Channel Islands Biscuit

While visiting in Southern California, I had a chance to test drive a stock 5′2 Channel Island’s Biscuit at Leo Carillo and 1st Point Malibu. The stock 5′2 Biscuit features light glassing with dimensions of 5′2 x 19.75″ x 2.75″ and a three fin configuration. Upon first look, the amount of volume for such a short length is quite staggering but for those unsure of whether they’d be able to surf a board considerably shorter than normal is reassuring. Overall, the Biscuit looks like a thick and stubby disk with the wide point forward of center and the thickest part of the board being forward as well. The rocker is very flat…probably one of the flattest rockers I’ve seen even compared to all the retro fishes out there.

The paddling on this board was pretty easy…similar to a retro fish a few inches bigger though all this considering the 3/2 wetsuit I was in was quite restricting and affecting my paddling due to the fact that we never wear wetsuits in Hawaii. I battled a number of longboarders at 1st Point Malibu and still managed to catch a few.

It seemed that the board took a bit more energy to get it started. The 5′6 Xanadu Wave Rocket seems to generate a burst of speed right off the bat…the Biscuit took a little longer but once you got going she had more than enough. The lack of initial speed could be due to a few reasons:

1. Stiffness I experience in my full wetsuit
2. 3 fin configuration of Biscuit vs speedy twin fin fish
3. Less overall volume compared to Xanadu Wave Rocket

The maneuverability of the Biscuit was average…it felt as though you really needed a decent wave for this board to turn on a dime. Overall, the Biscuit didn’t turn as well as the Xanadu Wave Rocket turns in small mushy surf.

Channel Islands promotes this board as their small wave groveler so I was expecting it to absolutely fly at 1st Point. However, I think the Xanadu Wave Rocket goes faster off the bat and has more overall speed with more maneuverability. I plan to ride the Biscuit in Hawaii and try it backside which is an area where the Wave Rocket lacks tremendously.

Again, the surf in California is quite different than Hawaii…we don’t wear wetsuits and don’t surf point breaks and these observations are just based on two surf sessions in waist to shoulder high surf. I’ll have better insight into the performance of this board when I surf it in waves that I’m more familiar and accustomed to. Stay tuned.

Ewa Beach shaper Mitch of Sasquatch Surfboards was cool enough to make me an awesome 5′7 retro quad fin fish (5′7 x 20.5″ x 2.5″). I wanted a board for the crowded waves in town and Mitch delivered the perfect board. I tested the board out on a smaller day at Kewalos a couple months ago (sorry for the late post!). The board looked pretty short but paddling out was a breeze and I had a feeling it would perform well in the small surf.

It’s always interesting when you ride these retro shapes. They always look like they may be hard to turn but when you actually get on the wave, these boards absolutely fly and can turn on a dime. There is quite a bit of thickness just forward of center on this board which makes it easy to get into waves early. This board had a slightly different feel from some of the other retro fishes I’ve tried…I would say it feels pretty skatey…almost like surfing on a man hole cover. It’s like you’re on a flying disk and the short length of the board takes you where you want to go. I think you should ride these types of boards as short as possible so you get the maneuverability and the fullness of the rails and wide tail will make up for the decrease in length.

As far as fins go, the quad fins definitely hold better than twin fins yet still provide similar top end speed. I think in small waves both quad and twin fins work just as well but you don’t really get the benefits of the quad’s ability to hold better. If you like to surf your fishes in bigger waves (head high +) you may want to try the quad fins out.

Website: http://www.sasquatchsurfboards.com
Email: ewafish@gmail.com
Phone: 808-271-2463

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After writing a post on Firewire Surfboards back in March of 2007, I finally got a chance to try one of these hyped up boards. Luckily for me, Kumau at Tropical Blends was cool enough to let me his personal board. For some reason, the Firewire people have been uninterested in letting me demo a board…who knows, perhaps they’re not into free publicity? Anyway, I recently got a chance to try a 5′10 Futura on a dying south swell which would be a good test to see how this board worked in less than perfect surf. The Futura is available in 3 models:

5′10 x 19 1/2″ 2 1/4″
6′0 x 19 3/4″ x 2 3/8″
6′2 x 20″ x 2 1/2″

All come with swallow tails and a thruster FCS setup. An interesting note on Kumau’s board…he set it up with FCS MR twin fins (glass) and added the smaller trailer to it. I had never heard of anyone riding this other than as a thruster but he said it worked well for him so I figured it would be very interesting.

This board has a somewhat fuller shortboard outline, lower rocker, yet overall the board is pretty thin…especially in the nose area. Paddling was very easy and it definitely floated a lot better than it would have if it were traditional polyurethane.

I ate sh!t on the first wave…guess I wasn’t prepared for the slippiness of the twin fin setup but after a few more waves I figured out where my weight needed to be and voila…I was very impressed at how responsive the board felt. The biggest thing I’ve heard about Firewire boards is how they flex out of turns. Well I didn’t really feel the board pushing out of turns and giving me a boost of speed (probably because the surf was only waist/chest high at best) but the board did feel a bit more springy and lively than even a fresh fiberglass board. The Futura demonstrated exactly what the Firewire website claimed: “The Future Series merges the innate performance of new school fish design with the acceleration of Future Shapes Technology, creating a surfboard with pedal to the metal top end speed and remarkably tight turning radius. Buckle your seatbelt.’ This board could definitely fly and I was blazing on the small little walls. It’s hard to say if it’s because of the flex in the board or more because of the twin fin setups which usually go faster than tri-fins. Either way, this particular setup is killer for smaller days head high and under with twin fin speed and thruster performance. The Future basically rides like a traditional shortboard yet it’s so much more forgiving in less than ideal surf.

I have another day to try this board out in a tri-fin setup so I’ll report back on my findings. So far, the hype is true and these boards are quite remarkable. Best thing about them, they’re pretty resilient to dings and damage so if you’re the type of surfer that always wrecks your boards, you may want to try a Firewire.

Dimensions: 5′4 x 20.5″ x 2.5″

Well I’m totally stoked to have gotten my hands on Tore Surfboard’s newest design, the Mr. Eggo. This particular design is inspired by retro boards from the late 70’s and early 80’s and features boxy rails and lots of foam! This particular board measures 5′4 x 20.5″ x 2.5″ and utilizes 5 future fin boxes which allow you to ride it as a thruster or quad (not really designed to be ridden as a 5 fin but with the right fin setup you may be able to get it to work). This board also features more of a rounded pintail…the standard Mr. Eggo model features a rounded squash tail. I’ve been getting tired of riding my longboard on those small gutless days because a) they’re heavy and a pain to carry around and b) they just don’t respond and turn as well as a shortboard. The problem is that when the surf is on the smaller side, normal shortboards don’t work as well which creates that trade off. It looks as though Mr Eggo has come to save the day. You basically get a board that paddles insane due in large part to the amount of foam and flat rocker of the board. However, the extremely short length allows you to take this board wherever you want to go and the short length also fits well in the pocket.

Test Drive

I was able to ride this board for the first time in knee high onshore slop and surprisingly the board paddled extremely well for something only 5′4 in length and I actually got a couple decent rides when everyone else was struggling just to catch a wave. I’d have to say that the conditions today were so poor that I wouldn’t really judge a board in those waves but this board seemed to work as good as a longboard. I rode Mr. Eggo with a thruster fin setup and after I get a few sessions in decent waves with the 3 fin setup I’ll give the quad fins a go…stay tuned.

I recently tested Kent Senatore’s personal Rocket Fish quad as we had very clean conditions and a fun swell last week. While I have my own Rocket Fish with a thruster set-up, I was eager to try Kent’s board which he claimed was much faster than a traditional 3 fin setup. This particular board also featured slightly wider and thicker dimensions than my own board: 5?9? x 2? 3/8 x 19? 1/2

I’m quite accustomed to riding loose boards as I normally ride twin fish fishes and I was expecting the board to be relatively easy to get used to. Boy was I wrong. Off the bat this board felt ultra loose and slippy but with a surprising amount of drive and speed. It took a few waves to get the hang of riding the board as pushing too hard on the rail lead to near spin-outs. I was amazed at how fast this board worked in relatively slower waves and hard cutbacks and snaps felt a bit easier…without center fin drag, I really felt like I could whip this board around and turn quicker in the smaller surf.

As a faithful twin fin rider, I was very much surprised that it took me a few sessions to get used to the looseness of the quad. Perhaps it’s attributed to the fact that the Rocket Fish quad features a much slimmer outline (more ’short-boardy’) than the wide body retro fishes of the past which I predominantly favor. In my opinion, quads work really well in smaller/slower surf because the generate much more speed than your traditional thruster. As the wave size increases as does its power, both quads and thrusters begin to work equally well although some of Northern Cal’s top big wave surfers on Stretch boards will argue that quads work better in 2ft to 40 ft surf.

Got a chance to test drive another retro twin fin fish (Circa 70). I really like these retro boards! 5′9 x 20″ 1/2 x 2″ 3/8. The Circa featured beautiful wooden glass on keel fins and a top notch acid splash foamie and pigmented resin job. Visually, this board was easy on the eyes and looked like it would fly. For those that don’t know the North Shore’s Kent Senatore of TORE Surfboards, he produces each board himself from start to finish from shaping the raw blank to putting the final layer of resin and gloss polishing the board.

Kent’s one of the few shapers that still produce the entire board himself…most of the shapers today farm the glassing (and sometimes shaping!) out to glassers and ghost shapers. Who’d a thought…you decide to spend big bucks on a Merrick or Tokoro board and chances are they didn’t even shape the darn thing themselves. Anyway, you won’t have that problem with Kent.

I managed to ride this board a number of times this summer on Oahu’s South Shore and it was a good thing I had this twin fin fish because the surf has been pretty dismal the past few months. Even though the surf had been small for a long time, this board proved its worth in non-ideal conditions. The flat fish rocker combined with sufficient width and thickness gave me plenty of paddling power to get into the smallest waves and flat/mushy sections were no problem. Once this board gets on the wave you can pretty much go around all the dead spots and surf the wave like your longboard. Add a few pumps in there and you can throw some tail around on gutless days.

The Circa 70 leans on feeling a little more like a thruster than some of the other fishes I’ve tried in the past. While other twin fins are way too loose lack drive, this board gives you more than enough looseness to pump and hit lips with great drive and down the line speed. If you want a surfboard that can catch a ton of waves yet still perform maneuvers, the Circa 70 is the type of board you need to try. This board is definitely a winner in small/slow surf/crowded days but can also work well on overhead swells too.

I just tested out this brand spanking new Kimo Greene Quad Fin Fish. This board measures 5′10 x 20.5″ x 3″. Yes, this board is beefy, especially for someone of my size! The interesting aspect of this board (besides the cool marble swirl) is the quad fin setup on a retro design. I’m sure you can tell by the picture that this board features a super wide fish tail and very full outline. I’ve seen most quad fin setups used on high performance boards like shortboards and performance fishes but haven’t seen a whole number of them on retro boards.

Took this board out for a test drive at one of my local spots and on my first wave, I noticed this board was INSANELY loose! I’ve never been a fan a extremely loose boards and have always preferred a little more drive. Long story short, I ended up switching the quad fins out and replacing them with a Future set that included 5.5″ front fins and 3.5″ trailing fins. At first it seemed like a lot of fin but this board has a lot of foam.

The next day I took the quad fin fish out for a spin again and a huge difference! The board had all the drive in the world and more than enough turning ability. Stoked! I’ve found that this board works great as a longboard replacement. I have this notion that longboarding makes me lazy and fat which is why I always try to stick with small boards. The extra thickness and width provides enough paddling power to hog a fair share of waves though we recommend that you share with your fellow surfers! Longboarding is fun but there are times when you just want to throw your tail around a little faster. This Kimo Greene Quad Fish is the perfect match for those longboard days when you really want to shortboard.

Comments

This retro fish rides extremely different from the other quads I’ve ridden. While most quad fin setups on high performance boards feel extremely loose, the quad fins on a wide and thick retro board make it ride more like a thruster. I’m assuming the super wide tail has something to do with this but perhaps if it wasn’t for the quad set, this board wouldn’t turn as well? A good board for gutless waves.

Saw Chad from Walk Fantastic in the water with a sick looking longboard. He let me try the Walk Fantastic 9′2 Retro noserider he personally shaped for himself. The board measured 9′2 x 23″ 1/4 x 2″7/8, 50/50 rails, reverse vee in the nose, wood block in the tail, and beautiful paint job. This single fin noserider reminded me of the noseriders you normally find in California and its super flat entry rocker made paddling and wave catching effortless. The board has an extremely blunt nose and wide square tail typical of the boards from the old days and the one aspect I liked about this board was its thinner nose which gave the board a sleek look offering better noseriding control.

I never had a chance to noseride thiseoard due to the short wave length on this day but I imagine you can easily hang ten on it. I’ll write more about this board the next time I bump into the Walk Fantastic guys. If you’re looking for a retro/Cali style longboard, this one is a sure thing.

I tested my friend Bruce’s 9′4 Joel Tudor Classic Pin. The board measured 9′4 x 22.125″ x 3.125″ with slight concave under the nose, smooth 50/50 rails, and 10″ classic fin. This was the first time I’ve ridden one of these ‘Cali-type’ longboards with it’s ultra flat rocker and even rails. Hawaii doesn’t really have slow point break style waves like those found in CA and because our waves are often shorter, steeper, and packed with more punch, our longboards tend to utilize a lot more nose and tail rocker to keep from pearling and provide quicker turning ability. The Tudor Classic Pin provided excellent paddling power and its wave catching ability was effortless. The overall flatter deck and rocker combined with soft rails proved to be something that I’ll need to get used to but I did manage a few smooth and arcing turns.

Unfortunately, due to the poor shape of wave faces today, I wasn’t able to noseride this board. However, I’ll get a chance to ride the Classic Pin a few more times soon and report on its nose riding ability. Stay tuned for the update.

While taking a look at Firewire Surfboards, I also noticed Surtech’s new TL2 skinned surfboards. The intriguing aspect of these boards was that they looked and felt like a traditional fiberglass board. My gripe with Surftech boards has always been that they feel extremely stiff and dead. The company has been promoting the TL2 skin as their next advancement in epoxy technology which offers performance improving flex.

Technology

Each board features a Techlite blank which is hand finished. The board is then vacuum bagged where it is wrapped in epoxy, fiberglass, and Acrylite which ensures a superior glass job. The Acrylite provides durability while providing ‘Variable Flex Engineering’ which the company claims to produce “desired flex and drive.” The boards are then processed by finishing shapers for last minute fine tuning and then glassed with clear epoxy glass and hot coated.

What separates the new TL2 boards from the older Tuflite surfboards is that TL2 boards go through the scrutiny of a hand shaper where as the Tuflite boards were mass produced pop outs. I couldn’t believe how different the new TL2 boards felt and if they do provide greater flex and drive, these boards could prove to be a great improvement over the Tuflite boards of old. These boards only appear to be available in an off white color…a big change from the colorful epoxy boards of the past.

We will be testing a bunch of Surftech boards including TL2 boards in the new future…our Hawaii Surftech rep has been cool enough to hook it up. Read our Surftech reviews.

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