Hybrid/Modern fish shapes

General Discussion
1

Hey all. I was hoping some of you could give me a little insight. What do you feel are the advantages/disadvantages of hybrid shapes? By hybrid I mean boards that are something of a cross between a standard shortboard and a fish (Similar to a rusty piranha) Would having one shaped by a good shaper be more helpfull to me ( an intermediate southern California surfer still looking to advance) or would it ultimately be better to stick with performance shapes till I really get them dialed? I know all of this is subjective, but I would like to hear your opinions. Thanks!

2

You said it, “somewhat subjective.” That not withstanding, is there a certain style your looking for? For example, do you groove to the more athletic and wide-stanced modern shortboard thing or do you connect more with the understated and narrower stance thing? Also, beach breaks I assume are your daily driver? Stay away in any case from designs that were developed PURELY to increase your wave count. The “Hybrid” kind of makes us all wince a little. All designs will in some way include compromise, nothing does it all. The long-fish works for me and its a hybrid design I suppose, but I can hear the keyboards clicking with all the bros who wanna turn you one way or another. Just think about where you want the board to go and how you want to look when it does go. Have fun.

3

Board #200 in the archives(6-0 thru 6-11).

My #1 shape,and very popular in Oz.

Herb

4
Quote:

Hey all. I was hoping some of you could give me a little insight. What do you feel are the advantages/disadvantages of hybrid shapes? By hybrid I mean boards that are something of a cross between a standard shortboard and a fish (Similar to a rusty piranha) Would having one shaped by a good shaper be more helpfull to me ( an intermediate southern California surfer still looking to advance) or would it ultimately be better to stick with performance shapes till I really get them dialed? I know all of this is subjective, but I would like to hear your opinions. Thanks!

What I think is funny about what they call some of those hybrids…is they use swallow tails for smaller waves instead of closed tails such as big squash, roundtails or etc. I think the swallows lose some float and wave catching ability unless they are on a pretty wide tail. I think it’s mostly about looks with those designs when it comes to the swallow. I think those same shapes work better with a closed tail.

5
Quote:

Board #200 in the archives(6-0 thru 6-11).

My #1 shape,and very popular in Oz.

Herb

I tried to find board #200 using the search but no luck. where are the archives?

6

You can’t really see it very well–Herb, you got any more pics of this thing>?

http://www.swaylocks.com/…tail_page.cgi?ID=200

2000 Spitzer Surfboards “6’-1” x 20" x 25/8" x 15" x 15" Spitzer supercharger-1(fish) Resource ID:200

Year Built: 2000

Dimensions: “6’-1” x 20" x 25/8" x 15" x 15"

Shaper: Herb Spitzer

Manufacturer: Spitzer Surfboards

Location:

“My fish.very,very fast!My best airboard to date!Works best in ; knee-overhead.”

7

Nope,

And I gave it away to a gal visiting from Santa Cruz.

Cute little thing.

Seems she was at Bolsa Chica State Beach…here in Cali, and got her shorty stolen off the racks,so I gave her that/this board.

That was a few summers ago.

I hope she enjoys it.

I do miss that board very much.

but…

I have another to replace it…soon to be finished.

Thanks Greg for the pics.

Herb

8

I ride a modern fish most of the time and love it. It’s increased width and flatter rocker are good for the crap wind swell we get on the east coast. I also have a short board that is the same length and width but the wide point is farther back, works better in larger stuff. I don’t know whether the tail split makes any difference either way, but I do like the look.