I recently had a chance to try Aviso’s Lost Round Nose Fish. This was truly one of the most interesting boards I’ve laid my eyes on. For those who don’t know, Aviso boards are hollow and comprised of carbon fiber and epoxy. According to Aviso, because the deck is not connected to the bottom, the deck absorbs and stores potential energy thus kinetically propelling the surfer in and out of turns. The hollow construction works as a sort of suspension system for surfers launching the surfer into turns and creating constant acceleration while still maintaining fluid control. The board offers an ideal coefficient of restitution (COR) which interestingly enough is used a lot in the golf world. COR is a property inherent to a rigid structure which allows it to return to its normal state after a force has been applied to it (flexing and un-flexing). Most people would read this stuff and immediately write it off…I admit that I thought most of this was marketing fluff, especially since the board retails for over $1200!

However, a friend of mine got a great deal on a used Aviso RNF and we traded boards during a surf session that featured small but nicely lined up waves. Upon first paddling this board, I noticed that it made quite a bit of noise when paddling…similar to that of an epoxy longboard (when water splashes beneath the nose while paddling) but other than that minor annoyance, the board paddle very well with a similar buoyancy to epoxy. This particular RNF featured dimensions of 5′7 x 19″ 3/4 x 2″ 1/4 with a quad fin setup. During this particular session, I rode the board as a twin with two MR tx twin fins.

I immediately caught a few decent waist high waves and was very surprised by the flex and speed of the Aviso. I had assumed the board would feel really stiff due to the hollow boat-like construction and foreign materials but that was far from reality. The board had a really nice flex…perhaps more than a Firewire board and speed generation was instant. This particular Aviso absolutely flew in the small knee to waist high surf and turns/cutbacks were so smooth. I’m totally turned onto these boards and I’m going to try and test drive a few more.

I’m not sure if I can recommend paying $1200+ for a brand new Aviso (I’ll need to try these boards a bit more), but I sure like what I see so far. If you find a good deal on a used Aviso, you should really consider taking that person up on the offer. These boards are also 3-4x stronger than polyester boards which means they’ll last a lot longer and you can use epoxy resin to patch them.

Aviso Surfboards