For all those surfers out there who have a keen interest in surfboard design, you’ll definitely want to get the January 2008 issue of Surfing Magazine. Regarded as 2008’s Surfboard Design Issue, this particular issue goes off on the future of shaping two years after Clark’s infamous closure. The magazine also sheds some light on exactly what types of surfboard materials surfers are actually buying, the pros of twin fins, an interview with shaper of the year Rusty Preisendorfer, and a sneak peek inside the Channel Islands/Burton secret surfboard lab. In my opinion this is one of the best board design issues I’ve read…go get one for yourself and see why.

While Hawaii is known for powerful gnarly surf during its winter months, most locals surf the weaker waves of Oahu’s south shore, which breaks consistently year round. Because the surf on the south shore is typically much weaker and smaller, I’ve realized that having fun on high performance shortboards (ala 5′11 x 18″ 3/16 x 2″ 3/16) is pretty much futile. On days when the surf is halfway decent, surf spots are normally clogged with a mixture of beginners and above average surfers, shortboarders and longboarders, and more increasingly SUPs (stand up paddle boards).

Lucky for us the retro revolution made fishes cool again and for this I am grateful. For the most part, I exclusively ride fish surfboards in all types of surf and conditions. On really tiny days, I take out a retro twin fin fish which features a flat rocker, thick rails, and wide tail. The extra width and thickness combined with flat rocker helps you push through the mush and soft/non-existent sections.

When the surf gets better, I ride a hybrid fish that’s slightly thicker and wider than my standard shortboard. Similar to the retro fish surfboard, this hybrid fish also features a flat rocker for improved wave catching ability. Add quad fins to that mix and you have a speed demon that can catch a million waves but still perform like a shortboard.

If you’ve been reluctant to ride a fish but have noticed a drop in your wave count or poor speed and wave catching ability at your� home break, I highly recommend you try one. Fish surfboards are normally shorter than your standard board which allows them to fit in the pocket quite nicely yet paddle better due to its flatter rocker. They generally perform the best in less than perfect conditions and can make bad days extremely fun.

I decided to listen to my own advice and try a 5 fin surfboard. I have been riding my TORE Rocket Fish (thruster setup) for a while now and have gotten very used to the board. It has performed well in a variety of conditions both weak and crumbly to overhead and sucking. I have noticed however, that in weaker mushier surf, the thruster had a tendency to bog on turns. It was as if the board used all its speed to complete a simple turn. After having a discussion with Kent Senatore of TORE Surfboards, I decided to try the quad. He absolutely loves his quad and the big difference he feels is how much faster the board works in weaker surf.

I was set to order a quad but one thing pondered in my head. Theoretically, I wouldn’t really have an even playing field for my thruster vs quad test if I got two different boards. All things being equal, no two boards is exactly the same no matter whether it is hand shaped or even machine cut. So I decide to have rear quad fins plugged into my current Rocket Fish.

I surf the board as a thruster for a while to get a good feel for its performance. On very small days it bogged and felt somewhat slow. However, when the waves picked up, it worked great, as would most performance boards in smaller crappier surf. We then had a run of small surf which I decided was the perfect time to test the quad out. I surfed it several sessions straight in less than idea conditions and was instantly hooked. This particular quad had its rear set of fins set slightly farther back than the standard quad Rocket Fish. This made it slightly less loose feeling but still required a bit of getting used to. On several occasions, I could feel the board slipping a little down the line and off the bottom, most likely due to my comfort with thrusters. However, once I got used to the board and it’s loose feeling, the board came alive with a lot more speed in smaller waves. I did a few snaps in waist high surf along with connecting round house cutbacks.

The end result? The quad is definitely faster in smaller surf and it responds faster on turns. In my opinion, as the waves get bigger, you’ll find that the thruster comes alive and performs just as well. When waves a bigger and faster, almost any surfboard will pick up speed. However, it’s in the small gutless waves where the quad shines and gives you an extra quick burst to make it around a section.

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.

The other day I was at the book store reading the current issue of Transword Surf magazine (I think it was Transworld) when I stumbled upon an intriguing article on the new trend of routing 5 boxes in your new board. The article wasn’t talking about some weird 5 fin bonzer or experimental surfboard. It was referring to a board with a thruster setup. And Quad fins. The recent popularity of quad fins surfboards has created a large movement of open eyed surfers who have added an extra fin and gotten rid of the one in the middle for way more speed and quicker turns and snaps. However, the majority of hardcore thruster setup enthusiasts are still somewhat apprehensive to fully embrace the four fin setup. A number of these ‘on the fence’ quad adopters have experimented with 5 fin boxes which allow you to ride your board both with a quad or thruster fin setup. For those that have been stubornly downplaying the advantages of four fins, the 5 fin box allows you to put the quad setup to the test. Go ahead and ride your thruster first and then switch them out with a quad fin set (Future quad fins seem to be the most popular here in Hawaii). And remember, give your quad setup several sessions for you to acclimate yourself to the increase in down the line speed and much more responsive turns. Like the not so old adage goes, “don’t knock it till you try it”.

Besides getting hardcore thruster believers to try quad setups, the 5 fin box is also providing new school surfers with a much versatile board. You can use your quad in quick beach break surf and go back to your trusty old thruster setup when you need a little more drive and not as much speed (what idiot doesn’t need more speed besides Mick Fanning). The aspect I really like about this versatility is that your board stays the same. Same rocker, outline, thickness, foil, rails, and every other minute detail. You don’t have to re-adjust to the actual board when switching between quad or thruster. In essence, you only need to get used to the different fin setup characteristics and feel. The only slight downside to having 5 boxes is that it may make your board slightly tail heavy (depending on the size of your board and glass job) but I personally don’t think most surfers will even feel the difference in weight. In my opinion, the extra weight is definitely worth the versatility and fun that you’ll achieve.

Infinity Surfboards began business in 1970 where Steve Boehne and his wife Barrie open their first shop in an old gas station in Huntington Beach. Since then, their shaping business has grown considerably with over 30,000 Infinity surfboards shaped and the shaping crew currently features Steve and Dan Boehne, Larry Cobb, and Ryan Engle. As Infinity’s founder and main shaper, Steve has shown all their shapers his techniques and views on shaping water craft. Steve began surfing in 1959 and years later moved towards making surfboards. He had shaped a hundred boards as a back yard shaper when he began work at Gordie Surfboards. Steve learned a lot from Gordie (known for fancy stringers & tail blocks in his classic longboards) who helped Steve develop his philosophy and shaping style. He currently still shapes over 250 surfboards every year. He and his wife have also had great success as tandem surfers winning six USA Championships, six Makaha International meets, two World Titles, and other tandem contests.

Infinity Surfboard Models

Cluster - Three fin design featuring V bottom and the biggest finds on the rail and with clustered fins.
Secret Weapon - Cluster model that works great in beach breaks. Short and thick with shortboard maneuvering.
Rad NoseRider - This model is a fast trimming and levitating nose rider.
Competitor - High performance longboard designed for competition. Light 4 oz glass, thin, responsive, and a double concave bottom.
Classic - 60/40 raisl provides a natural feeling ride along with smooth and flowing turns.
Stylemaster - Classic design with improved performance features.
Rich Chew Models - Competition model but with more floatation.
Floater - Designed for big or matured guys to give you enough float.

Infinity Shortboards

The Blurr
Geoff Brack Pro Model
The Automatic
The Silverback
5F
Ariifa Gun
Rawson Guns
Authentic Retros
Summer of ‘83

Stand up paddle boards are in high demand right now and the supply of quality stand up boards is still playing catch up. Here in Hawaii, stand up paddle (SUP) board shapers who have been shaping boards from traditional fiberglass materials have become so overwhelmed with demand that the average wait time for a SUP has ballooned to six months. The SUP demand has been so high that surf shops specializing in stand up paddle boards have popped up, most notably Wet Feet in the Aina Haina Shopping Center. The company claims to be the world’s first SUP surf shop and offers a variety of stand up epoxy surfboards, stand up paddles, and other SUP accessories.

Wet Feet Surf Shop - Aina Haina - Specializing in Stand up Paddle Boards & Accessories

So why has stand up paddle surfing generated so much attention in such a short time span? The sport of SUP surfing has been around since the early days of Duke Kahanamoku and the Waikiki Beachboys. It saw a recent surge in popularity after many of the big wave surfers began using SUP as a way to train in the off season. Stand up paddle surfing requires a heightened sense of balance and a strong core which helps stabilize the board and maneuver it. You’ll often see a number of surfers on the North Shore paddling their SUPs in the summer time when the waves are small as a way to stay fit and in shape before the North Pacific re-awakens. Many SUP surfers have noted fat loss and tone bodies as a result of consistent stand up paddling and surfing and there are even SUP surfers in the Midwest paddling their boards in lakes! Stand up paddle surfing has shown the most explosive growth rate since wind surfing and has caught on in Hawaii, California, East Coast, Australia, and Europe.

A key to having fun stand up paddle surfing is choosing the proper board. Stand up paddle boards usually start from 10′ depending on the size of the surfer with typical width being 26″+ wide and 4″+ inches thick. The typical stand up paddle boards I’ve seen on the South Shore of Oahu are around 11′0 x 28″ x 4.75″. While I’m not the biggest fan of epoxy surfboards, I feel that stand up paddle boards actually benefit from epoxy technology making the SUPs much lighter and more ding resistant. Can you imagine carrying an 11′ fiberglass paddle board over your head every time you surf?

Every surfer should at least try stand up paddle surfing at least once and see how much core strength they develop and how much fat you start burning. You’ll also notice that your surfing will begin to improve. I’m a constant fan of experimenting, learning, and riding a variety of different surfboards.

Stand Up Paddle Shapers and Shops - Oahu

Wet Feet Surf Shop Hawaii

Kimo Greene Surfboards

Tropical Blends Surf Shop

SurfCo Hawaii, the Oahu based surf company that produces nose guards, diamond tips, quick fix ding repair, and Proteck fins has created an interesting traction pad. Launched earlier this year, Surfco’s Hawaiian Hot Grip traction pads are the first ever clear molded traction pads which feature a CAD-designed one piece clear traction pad. The CAD design helps with streamlining the traction pad and the ergonomically designed air cushions provide a unique and comfortable fit for surfers.

The interesting aspect to this particular traction is the pad is manufactured out of the same material as Surfco’s noseguards, which provides a non-abrasive surface. If there’s one gripe I have about all the surfboard traction pads out there (Dakine traction pads, OAM, Xtrak, etc) is that those things rip my knees up pretty good when I surf every day. Last time I checked the pads had ripped all the hair off my knees so now I have bald spots!

The Hawaiian Hot Grip pad also directs water toward the back of the board due to the channels in the grip pad yet still provides an area for comfortable foot placement. The heavy duty peel and stick adhesive combined with noseguard primer (included) makes the application of the pad quick and simple. Don’t you hate it when your traction pad has 6 pieces and when you finally try putting it on your new board the pieces don’t fit and aren’t aligned properly? What a waste of time.

I’ll be getting a new custom surfboard soon and I’ll let you all know what I think of the Hawaiian Hot Grip traction pad. Stay tuned for a full review.