mandala fish

what do you think of these boards ie. workmanship, ridability,etc.

top notch

well pleased with mine

I’ll second what Dubstar has said. I have a Canard Quad from Mannie, great board with excellent workmanship. It was also a pleasure to work with him; personable and professional.

JN

My son has a 5’8" Single fin Mandala- The glassing is excellent. They are glassed by Tony Mikus at Strive Surfboards- a real pro-he has over 30 years of laminating experience. I am at the factory often and I am really impressed with all the work Tony is doing for Manny,pinliniing,resin tints etc. On top of that Manny is such a great guy- super eager to serve his customers well.

Have not ridden one. Looked them over really good, though. F’n beautiful boards. Mike

i have one on order and i am not worried… with basically no fish experience i said “artist choice, make me what you want”

thanks guys, i talked to manny about shaping me a 7’ fish ( im 6’2 200lb / 53 yrs old} he said no problem, seems like a great guy

It’ll be one of the best boards you’ve ever surfed. I’ve got a 5’7" fish(twin keel), and it is by far the fastest and most responsive boards I have ridden.

Jacksun,

Just an opinion but I am 6’2" and 210-220lbs depending on hop consumption,winter summer…whatever. Anyway my fish is 6’2"

x3" with a thick foil,eps +epoxy and floats me great,almost too much. I am also 38yrs and in decent shape. It catches waves like my 9’2" and flys. If you can, go shorter …I would,it will feel much more skaty at 6’4" or 6’6" even. Have fun…you will…peace and waves…

oceans 23 . im nervous about trying a board that short , i surf the gulf and our waves are slow. i ride a9’ walden magic now. my last shortboard was 6’6, but i gave it up 7 years ago

I surf the gulf as well, mainly Matagorda when I travel away from Galveston where I live in the fall and spring. My Mandala is a 5’7". It paddles and floats better than any board in my quiver except for my 1969 Oceanside Javelin, but that board is super thick. But take into consideration that I am 20 and I weigh 140. The tail is is much wider than any board I’ve surfed and it catches waves extremely well. I cannot not say enough good things about Manny’s boards! They are incredible…Garrett

Jacksun, I’m with Oceans23, you’ll be surprised on how whell those boards paddle and float. Two years ago i jumped from a 9’3’’ to a 6’2’’ Fish (i was near 200 lbs) and i had enough board to ride and more flotation than what i wanted, even on small mushy waves. Next time i’ll shape a 5’10’'.

I think 6’5’’ will be enough, but ask the shaper.

Good waves!

Hey Jacksun,

I live near and surf the gulf too, I was a little leary as well. I would not go longer anymore, because of the lack of rocker,and the thicker general foil…these boards catch waves like logs. The fish design is perfect for our slow, flat faced waves, I can not believe I am so comfortable on a 6’2" board. Before my fish I rode 6’10" - 7’2" big guy shortboard type boards and a LB.My fish… easy take offs …and then hang on, I make sections I would have never made before, you have to ride them a bit different, pump(or tic tac) them like a skateboard, hard to explain but you will pick it up quick. Maybe go with a 6’6" like your old board…but it will be nothing like it… you will be stoked whatever you decide on…have fun,nothing like a new stick…peace and waves…

Sean W.

GMC ,

I been surfing for almost 5 years now , never been on

a twin fin fish . Went to Bali 2 months ago , saw a

american boy surfing with twin fin fish … just

insanely GOOD ! Really nice round house cut back and

some “effortless” spinning and turning .

I’m 1.74 x 70kg . My board size 5’10" x 18"3/4 x 2"3/8 Round tail .

6"2 x 181/2 x 2"3/8 rounded tail too .

What size should i get for my first twin fin fish with

FCS plug (MR twin fins) , glass on fins are too risky

for me to traveling with .

I surf lots at local beach break (3 hours drive away)

, wave size 2~4ft .

Regards ,

A .

I would consider another fin system, as Futures or Lockbox for example (i don’t know the RedX), they’ll hold bigger fins without a trouble.

Good waves.

Dear Coque ,

I’m totally new on twin fin fish , wat size should i get ? do you have the fin placing template n board dimentions ?

My friend only shape normal fun board , mostly machine shape … really need help here .

Hope to try a new way of surfing …

Regards , A .

p/s: I’m 1.74 x 70KG …

Andi,

   There's a lot of people here on Sswaylocks that will give you better information, so you came to the right place. 



   Before your friend shapes your fish, you must think what kind of fish do you want and what are the wave conditions you want to surf with it. I had ridden from Mark Richards twin fin fish, to modern fishes, to "retro" twin fins like the ones that Steve Brom shapes, those are my favorites and the only ones that doesn't give me this feeling of being sliding every time i put the board on a rail. 



   What kind of fish was this guy ridding in Bali? How were the waves? 



  Check <a href="http://www.surfenginez.com/" class="bb-url">www.surfenginez.com</a>  



  Let us know what kind of waves do you want to surf with your fish, and what do you spect of its performance. 



  Good Waves!

hey guys > haven’t logged on here in a while! well, thanks to everyone for the good word–it’s good to hear folks are enjoying the boards i’ve shaped for them.

i’m writing because i just wanted to talk about where i’m coming from in terms of functional design. it’s true that going shorter is better, but only when one’s personal evolution dictates. i’ve made the progression from early-90’s 2" thick rocker ships to late 90’s/retro-progressive eggs to last-gasp/circa '81 twin fins to Y2K canard quad fish ala rich pavel, and i’ve found that finding the right length for both your psyche and your physical ability go hand in hand. i’ve had to hang up my performance shortboards, but in their place i’m just making myself thicker performance boards–fish, bonzers, single fins, etc. (shoots, i made a tri-fin that was 2-5/8" flat deck and i haven’t had that much fun hitting the lip in a long time!)

if you think you’re not going to be up to riding a shorter board, even though it’s wider, thicker, and more voluminous, you’ll be surprised to find yourself a reflection of early-seventies surfers who were hacking up their logs to make 7’ “shortboards”. it’s a big leap of faith to ride a more challenging shape, but the rewards are abundant and only limited by one’s ability to adapt and evolve. so what if you can’t surf a 5’8" fish. get stoked on the fact that you’re still out there having fun.

just for the record, if you’re going to make a 7’ “fish”, make it a quad with wings and a smaller swallowtail–like 8" or so. (don’t ask me about fin placement–rich made me promise not to give out the recipe) i’ve ridden fish scaled up to that size with 11" swallowtails and they’re no fun to turn. bringing in the tail and adding a little bit more tail rocker keeps them lively enough to spray your friends.

here’s another topic for another thread, but how about a 7’ x 20.5" x 3" diamond tail bonzer? attached is a photo of a 5’10" bonzer 5, with a coke-bottle green resin tint. keep an eye out for a new bonzer page on my website coming soon >>>

thanks > manny


Hey Manny did you get that template off Alexs Edge board, it looks cool on 5 fin set up?You goota come down and check out my collection of Hulls and talk flextails. Nice work on the bonzer Tony sure can do nice volan jobs .

hi kirk,

i made the board with a template rich pavel gave me last time i was in town. it’s a classic california pintail template(13 x 20 x 12) with a few slight modifications. i haven’t tried alex’s edge board yet–i’m waiting for my top secret left point break to start working before i get into it. >m