Surfing Waves

am looking to drastically improve my surfing over the next 6 months have got next to nowhere in the last year or so what with one thing and another and horse owning/lack of money grrrrrrh

anyways..back to the original topic tell me about hybrid fish?? Are they literally shortboards with a fish/swallowtail?? do they have two fins or thruster setup?? and why?

I'm hoping once i can popup consistently on my minimal and nail the turning bit (which apparently isnt so hard once you pop up), then i could get a custom hybrid made *cough*kitey*cough* and start to work my way down

I can already catch green waves and stuff, and know *when* to popup, but apparently Ive had my hands in the wrong place the whole time which is why I have been getting nowhere fast

So people... educate me!

Funny that i'm about to add one of these boards to my own quiver. Fortunatley i know this shaper who'll do me a really good deal!
Modern fishes of the type i think you're refering to are basically wider and slightly longer than most shortboards say around the 6 ft 5 length and 20-21 inches wide. I'm just gonna copy one i already know works really well.
Usually thruster set-up for fins. I'm not sure if there's a trend for rockers and bottom contours with these boards as i haven't as yet looked at than many of them but it's only a mater of time.
Also there are quite a few retro fishes shapes out there now with modern aspects to them and these to could be described as hybrid fishes but they arne't what i would personally describe as a modern fish.

KS

Next time you make it down to the south west (or I get to wales. Happens occasionally) have a go on mine.

Some people love it, some people hate it, so best to have a go on one before spending your student loan

i thought you wanted a longboard anyway

you can never have too many boards dear

I suppose a hybrid fish would include the four fin setups.

But for it to be a fish hybrid, it would still need to include the basic qualities of a fish to start with, which are fairly distinctive.

Hybrid thrusters are more common, I think - where you have a classic shortboard thruster shape, which is then tweaked to be thicker, wider, maybe heavier rails, or a more egg-like rocker and tail. They'll differ from a funboard (which is, itself, a hybrid - but I digress) as you still see that distinctive 'shortboard thruster' shape. the old Lost Mayhems are a good example of a shortboard hybrid.

So, going on THAT long thought, I guess a fish hybrid would be the same sort of experiementation around the basic fish shape - fatter, wider, rail changes, changes to the swallow-tail (while preserving the distinctive fish-swallowtail design versus the classic shortboard swallowtail).

I mean, too much change to the classic fish shapes and lines, you end up with a shortboard thruster or a funboard or even an egg.