YerbaBuena, i have both a 6’9’’ CI singlefin and a 5’10’’ Freeline fish shaped by John Mel.
I think that both boards make a quiver. I mean, they ride so different, on different conditions that you wont have any doubts on when to use one or the other.
I also have an Eaton 3 fin Bonzer… it’s more something between a thruster and a single (as Bonzer Master Shipman said), more versatile than any other board i rode.
Don’t think to much or you’ll end riding a thruster… again.
Instead of buying a new CI, try to buy a used fish and a used CI singlefin… This would be great so you’ll be able to test them.
watch rob machado in riding waves on his single, then watch mr malloy on his fish and joel tudor on his single fin egg. nothing is faster than a twin keel fish in point surf. singly’s on shortys are of novelty value only especially if they are the wide point forward skinny tail retro flashback type . morning of the earth is good to watch to see how bad the skinny tail bastard children are. mp is the only real shining light wide tail in perfect little waves, versus the constant pumping of the other cast. they dont carve sharp quick turns turns, you need to be right on the sweet spot to turn them. if you need a couple of quick pumps to get through a section a-la thruster setup it wont happen.shuffle forward and hope the forward stance carries you through.speed bottoms out unless the board has just been through the pit. a number of boats watched the session go down from sprout in the east indies section. you dont see the slip outs in the final cut, but they happend, look at malloys facial expression when he gets back into the boat after the session.they struggled. i dont ride anything esle other than a single fin on my longboards.keep a retro single in your quiver for sure.take it out in everday surf and see how finicky it is.wait for the perfect day when your home break is like pipe and it will come alive and you can do the lopez thing.hot surfers on thrusters are a dime a dozen same with traditional longboarders.the kid around the corner from you can bust out all those tricks you see in the magazine. but you may notice there are very few single fin shortboard riders who can ride at a high level. joel,machado the rest can be counted on two hands then there is daylight for miles and miles. mob surfs super smooth,but drops 50% from his high performance boards. joel is probably the best of the bunch.takeoff/trim/pull in/style/ thats what 1 fin does just dont try and do any thruster tricks. those tricks are made for thrusters.singly’s have their own set of tricks that are suited to single fins. the two dont mix.take off/trim/pull in.a good wave is required. i was dissapointed to see Tyler hatzikian doing a string of strange drop knee style off the tops on his old school longboard in the nnn zed section of sprout,if only he had hard rails,2 extra fins and a saw to chop 3ft 9inches of his log he could have carved hard.watch for the bonzer, they are coming,you can see them slowly making their return to the front page.style and glide like a single fin when you want it and turn it hard when you have to.no more half way round cutbacks,you can go right round and hit the foam just like you do on your thruster.seek out pavel or campbell and get the best of both worlds.just dont get stuck with dusty old retro banger.
but both at the same time won’t happen - not enough fin + rail to keep it together…
a single is faster (than a thruster) but really wants to be turned from the tail, in a stall VS drive kind of way… i.e. the single eats speed when you turn - has more when you trim.
I like the single in small mushy waves - just stay on the tail and find whatever juice you can.
If it gets steeper you have to go more straight (at least from the takeoff) - compared to a thruster - cos you don’t have that fin at the edge to hold you in.
same with the twin but for a different reason - you’ve got the fin at the edge but the tail is so wide it still doesn’t hold so well.
In my (humble) opinion: if you like a wider board that you have to keep a little flatter, you will like a fish. If you like a narrower board that goes rail to rail easier you will prefer the single.
for me: (I like narrow boards) the single with little side bites (like a bonzer) or a parmenter design - is the best of both worlds: can be ridden narrower in the tail, but with some bite near the rails for pulling in when it gets steeper.
I also think the wide boards by MP were surfed alot better in MOTE than the narrower boards, BUT you forgot to mention Chris Brock! he surfed just as well if not better than MP on his wide single fin.
I have a 19" wide single, I surf it well and not like the arm flapping of some m.o.t.e surfers. If you read the recent thread about traditional loggers and how they are being surfed a whole lot better now on the same boards, apply it to single fins.
Surfing 70s single fins is an art in its own! making them work well is a style developed over time, you have to learn to ride a single fin. They are a beautiful thing to watch.
There completly different from the high performance lazor zap horan style boards.
Watch guys like Donovan surf old boards, not so high performance but he really makes them work.
Dave Rastovich actually loves old single fins in some waves including perfect mentawais, he sums it up pretty well in saying, “its not any better or worse, its just different”.
Worthy of mention though, I do belive Nat Young surfed his narrow single fins pretty well.
Sorry to doordle of from the original topic but I think this needed stating.
I learnt to surf (after bodyboarding) on a narrow single fin and since then i mostly rode older style boards.
I liked the look of thrusters etc i just got more into riding single fins…mainly as i couldnt afford new boards.
But after getting better at riding twin keels (which at first i found awkward) i mostly stopped riding single fins for a long while as they felt so skinny and toothpicky.
A good mate gave me a few single fins and two thrusters to fix up and keep…I did and on flatter shit days
that i wouldnt otherwise surf, paddle out on a single fin.
Some people say singles need swell, well i have five single fins and they all go better in peaky slop than
my twin keels.
But when it gets lined up and walling or hollower, out comes the twin keel.
When it gets bigger just ride my new round pin quad or bodyboard on the hollowest days.
Wouldnt mind a about three or four variations of each of these in my future quiver-
-twin keel, quad fish (pavel speed dialler, mkiii, glide fish and traditional twin keel)
-step up quads
-single fins
-widowmaker, 2+1 egg, bonzer
-bodyboards.
Can surf anything between 1- 15 feet with all of those.