Yes, I've searched the forum for thoughts on this but most of them aren't from the regulars now. Picked up a pristine one this week. 5'10 and a beauty. Immaculate. Pretty sure that it's gonna be my turning point to really getting shortboard skills effective. Shortest board yet I've used by several inches. Swallow tail is much more pronounced than the modest swallow split on my other fish. The twinnies in the back are fat and interest me how they'll perform. My guess is fast and loose? Just like my women Are they Futures boxes with Al Merrick stamped on them or did CI actually make their own fins then? I know there are several FCS made for CI. It's got lots of volume in the chest and fat rails which I love in my Bushman semigun. Plenty of flip and rocker in the front also which I can't seem to do without now after having it on my favorite and most often used boards this spring. Thoughts on this bad boy?
Great board. You'll love it. A local guy by me has had one for years, and it's pretty much his go-to board for most days. Think about the riders who have given AM the feedback to come to this design, and it's no surprise it works so well. The only question is... what kind of beating can it take, and how long will it hold up before it goes "dead?" As for the fins, I don't know how that works. My guess is it's usually a business deal. Al and his riders develop the fin, then work out a deal with a manufacturer (or two) to produce them from a prototype. I'll bet if you ordered a board from CI you might be able to request a fin system.
Thanks guys. Everyone who knows anything that I talk to seems to feel this board is something special. I agree. And it's definitely a different animal. The twin is loose as hell until you get the skate feel for it, which I'm still getting a handle on. This thing planes really well although it needs some adjustment during the catching of smaller waves (pushing down to get more of the bottom in contact with water, etc). I see it definitely as a viable alternative to a longboard during these despicable summer conditions. The board paddles like an absolute champ. Even though it's got lots of width, my arms are able to dig into the water for a strong paddle. Sometimes the nose goes below the water during the paddle and if it's slight, it seems to help the speed during certain areas. The drop-in is all different from other boards and I've rode chips to fun boards to semi-guns even though I've not been in the game long. The drop-in feels very responsive to any weight, pressure or movement once popped up. Kind of like a Porsche 911 and how it responds so much to the road it feels like you're riding a bicycle. I've noticed despite the good rocker it has, pearling is a possibility if too much pressure is applied to the board on an early takeoff (so I feel later is better) or when front foot is placed any bit too far forward. Also, I feel like I've got to have "soft feet" when placing them on the board at the end of the pop up, as in more finesse on the landing. I'm sure it gets less sensitive to that with more powerful waves that plane the board strong and fast. I'm more inclined to backside turns because of my snowboarding background. However, on fish it seems that frontsides feel very natural. On these boards, I'll go into a front turn without thinking if that's what the wave dictates. This things powers through mush like a champ and gets through it and out front. In crap ass waves, it seems that there's a thin line between the area where the wave can still be the power source and the when you're too far out front in the "flats" (not sure if that applies to ankle-knee high waves, correct me if I'm wrong). The differential in pop-up was my limiting factor til tonight. During the day today, I was thinking back to the early spring when I was primarily developing my basics on a 7-4 funboard and on some days where there was next to no swell but calm winds I'd get these repetitive and predictable runners near the shore that were big enough to plane on and this pop up. That's how I refined my initial pop-ups, which helped greatly during the mid-spring swell when takeoffs were steeper and it was fun as hell to ride down a face for the first times. At any rate, I went out tonight with 30 minutes of daylight and stayed out for 60 til it was pitch black. Why? I had those exact waves I was thinking about earlier in the day that were exactly the reps I needed to grasp the pop-up on the Retro Fish. Some of you think I'm far too analytic. I've got to stay that being objective about technical improvement has always been the key to my athletic success and has spurred my progress in surfing. That said, the sessions where I go out with a single objective and let the rest of the rides and session just happen have been some of my days/nights of all. I was fortunate tonight to have my buddy right alongside me who is the most skilled surfer I know on a closer personal level. He would watch my attempts and give me a single thing to focus on changing each time and I'd do exactly that on the next attempt. I thanked him endlessly and it was the difference maker in this session and the fact that in one hour I went from a very inconsistent pop-up on the Retro Fish to very consistent. I feel like I'm a trip away from transcending my game multiple levels. I made the most of tonight's conditions which were actually the exact ones I wanted. But aside from pop-up and powering through mush, there were several other major components of a ride that the current conditions prohibit (steeper, faster drop-ins; bottom turns with any speed; rides long enough and faces big enough to get back into the wave and pump and re-enter). A week of days that have predictable and optimal conditions that I could take advantage of for hours each day would give me the venue to take all of what I've seen, felt, observed, and attempted and put it all together. Bottom line: I'm stoked about this board and also that I'm meeting the challenge of learning to ride it's differences from other boards. I'm also stoked that I've got several people on here and also around me that are helpful enough to assist my development. Finally, it's just great to be in the happy barn yet again and walk off the beach in next to nothing waves and know that I stepped it up a ton by determination and gratitude.
I don't know that a fish (while super fun board) is going to help with the shortboard skills all that much.
I have heard it both ways..."A fish is not a shortboard" " A fish is in the category of shortboard, although not HP."
Same here, and I think the "perfomance" comes from the rider, not the board, just my take on it. I say anything under 7' is a short board, anything 7-8' if a Funboard, and 8'1" - 12ft is a LB (although 9' is regulation size), i'm sure some will disagree with that breakdown but to it's their own, needless say more?
Definitely different from a HP. Volume by length is just another world. But foot placement and such, it's entirely similar. 5-10 is the shortest of anything I've ridden and it took some adjusting to. Has helped my foot placement on the 6-0 and 6-1 a lot.
Mr. Pink - Happy to be of service. Got to get the stoke out somehow at the end of the night or else I'd spontaneously combust. Can only have the padded walls in the magic room says the ladies, so I've got to release the rest of the beast in prose.
