The Ideal Fish?

General Discussion
1

Hi all!

I’m UK based and looking to get myself a Fish and as much as I would love to get a Brom/Pavel/Mandala/Mabile/Hynson etc the cost of shipping it, import duty and the time it would take are prohibitive. So that leaves me at the mercy of local shapers, and no disrespect to any of them as they make top quality thrusters and longboards etc. as good as anyone, but I don’t get the impression that the Fish is as understood and developed in the UK as it is elsewhere (especially Cali).

So I’d like to go to a local shaper armed with as much insight into what I need as possible, which is where Swaylocks comes in !! I’d like to hear your opinions on what are the right ingredients for a modern take on the retro fish particularly:

 Length                 

 Thickness             

 Width                

 Position of Widest point    

 Bottom (concave? vee??)        

 Rocker

 Tip to tip size            

 Buttcrack size

 Rails

 Fins

 Anything I've missed ;^)

I was thinking along the lines of a 5’8"x 22"x 2.75"

I’m looking for the board to perform in mostly sub 4’ beach breaks (usually onshore!!) and I would like it to be as maneuverable as possible without straying too far from the Fish ideals. I want to go fast and beat the sections but I also want to be able to pull nice tight cutbacks and have as much fun going backhand as forehand.

Me: 6’0" 160-165 lbs : surfing 20yrs (competent cutbacks, floaters, re-entries etc) usually riding thrusters 6’ - 6’5"

Any help would be most appreciated

Cheers

Malc

PS any UK based surfers with Fish please let me know all about it!

2

I just had Manny (Mandala) shape me a qaud and it rides insane. I’m 5’7’’ 150lbs and surf Long Island NY beachbreak. The dimensions of the board he shape me are 5’9’’ x 20.5’’ x 2.5’’ . For your size and weight you might want something like 5’10’’ or 5’11’’ 21’’ x 2 5/8’'. I originally was going to go a little shorter but Manny said the extra few inches would compensate for wearing a 6mil in the winter.

Good Luck

3

Cheers SurfLI,

Just like you we need some serious rubber through the winter.

Maybe I should nudge up the length a bit?

Mannys boards look awesome - hope your getting some good waves to enjoy it on!

4

add a 6 inch deep swallow tail

5

malcatron,

The ideal fish is the one you build yourself and ride. You can do it. Don’t need a shaper. You’re the shaper. The laminator, too. Mike

6

Hi rooster,

I’m sure building your own board is the ultimate satisfaction, but I live in the City in a small appartment with barely enough room for my guitars and CD collection!! I get enough agro from the misses for constantly having smelly wetsuits drying in the bathroom!! So the smell of resin and a floor covered in foam dust probably wouldn’t go down too well…

When I eventually move to a bigger place building my own boards would be something I’d definately like to do.

7

Hi Malcatron

Where are you based in the UK?

The biggest problem with the UK fishes are the fins, none of the bigger manufacture makes a good set of keels. (all to small with doggy fin placement)

You can get hold of some imported fishes here (try loose fit or revolver) or try the guys down at ODD in wales who shape a nice board.

Best thing to do is shape one yourself, theres plenty of places to get the thing glassed and it works out alot cheaper.

If your coming down to the south coast send me a PM and you can try one of mine to get some scale.

Cheers Joe

8

malcatron, ditto what rooster said. (you are, after all, on a surfboard design forum)

In the archives is a template for a 5’6" fish. Its not rocket science. I recently shaped my first board which was a 5’6" fish and i surfed it yesterday in waist to head high waves and it just flies.

I’m no pro in the design of a fish, but I caught so many bombs on this board but I was really impressed with how the board handled and after awhile I only realized that I shaped it! So go for it!

9

Hi Joe,

I’m based in Cardiff and funnily enough I was going to go to Odd at the weekend to see what they could do for me. I know that Alby and the Gill have many years experience and that they do a Fish I just wanted to try and make sure that I knew what I should be asking for, and maybe get the benefit of some insight from guys on Swaylocks who really know what makes a killer Fish.

I’d love to make my own but it’s simply not possible at the moment. I don’t have the facilities or the time (full time job + playing in a band). I’ve looked at loose fit and they have some lovely boards but £750 for a Fish is a bit much!

Thanks for your reply, I hope you caught some of that awesome swell last weekend.

Cheers

 Malc
10

How about a ‘modernized’ keel fish with slightly curvier planshape, pulled in tail and wide point not as far forward, plus a fraction more rocker, to make the thing a little more versatile and forgiving in a range of conditions??

i’m blown away by how well the attached goes from knee high to well overhead !

11

Toot, am I mistaken or is that a Jim Banks logo on thst board. Could I get the sizes etc.

Cheers,

Craig.

12

Nigel Semmens(Ocean Magic) is now making traditional fish with wooden glassed on keel fins. Graham Bunt Bunty has an association with Larry Mabile as far as I know and he is doing fish too. Some people I know have gotten South Coast Retro slides from Loose fit and are stoked by them. Bear and San DuFeu and chops also have fish offerings though not as traditional as Odd and Semmens

I was a bit concerned by the wooden fins on the Semmens, the thickest part was in the rear thirs which seems to go against what I’ve learned here, but tasty fish none the less.

Best bet is to make your own, plenty of info here.

13

I’ve looked at Semmens website but he doesn’t seem to have any Lis style fish on there yet, the local hero boards look nice and it seems that they have a bit of history with the fish. Odd are only 20mins down the road from me so I guess I’ll check them out first. Also John Purton (Swansea - http://www.jpsurfboards.co.uk) has started making various retro shapes so I may give him a look too.

I like the look of those South Coast Retro Slides but £745!!!

As stated above making my own is not even an option at the moment. However, regardless of who makes the board I’d still like to hear peoples opinions on dimensions and features.

BTW I know I’m :

Quote:

on a surfboard design forum

I thought that it would be a good place to pose a question about surfboard design!?

14

yes craig,

its shaped by Jim Banks - better known for guns, but he does a bunch of other designs too.

it’s 6.1 * 21 * 2 3/4.

8*5 glass keels, nothing else fancy on it - but it goes!

cheers

toot

15

Or you can aim VERY high and try to make one like this .

16

I have got to agree with Rooster, build one, you can make 3 for the price of a new board. I just made 2 fish both work well. Easy to paddle and catch waves even for me at 44 years old. Wealth of info on Swaylocks, make your own fins too. These will catch on this year in the Uk.

17

I agree with the above. I’ve been surfing for 12 years now (I’m 34) and always wanted to try shaping. Because of Swaylocks (and ONLY because of Swaylocks) did I try to shape a board (a fish) and glass it too. With the help of some fellow Swaylockians, it came out great, and now I’m hooked. you wouldn’t be posting here if you didn’t have the itch.

18

My 2 cents, I’ve completed 8 since last summer, all rip, the last 6 with glass on keels 6x8.5 which i made also. the first ones I put Red X in them, I started on mine from a Louie Ferreira 6x2 squash fun thruster, but the nose was to wide for a nice cutback in choppy conditions, so my first fishes have, actually all my fishes have a pointier nose with the widest section front center to center area, and pull the tails in a bit. But anyway heres the smell 5x8 - 6’0 have your guy use the fish 6.2C blank, If you like the fat nose go for it, TOOT has a nice narrow nose in the previous post, looks 5x6 anyway nose 14-16 inch, tail same, tit to tit 10-12 inch, 6 inch crack, use all cant and toe in info from your experience, I went 6 degree cant and toe in approx 1-2 inch from nose center, fins about 1.25"+ from rail, its all good I wish i had this info in 72 on my first ones.

I’m 5x11, 160#, 30yrs surfing, 50 yrs old, and my board is only 2.5" thick thats all you need. Have them glass two full 4 oz. s-glass or better! single on bottom, and reinforce fin area, OH yea don’t forget the bottom contours, mine have been concave from halfway thru tail, not real deep, the flat area in front of the concaves really work good when pivoting of the foam. Rails, I’ve gone from sharp w/flat deck to 50/50 tucked dome, go with some rails from a board that really worked well for you that was on the thick side. The 50/50 are good for the speed and not gouging into the face of the waves, the keel fins supply grip-n-go. Make sure you go with the single foil keels, not those sharp leash cutting ones i’ve seen on bushman and others that don’t know anybetter.

In conclusion, for you I’d go 5’x10" x full 2.5 thick, 21-21.5 width, 11" tit to tit, 6" gash, fins set at 7" up from tits nice cant of 5-7 degree, toe in 1"+ diff. 6x9 keels w/45 or so rake or whatever these wiz kids call it. Have them glass it strong cause the fish isn’t retro it just works! Good luck, wish i could make you one, come on down to Hawaii and take one back!!! Out G.

19

I got this from John Purton a few years ago now and still surf it a lot.Its 5’10" by 20 1/2" by 2 1/2". Ordered it as a “longboard beater”. It has modern concaves and a reasonable amount of rocker. A real wavecatcher as I am 5’10" and 150lb.Can surf most size waves although speed on a decent size 10’ face plus makes the turns so fast its hard to not be pitched off. Never spun out.Used it in small summer and year round mush.Not sure wether he is using keels like this anymore.Had a Mandala on order for a while.There is a guy in Cardiff who did get his.Came in at £450 incl delivery as I remember. Simon at snsboards.co.uk is making some nice fish if you fancy a trip to Pembrokeshire.

20

Hey Gonzo,

Thanks for all the info - that’s the kind of stuff i was after!

Quote:

come on down to Hawaii and take one back!!!

…now there’s a nice thought…

Cheers buddy.