Just the facts...
Dims - 5’10 x 20 1/8 x 2 5/8
Fins - True Ames fiberglass twin fin glassed on
Color - blue with clear fins
Wax - FU
No traction pad
Features - beak nose, swallow tail, Bonzer bottom
Waves - 1st surf - combo swell beach break waist to chest high, super foggy.
2nd surf - right hand point break chest high, medium tide, kind of fat.
Me - 6’2 - 190 lbs. - 50 years old - been surfing 40 years. Regular foot. Rode only twins and quads for the first 10 years. Got my first tri-fin at 20 years old and have almost always had a twin or quad in the rotation.
Now for the opinions featuring a smattering of words and phrases that probably mean slightly different things to different people...
So in calculating the volume I went on CI’s web based custom board builder thing and punched in the dims for a few different boards with ‘similar’ outlines and everything pretty much came in around 33L.
However, as soon as I got it in the water I realized it was more than that. When sitting on the board, the surface of the water hit at those ribs that get sore when you surf without a wetsuit for a few hours. My best guess is 34L, but in the end it doesn’t really matter.
The board paddled fine and caught waves fine. I wouldn’t say it’s a wave catching machine but it does just fine. Beak nose, flat deck, volume forward all contribute to hidden volume and wave catching ability for what is, judging by the dims, a pretty small board for a guy my size and age.
Anyway once you get planing the board is so fuckking fast that you can take off quite a bit deeper. Twin fin set up planes sooner IMHO.
Let me just mention here that prior to the surf I had only been riding a mid length single fin for the past 3 months. Also I haven’t ridden a board with glass on fins since 1996.
This first surf had pretty dumpy waves and I never got a chance to open it up but I did get a couple waves that gave me the impression that this board definitely works.
The board had no issues holding off the bottom and it gained speed through turns in a way I have never really felt before. I did go for a top turn, over cooked it a bit and ate sh!t. I also caught a left (backside) and was only able to do a bottom turn before the wave closed out. It held the turn better than expected but it was not a very good ‘test’ of it’s backside performance.
2nd surf - point break...
First wave I sort of reverted to that wide stance, heavy pivot off the bottom thruster style turn expecting to go straight up into the lip but the board lost traction so I had to calm down a bit and nursed it through the turn. Came up mid face and that fucking speed just kicked in. Check turn to scrub a little speed and set up another bottom turn. Narrowed my stance and used my feet ‘as one’ applying weight to the concave that runs along the rail.
Oh sh!t! Acceleration, drive, hold. Roundish twin fin turn but went straight up. Top turn created more acceleration that I wasn’t ready for and I ate sh!t.
2nd wave, again a little loosey goosey off the bottom but easily manageable. I think this is only partly due to it being a twin fin, part due to my heavy foot but possibly mostly caused by the fat bottom of the waves. On the beach break surf where it was steeper with a flat bottom (wave more square) I had no issues losing grip. Eventually on the point surf I just started going farther into the flats before turning off the bottom and the traction issue went away.
Finally got a good runner with a couple of sections and was getting used to the board. Even though I have ridden twins and quads all my life this board is unique. The effects of the bottom contours are noticeable. I think I now really understand what GG means by concaves “gathering”.
The thing with this bottom and fin combo though is that this ‘gathering’ happens in a way that creates an incredible amount grip and the gathered water is dispensed out the back and off the rail like it’s a jet boat.
That Bonzer bottom sucks and spits. It sucks the board to the water, sort of like the aerodynamic down force used in race cars and spits it out with seemingly more force than is possible. It’s like this pulling down energy conflicts with floatation and planing of the board. Water passing beneath is getting compressed and the only way to relieve the pressure is out the back. The result is interesting to say the least. It made me rethink my entire approach to surfing these waves. It has the speed of twin keel fish (more actually) but the performance of a shortboard.
What a mad genius that made such a thing.
Got a few more waves, had a blast then the swell just sort of turned off. Although the waves were small I think I was able to give the board a fair shake.
So, who is this board for?
Im going to say that if you are a beginner to lower end intermediate surfer this is not the board for you. The board is super fast and sensitive and can get squirrelly (for me in a good way). At times it can feel a little wild, like you have to reign it in. Again, this is based on two surfs and about ten waves total so my opinion here will probably be modified.
If you are a thruster rider and have skills you should be able to transition to this board fairly well but I know there are some tri-fin aficionados that don’t like twin/quads and this board is definitely a twin fin board with all the attributes one finds in twin fin boards, but more refined.
If you surf well and want to feel something unique you’ll like it and if you are a twin fin lover this board could quite possibly be the holy grail for waist to head high (or more?) waves, especially point breaks. You will be able to get waves in a crowd due to the insane amount of speed. You’ll just simply be able to sit deeper and make more sections. Basically, if you can see the other side of the section you can make it.
It’s ridiculous.
Thank you, Malcom.
Thank you, GWS.
Thank you, cute chick at Mollusk SB that took my money.
Dims - 5’10 x 20 1/8 x 2 5/8
Fins - True Ames fiberglass twin fin glassed on
Color - blue with clear fins
Wax - FU
No traction pad
Features - beak nose, swallow tail, Bonzer bottom
Waves - 1st surf - combo swell beach break waist to chest high, super foggy.
2nd surf - right hand point break chest high, medium tide, kind of fat.
Me - 6’2 - 190 lbs. - 50 years old - been surfing 40 years. Regular foot. Rode only twins and quads for the first 10 years. Got my first tri-fin at 20 years old and have almost always had a twin or quad in the rotation.
Now for the opinions featuring a smattering of words and phrases that probably mean slightly different things to different people...
So in calculating the volume I went on CI’s web based custom board builder thing and punched in the dims for a few different boards with ‘similar’ outlines and everything pretty much came in around 33L.
However, as soon as I got it in the water I realized it was more than that. When sitting on the board, the surface of the water hit at those ribs that get sore when you surf without a wetsuit for a few hours. My best guess is 34L, but in the end it doesn’t really matter.
The board paddled fine and caught waves fine. I wouldn’t say it’s a wave catching machine but it does just fine. Beak nose, flat deck, volume forward all contribute to hidden volume and wave catching ability for what is, judging by the dims, a pretty small board for a guy my size and age.
Anyway once you get planing the board is so fuckking fast that you can take off quite a bit deeper. Twin fin set up planes sooner IMHO.
Let me just mention here that prior to the surf I had only been riding a mid length single fin for the past 3 months. Also I haven’t ridden a board with glass on fins since 1996.
This first surf had pretty dumpy waves and I never got a chance to open it up but I did get a couple waves that gave me the impression that this board definitely works.
The board had no issues holding off the bottom and it gained speed through turns in a way I have never really felt before. I did go for a top turn, over cooked it a bit and ate sh!t. I also caught a left (backside) and was only able to do a bottom turn before the wave closed out. It held the turn better than expected but it was not a very good ‘test’ of it’s backside performance.
2nd surf - point break...
First wave I sort of reverted to that wide stance, heavy pivot off the bottom thruster style turn expecting to go straight up into the lip but the board lost traction so I had to calm down a bit and nursed it through the turn. Came up mid face and that fucking speed just kicked in. Check turn to scrub a little speed and set up another bottom turn. Narrowed my stance and used my feet ‘as one’ applying weight to the concave that runs along the rail.
Oh sh!t! Acceleration, drive, hold. Roundish twin fin turn but went straight up. Top turn created more acceleration that I wasn’t ready for and I ate sh!t.
2nd wave, again a little loosey goosey off the bottom but easily manageable. I think this is only partly due to it being a twin fin, part due to my heavy foot but possibly mostly caused by the fat bottom of the waves. On the beach break surf where it was steeper with a flat bottom (wave more square) I had no issues losing grip. Eventually on the point surf I just started going farther into the flats before turning off the bottom and the traction issue went away.
Finally got a good runner with a couple of sections and was getting used to the board. Even though I have ridden twins and quads all my life this board is unique. The effects of the bottom contours are noticeable. I think I now really understand what GG means by concaves “gathering”.
The thing with this bottom and fin combo though is that this ‘gathering’ happens in a way that creates an incredible amount grip and the gathered water is dispensed out the back and off the rail like it’s a jet boat.
That Bonzer bottom sucks and spits. It sucks the board to the water, sort of like the aerodynamic down force used in race cars and spits it out with seemingly more force than is possible. It’s like this pulling down energy conflicts with floatation and planing of the board. Water passing beneath is getting compressed and the only way to relieve the pressure is out the back. The result is interesting to say the least. It made me rethink my entire approach to surfing these waves. It has the speed of twin keel fish (more actually) but the performance of a shortboard.
What a mad genius that made such a thing.
Got a few more waves, had a blast then the swell just sort of turned off. Although the waves were small I think I was able to give the board a fair shake.
So, who is this board for?
Im going to say that if you are a beginner to lower end intermediate surfer this is not the board for you. The board is super fast and sensitive and can get squirrelly (for me in a good way). At times it can feel a little wild, like you have to reign it in. Again, this is based on two surfs and about ten waves total so my opinion here will probably be modified.
If you are a thruster rider and have skills you should be able to transition to this board fairly well but I know there are some tri-fin aficionados that don’t like twin/quads and this board is definitely a twin fin board with all the attributes one finds in twin fin boards, but more refined.
If you surf well and want to feel something unique you’ll like it and if you are a twin fin lover this board could quite possibly be the holy grail for waist to head high (or more?) waves, especially point breaks. You will be able to get waves in a crowd due to the insane amount of speed. You’ll just simply be able to sit deeper and make more sections. Basically, if you can see the other side of the section you can make it.
It’s ridiculous.
Thank you, Malcom.
Thank you, GWS.
Thank you, cute chick at Mollusk SB that took my money.
