what do you guys think is a better board and why? The CI single fin (MSF) or any good old school twin fin fish ( Pavel, Frye, CI, homemade, etc…) Which boards is looser, faster, and generally more fun?
In My Opinion…
Single fin, Less drag can surf waves from 2foot to as big as it gets,
if you have a smaller or flexy fin it can be loose or if you have a bigger or stiffer fin it can be drivey.
Plus i love the way singles feel!
for me it would definatly be the single!
Josh.
PS: this could be a bit of a “horses for courses” topic to some.
Just a personal preference question, depends on too many things.
Single fins glide well, trim fast, low drag, smooth.
Stick on big side fins, you tend to pivot off them, getting slightly more snap, so you want to do it again. Trim doesn’t work as well, as most tris, quads, twins have more rocker for turning, so you TURN!
You can make a single, twin, tri, quad, or 5 work in ANY size waves really well, if you just change the board design characteristics.
Basically, long bottom turn followed by trim and tuck, go single.
Snap bottom turn to verts, over and over again, try side fin boards.
What about a Bonzer board? Would it behave somewhere inbetween?
I would say yes but more like a single, never tried one though.
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What about a Bonzer board? Would it behave somewhere inbetween?
Much more like a single.
If you’re talking about 3 fin bonzers, its kinda like a single fin, but with the deep concaves you can pump more on the wave, turning and such depends alot on the rocker and outline. However, the bonzer side fins are usually long, short, and stiff, definatley drivey, more for trimming, but that doesn’t mean limited too. I’ve ridden a Bing bonzer from the seventies and from 2 foot crap to hollow head high waves it was awesome, def a different feel and alot of fun. If you’ve ridden alot of different twin and singles, maybe you should try the old school bonzer, freshen up your surfing a lil…
Obviously, everyone has their preferences, but for pure fun, I can’t beat a fish. I have about seven boards, and enjoy them all, but the one that gets me grinning like a kid is the fish.
Steve Clark of Encinitas made it, and it is the fastest thing I’ve ever ridden. It is soooo fast that I get calls from NASA.
Seriously, it’s fast, and what’s really cool is that it KEEPS its speed in turns, unlike my typical tri-fins (more me than anything else).
You know how when you try to do a roundhouse on a tri-fin how it loses speed and it’s really hard to crank that last bit of turn to bank off the whitewater? Well, with the fish that doesn’t happen. It SLAMS back into the whitewash.
And with the extra width in the nose, middle and tail, the landings are soft. Floaters are not dangerous like with a trifin, because you keep your speed and land softly and KEEP going into the next section.
It’s easy to drop in on and snake longboarders (just kidding).
You can go super fast.
Did I mention fast?
Steve Clark (VERY nice man, quick turn around) shaped it for me. It’s 6 foot with an 18 inch nose, 22 inch middle, 17 inch tail, 7.5 inch double pintails (not swallow tail—double pintails), and the tail tips are about 12 inches apart. Thickness is about 2.8 or so. I’m not sure.
It’s made from a Clark 6,2c blank, easily available at Mitch’s.
I won’t tell you how much Steve charged to make it, as that’s not my position to do. His prices may be different for different people. When I first met him (this past summer) we had an instant connection through several people we both knew, including that I grew up with his son-in-law, so he may have been nicer to me (and, believe, me, that price was NICE).
I had it glassed at The Lab in Oceanside (someone told me it is, once again, Morning Glass—I’m not sure).
The surfboard is in the pictures section. The label that I made for it says "Fat Fish Surfboards. Fat fish for fat surfers). I’m not fat, but I thought it was funny.
I will say this. I weigh 195, am six feet tall, and I think (maybe with great cloudiness) that I rip on it. It banks, it turns.
Oh, and big waves? No problem. It will get in early and HUG a steep wall. The only time it is questionable (as with all fishes) is when you bottom turn in very steep surf. But, just turn more at the top, or learn how to get it through that bottom turn. It’s hard to bury the rail, thus, the fins CAN come out when you bottom turn or do a steep, carving cutback, especially backside. But, hey, sliding is part of the fun.
Take it out at Old Mans on a big day or Lowers on any day and it will BLOW YOUR MIND.
Good luck.
Oh, and for epic single fins, try Jim Phillips. He shapes about fifteen yards from Steve Clark.
They should rename Westlake the Heavenly Highway. There are some serious MASTERS up there.
Why dont you just go COMPLETELY retro and get a finless koa longboard. I mean, think of how retro and soul surfish you would be.
Christ. I hate to be bitter, but does anyone remember when this place didnt have questions relating 3 completely different board designs as if they were one and the same?
I dunno, maybe I’m just having a bad day.
Aloha
Bryan
Yerba,
Personally I have a CI Single fin ( MSF) 7’0 and I love it. I would take it any day over a fish just due to the sheer versatility of that board. From little mush to head and a half it performs very well. ( I’m 5’10, 185)
Paddles like a long board… flatter rocker helps it move… and you can tune it with various fins ( I have found a FU 7.75 Swoop and 7.5 cutaway make that board alot of fun) It can very very loose depending on fin setup. I ride front foot dominant and it is alot of fun!!! I would really like one with a pinnier tail too!!! ( NEXT PROJECT after whats on the rack now)
Versatile is the word…
if I could only take one board on a trip with me that would be it!!
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What about a Bonzer board? Would it behave somewhere inbetween?
not really…The 5 fins bonzer I make and ride, ride somewhere in between a thruster and a single fin…but faster and smoother.
"what do you guys think is a better board and why?—
best board for what? a sinlge fin is going to ride way different than a twin fin fish…there is no better board in this equation. they both ride well if you know what you are doing but those CI boards are over hyped and Fish start smell after awhile… Just my .02 cents… keep it simple and have fun.
fish vs…
" SINGLIE" [!]
…WOOHOO !! my new nickname !! thanks mate …I love it !
I like fish, I like single fins. I like thrusters, quads and five finners. Yes, a bonzer is next…
In a nutshell, I like trying different boards …
ben
p.s. - is it really ‘retro’ or ‘old school’ if you’ve always been riding singles or twinnies since you started surfing ?
… Maybe ‘retro’ is just a term younger guys use to describe boards they never grew up with ?
[ I won’t be losing any sleep over which label to wear, that’s for sure !]
"p.s. - is it really ‘retro’ or ‘old school’ if you’ve always been riding singles or twinnies since you started surfing ?
… Maybe ‘retro’ is just a term younger guys use to describe boards they never grew up with ?"
its retro or old school for me because I’m only 16 and grew up in Germany so I have only expereinced surfing and surfboards for less than a couple of years now. Basically those are the only words I could come up with that describe the non-thruster boards Im used to
fair enough… now, about your name… spanish ??
sent you a PM regarding that
“yerbabuena” a band sorta like the Buena Vista Social Club (Cuban Music) & is also named the mint used in a mojito, a Cuban drink made with rum and sugar & literraly translated means “good herb”
My take on this subject is that the two designs are so different it would be difficult to compare them. But since you asked, I think the fish is a more versatile small wave design. It will probably generate more speed in small, gutless surf than almost any variation of a single fin and still be fun when the waves are good too. A single fin usually works better if the waves have a little more push to them and the conditions are good. I have both types of boards and use them in the way I’ve described. The fish is 6’4" and the roundpin is 7’0".
That is certainly true in your two examples.
But what would happen if your fish was 7’, and the single fin was a flat rockered, hard railed, super fast speed machine designed for tiny waves?
And your fish was 20" wide with a 13.5 tail?
It’s surfboard design that makes a board good in small or big waves, not just fin config or # of.
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" …what would happen if your fish was 7’, and the single fin was a flat rockered, hard railed, super fast speed machine designed for tiny waves?
And your fish was 20" wide with a 13.5 tail ?.. "
…the fish would probably be a single fin swallowtail then.
And the single fin you mentioned would probably , literally, be a pearler !
ben
the “pearler” sounds a lot like your stubbie chip, that would be the single fin id want with me ona small day, that or my gigantic 6’1" stubbie single twin.
if youve never riddena single fin before, a fish will be easier to transition to. the single takes alot of getting used to because of the lack of rail fins so you cant just jam into a turn, you gotta ease it since the rails is holding you in not the fins. personally i want another fish instead of a single fin, more fun for me.
hi dave !
…make a single fin fish . Be an aussie for a few months…you’ll grow to LOVE it ! [maybe]
ben