While everyone up North heads into the winter with fluffy boots, beanies and waterproofs, down South it’s the beginning of summer time! And it couldn’t have come a moment sooner, we’re over the cold, we want to run around in shorts and slops again, and we’re amped to surf in boardies and get some serious Vitamin D influx.

But let me paint a scenario for you, and tell me if you can relate?

1. You get to the beach with your best fluro boardies, your board is waxed, your lotion is smeared on thick, and you’re ready to surf your guts out.

2. Hmm, okay it looks a little small, maybe a bit choppier than you’d like but there must be waves out there.

3. Paddle out. Ho-hum, preeeettty small. Ooh there’s a wave, paddle, paddle, aaah, it left you behind.

4. Okay here’s a bigger one, paddle like bunny rabbit on smack, get onto the wave, stand up, and the section in front of you falls down into foam and the rest of the wave races away leaving you panting like a dog and very annoyed. At all familiar?

Well, it’s not all you. Our regular thruster style boards are not made for dealing with summer waves, and this becomes obvious when we’re left eating foamie dust. And now, dear reader, I offer you the solution.

When summer hits with its surfing pitfalls it is time to extend your quiver. I know it’s money that we can ill-afford but sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do. It will make you a better surfer and a happier person though, which is something that religious fundamentalists strive for their whole lives. You can achieve it with a simple purchase, and who said shopping was the root of all evil?

There are a variety of boards that you can invest in, but the best board for a surfer who doesn’t want to compromise on their performance, is the Fish. On that note, a lot of people are quite reluctant try out a different board when they are super-comfortable on their normal ride. They are also worried that they’ll spend a whole bunch of cash and then find that the board limits them, and that they look like a kook. The beauty with the Fish is that it can be as high performance as you like, it turns on a dime, and has an awesome shape.

When choosing or designing your fish these are the elements that you’ll need to look at:

Length: A fish is typically 2 – 3 inches shorter than your regular board, so if you’re riding a 6′0″ you can drop it down to a 5′8″ or 5′9″.

Width: To make up for the drop in length, the width pops out by about two or three inches too. So if your board is an 18 ¾’s you can bump it up to a 20 ¾’s. This adds all the extra volume that you need to make up for what you lose by shortening the board. You want the board to be more buoyant than your regular board anyway, which helps in ‘floating’ over foamy sections, which feel like road bumps on a thinner board.

Thickness: This will generally stay the same, although shapers may have different advice.

Rocker: One of the most important things that you will find on a Fish is that the rocker is much flatter, which brings the base of the board in direct contact with the water, which allows the board to plane at a lower speed.

Fin-System: Traditionally the Fish uses a twin-fin system, which is very loose and gives the board an almost skateboard type feel. However it is more common today to use a thruster set-up of three fins, which allows you more control over the board and provides more drive. Again, it’s up to you and how retro you’re feeling!

Tail: The name ‘Fish’ came from the board’s resemblance of a stubby fish, and the shape of the tail adds to this. The tail on a fish is pulled in to allow for easier turning, especially on waves where there is limited space to do turns. They typically have a swallowtail shape, which I think looks really nice, but also have the groove for tight turns.

And there you have it! All these elements add up to a board that skims over messy surf; is easy to paddle and is easy to catch waves on! Yes, it’s the cost of another board, but since you’re surfing it only in summer it should last you a good few years, and it will improve your surfing more than you can imagine.

Tags: Surfing