting more reps on the board. These are the BB ones i'm running. https://akilaaipasurfboards.com/products/pivot-twin-fin?pr_prod_strat=copurchase&pr_rec_pid=4701342040111&pr_ref_pid=4164308205615&pr_seq=uniform

I haven't been on the Plasmic or the Lane Splitter but they both look fun. CC's outlines always look visually appealing to me. The tail on the contemporary fish is very wide and the rail outline is pretty straight. It gains speed quickly in the weaker/softy stuff. I haven't had it in anything over head high yet to see how It handles more size with all the speed it has. Mostly just been in waist to head high surf which it was worked very well in.
i wish there was info on the two brian bills fin templates. that raked set is very appealing but no idea if it's enough fin for me.
 

racer1

Tom Curren status
Apr 16, 2014
12,922
14,982
113
Honolulu, Hawaii
You could order direct from Brian, they're all made to order. So you could have him make it bigger or smaller.
I've picked up fins from him before, he has a tiny shed with dust 4 feet high and a tiny area he can walk in and make them.
If you want to order from him I can get you his number. He could tell you exact size and if you wanted to size up.
 

hotCheetos

OTF status
Mar 28, 2020
294
358
63
yea not sure if it will happen this year but been eyeing a modern fish next time i order something for summer to replace my puddle jumper. just want something a more hp
 

trifish

Gerry Lopez status
Sep 23, 2009
1,338
3,791
113
Shred City
how's this one goin?? is this board sizing/foam any similar to, maybe like a neckbeard???
I wanna try maybe a modern fish at some point.
Bold words, but I'll say his contemporary fish is my all time favorite DD at this point. I got off it for a while to surf some newer boards and came back to it and it just has something special and unique. Everything just works really well together. Speed, glide, pivot.... Would definitely recommend. I went similar on the volume to what I normally surf and it was spot on. Dims fall a lot thicker than all my other boards though because of the way he foils the edges and nose. His modern fish has more pulled in outline which I bet goes great in the bigger stuff. Would love to add one of those and another contemp fish to my quiver as a backup. Might just do that this year sometime. No clue how slammed he is these days though.
 

Havoc

Phil Edwards status
May 23, 2016
7,682
12,216
113
in da hood next to paradise
Yeah, apparently that magic board sorcery takes time! it seemed like the perfect storm of them working out the kinks of expanding their operation (space & personnel) and a flood of new orders from the exposure of Slater on the AA twin last year.
Just looked and mine is actually 5'11x 20 1/2 x 2 3/4 (36L), it was apparently a stock board for Surf Station store (FL?!) but was new/unridden when I snagged it. new one should be 5'8 x 20 1/4 x 2 5/8 rounded off nose (like hydronaut) with about 33-34L. I know it's been sprayed (dark green to cover the orange high density stripe) but who knows how long it will be "in glassing"? I guess the sensible thing to do is wait to ride that one before ordering the modern fish, but I'm tempted to just put the order in now and tweak it when it comes up in to the queue in a couple months.
Just order and try to forget about it so it will be a pleasant surprise for you in the Fall!
hey u wanna sell me the 5’11? or trade for st?
 
  • Like
Reactions: MathDebater

oeste858

Phil Edwards status
Sep 11, 2017
6,931
17,276
113
San Diego, CA
Maybe. I think @retodd had 1st dibs on it. I’ll check in with him. I’m scared to part with it, but the smaller one is working well so far.

I’ll echo everything that @trifish said about the Cont. Fish. I’ve been surfing mostly other boars the last few months (and I left it with SBD for a while), but man, whenever I jump back on it… magic.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Havoc and trifish

jp30surf

Billy Hamilton status
Aug 20, 2012
1,556
18
38
Maine
1C0EFEC3-6292-43BD-8955-D163C9E7A066.jpeg

I've had a Contemporary Fish (Akila), a Dark Horse quad (Duke), and a couple of booster pockets (martial). All are unique and different. Once you adjust to the sweet spot all are magical in their own way. Like the others have said, Contemporary fish pictured above, is IMHO a user friendly high performance fish that has helped smooth and improve my surfing. Hope that helps. JP up in Maine.
 

jp30surf

Billy Hamilton status
Aug 20, 2012
1,556
18
38
Maine
tempImagenk1yaD.jpg

Forgot to mention. I'm using Akila twins and a T1 trailer in his board. Im using Brian Bills Martial booster template with the front placed rears in my boosters, and I'm also using that same set in my Dark Horse quad. Brian is a total professional and has consistently delivered quality handmade fins to me.
 

silentbutdeadly

Duke status
Sep 26, 2005
33,499
23,099
113
Tower 13
Maybe. I think @retodd had 1st dibs on it. I’ll check in with him. I’m scared to part with it, but the smaller one is working well so far.

I’ll echo everything that @trifish said about the Cont. Fish. I’ve been surfing mostly other boars the last few months (and I left it with SBD for a while), but man, whenever I jump back on it… magic.

Toff mentioned long ago that he would love to get his hands on one.
 

RattimusBeach

Nep status
Jun 2, 2014
565
324
63
Torrance, CA
How do you size a Contemporary Fish? I generally ride 23-25 liters. Usually my fishes to small wave boards are 4'11 - 5'0...I saw one on his website that's 5'5 27 liters...but that seems pretty big.
 

oeste858

Phil Edwards status
Sep 11, 2017
6,931
17,276
113
San Diego, CA
How do you size a Contemporary Fish? I generally ride 23-25 liters. Usually my fishes to small wave boards are 4'11 - 5'0...I saw one on his website that's 5'5 27 liters...but that seems pretty big.
I sized mine like my gravelers volume. The foam is well hidden. As shorter length as you can IMO, like a fish. You want to be able to throw it around.
 
  • Like
Reactions: RattimusBeach

trifish

Gerry Lopez status
Sep 23, 2009
1,338
3,791
113
Shred City
Also, it seems like everyone recommends a contemporary fish over a modern fish?
In socal I think contemporary fish makes more sense. I use mine in 2-6ft. Modern fish has more upper end while sacrificing some low end. Akila told me his personal favorite is the modern which makes sense considering the surf he gets. I wouldn't mind having a modern for better days down here or when I start going back towards the Bay Area.

At the time I ordered my contemporary we had a couple of phone calls and he sorted out my dims with me telling him the volume I was thinking and some of my other boards I was riding. Was really great chatting with him over the phone and getting things dialed. Don't know if he is still handling calls at this point on customs. I'm going to guess he isn't on most with how quickly things grew and how backed up he got. This was sorta right before he blew up. Things got crazy after that and I haven't reached out in a while.