Fish or Single Fin?

[hbslider]

I've been looking at the retro line of boards on the Channel Islands site:

http://cisurfboards.com/surfboards.asp

I've been surfing a 9'6" RA log and a 7'2"... short board for years. I really want to get one of these retro models but I'm not sure which one will be better for me. Anyone have any experience with the single fin vs. the fish?

Which one is more forgiving? They are both freaking as thick as any long board I've ever seen. So I'd think they were pretty easy to get into waves.

Cheers!

[rich r]

They're both going to be loose. A fish will have a bit more holding ability on turns, and be a bit more manueverable.

Both may be easy to get into the wave, but they will tend to shoot out from under you if you're not used to the speed.

[phaseonesurf]

[bluesnowcone]

hb, i want to do exactly the same thing as you, only i have no money. if you want to keep longboarding, go for a nice thick single fin, if not explor the world and go for a retro twini fish

[hbslider]

thanks for the input! I think I've made my decision and I'm going to get a twini...

One more Q? At 6'1" and 180lbs... What's a good size fish for me?

[rich r]

I'd say 5'9" to 6'2".. but that's just a shot in the dark.. never road a fish myself, just shortboard thrusters.

[drowningbitbybit]

A fish - retro or otherwise - is so utterly different from a shortboard, let alone a longboard, that you should try one before making plans for what size/model you want. You might hate them....

[hbslider]

Ironically I live in "Surf City" and don't have too many friends who surf.. Just the same group I've surfed with growing up. Bunch of Loggers. I want to make that transition to a shorter board... Not so much the "short board." If I don't have the privilege to "try one out first" what should I do?

What would be better for me?.. a single fin or a fish?

[drowningbitbybit]

The single fin would be less of a jump!

Fishes are very twitchy and dont glide at all - you have to keep moving all the time. Phil (who's great on a longboard) couldnt get anywhere on my fish (and I almost killed myself on his longboard, buts another story).

Im not saying dont do it or you definitely wouldnt enjoy it, but borrow one, hire one, steal one, before spending loads of money on one!

Dont any of the shops near you hire 'em out? Or let you try before you buy?

[hbslider]

Not here in Rich-ville.. But it's cool.. I've been greasing a surf shop owner here and I think I'm getting it free. I just want to be sure it's the right one for me.. Did you see my first post?

I've got a 6'9"x22"x3" on hold.. Just from the feel of the rails I think it'd be a blast! Seems thick like a long board but short enough to pulls some sweet turns.

[phaseonesurf]

My best advice for your first fish is to gauge it off the shortboard you currently use and get the Fish a bit smaller. For Example I ride a 6'2" Performance shortboard and my fish is a 5'11"

Fishes are actually not too hard to ride and neither or retro single fins. Moset Retro boards are thicker and wdier so they paddle easier. Riding these boards well is not as easy but once you dial it in you may never go back to riding your shortboard. There are lots of good shapers in OC but it also makes it easy to get lost in the sea of shapes. I would go Retro Twin because I think everyone should have on in theri quiver and they are awesome boards in all conditions especially if it is only waist high,

Fishes from Phase One Surfboards: http://www.phaseonesurf.com/index.php?cPath=21_38

[Brent]

It's fairly obvious from the posts above some people havn't actually ever ridden the boards in question "fishes don't glide at all" etc.

Firstly, you need to sort of length. my performance shortboard is 6'4" and the 'retro' CI fish I own is 5'9", this is about the shortest fish I could ever ride & was lucky when I bought it, I'd recommend you buy your first fish the same height as you. It's always better to have a board slightly over-volumed rather than under volumed or undersized. You can always sell it & go down an inch or two later.

for you I'd buy 6'1" - 6'3".

The single fins are really like a short mal. Not much difference. Nice gliding turns & trimming along faces. But they are no performance board.

Now, the fish - that's a different beast all together. I am now a full convert, since April this year when I bought it I have only used my other boards (I've got a full quiver) three times. It's completely fish-ville for me. They're a complete & all-round board, I can paddle into any wave I want, my wave count is higher than before, I travel faster & easily beat sections (especially breaks like Raglan here in NZ), I can do nice arcing glides, I can hack & slash my way along a face or I can just stand there trimming & go faster than I ever have before, this 5'9" fish is easily the fastest (way faster than a good 6'7" mini-gun I own!), most fun surfboard I've owned in 32 years surfing. It has turned everything I thought I knew about hydrodynamics & board design completely on it's head & schooled me big-time on being open minded.

There is nothing "retro" about a CI fish either. They're a deep single concave into double just before the fins with a v between. The fins don't have a hugh surface area like most keels, they're more a large twin-fin fin design,

They're magic.

[hbslider]

thanks for the input Brent!..

Only problem is you made me really want a fish.. But I think the single fin will be a good transition from a long board to a short.. after a few months I'll look into spending the $$ on a CI fish.. They're flipping expensive!

[drowningbitbybit]

It's fairly obvious from the posts above some people havn't actually ever ridden the boards in question "fishes don't glide at all" etc.

Do you mean me...?

I knew that'd wind someone (... Brent...) up.

Clearly Ive never ridden a fish... except for the one I own... and the various one's Ive borrowed from time to time....

Incidentally, Ive only ever ridden a single fin once, briefly, so I kept away from commenting on that.

So, anyway, back to the gliding issue.... Keeping it simple, as I was trying to, compared to a longboard a fish simply does not glide in the same way. As you say, you can hack and slash 'em, or just trim along.... but thats not gliding.

My point was that someone coming down from a longboard may find it a bit of a shock.




But clearly I know nothing, bow down, grovel grovel...... etc etc

[FishKid Wales]

Fish= My only complaint is that im feckin useless at pumping and spend alot of time falling off the front of the board as i lean so far forward.

Brent when you ride you fish do you find your front foot needs to be alot further forward than say a thruster (was out in some pathetic windslop the other day but when i was near the nose the thing went like $hit of a shovel [my positioniong was like when i see people riding barrels])??? Also when you carve up and down the face do you do this simply by engaging the rails or are you steering the board off the back foot as well as 'sinking' the rails?

[libby]

Brent had you just woken up when you wrote that post?

[Brent]

sorry. my definition of 'glide' must be different from others. I thought gliding was just standing there, trimming, going real fast, just like a mal... at this my fish excels.

I can do either Wishkid. stand there rockin my lower body like a pendulum with my front foot (and rear foot) slightly forward and arc up & down across the face at speed...or I can ride it like I'd ride my 6' hybrid fish & move back abit with my rear foot firmly planted by the leash plug...and ride it the same as a thruster. either backhand or frontwards, works the same both ways.

[pat42]

Brent, before you got your fish, what would you normally prefer to ride; Longboard or shortboard??

[libby]

He's like you pat, considers anything over 6ish feet a mal. The longest board he has ridden is my 7ft funboard.

[SDCali]

Looking at most of the shortboards that people use at Huntington, most are twin fins or tri-fins. I have a board that was made in huntington in the 70s and it's a twin, so that must say something about what works in our waves out here.