The other day I was at the book store reading the current issue of Transword Surf magazine (I think it was Transworld) when I stumbled upon an intriguing article on the new trend of routing 5 boxes in your new board. The article wasn’t talking about some weird 5 fin bonzer or experimental surfboard. It was referring to a board with a thruster setup. And Quad fins. The recent popularity of quad fins surfboards has created a large movement of open eyed surfers who have added an extra fin and gotten rid of the one in the middle for way more speed and quicker turns and snaps. However, the majority of hardcore thruster setup enthusiasts are still somewhat apprehensive to fully embrace the four fin setup. A number of these ‘on the fence’ quad adopters have experimented with 5 fin boxes which allow you to ride your board both with a quad or thruster fin setup. For those that have been stubornly downplaying the advantages of four fins, the 5 fin box allows you to put the quad setup to the test. Go ahead and ride your thruster first and then switch them out with a quad fin set (Future quad fins seem to be the most popular here in Hawaii). And remember, give your quad setup several sessions for you to acclimate yourself to the increase in down the line speed and much more responsive turns. Like the not so old adage goes, “don’t knock it till you try it”.

Besides getting hardcore thruster believers to try quad setups, the 5 fin box is also providing new school surfers with a much versatile board. You can use your quad in quick beach break surf and go back to your trusty old thruster setup when you need a little more drive and not as much speed (what idiot doesn’t need more speed besides Mick Fanning). The aspect I really like about this versatility is that your board stays the same. Same rocker, outline, thickness, foil, rails, and every other minute detail. You don’t have to re-adjust to the actual board when switching between quad or thruster. In essence, you only need to get used to the different fin setup characteristics and feel. The only slight downside to having 5 boxes is that it may make your board slightly tail heavy (depending on the size of your board and glass job) but I personally don’t think most surfers will even feel the difference in weight. In my opinion, the extra weight is definitely worth the versatility and fun that you’ll achieve.

Stand up paddle boards are in high demand right now and the supply of quality stand up boards is still playing catch up. Here in Hawaii, stand up paddle (SUP) board shapers who have been shaping boards from traditional fiberglass materials have become so overwhelmed with demand that the average wait time for a SUP has ballooned to six months. The SUP demand has been so high that surf shops specializing in stand up paddle boards have popped up, most notably Wet Feet in the Aina Haina Shopping Center. The company claims to be the world’s first SUP surf shop and offers a variety of stand up epoxy surfboards, stand up paddles, and other SUP accessories.

Wet Feet Surf Shop – Aina Haina – Specializing in Stand up Paddle Boards & Accessories

So why has stand up paddle surfing generated so much attention in such a short time span? The sport of SUP surfing has been around since the early days of Duke Kahanamoku and the Waikiki Beachboys. It saw a recent surge in popularity after many of the big wave surfers began using SUP as a way to train in the off season. Stand up paddle surfing requires a heightened sense of balance and a strong core which helps stabilize the board and maneuver it. You’ll often see a number of surfers on the North Shore paddling their SUPs in the summer time when the waves are small as a way to stay fit and in shape before the North Pacific re-awakens. Many SUP surfers have noted fat loss and tone bodies as a result of consistent stand up paddling and surfing and there are even SUP surfers in the Midwest paddling their boards in lakes! Stand up paddle surfing has shown the most explosive growth rate since wind surfing and has caught on in Hawaii, California, East Coast, Australia, and Europe.

A key to having fun stand up paddle surfing is choosing the proper board. Stand up paddle boards usually start from 10′ depending on the size of the surfer with typical width being 26″+ wide and 4″+ inches thick. The typical stand up paddle boards I’ve seen on the South Shore of Oahu are around 11’0 x 28″ x 4.75″. While I’m not the biggest fan of epoxy surfboards, I feel that stand up paddle boards actually benefit from epoxy technology making the SUPs much lighter and more ding resistant. Can you imagine carrying an 11′ fiberglass paddle board over your head every time you surf?

Every surfer should at least try stand up paddle surfing at least once and see how much core strength they develop and how much fat you start burning. You’ll also notice that your surfing will begin to improve. I’m a constant fan of experimenting, learning, and riding a variety of different surfboards.

Stand Up Paddle Shapers and Shops – Oahu

Wet Feet Surf Shop Hawaii

Kimo Greene Surfboards

Tropical Blends Surf Shop

The June 2007 issue of Surfer Magazine has shed light on one of the negative points of Clark Foam’s closure. While Clark’s closure has opened the doors for a variety of foam producers and pushed experimentation with new composite materials, old barriers are now gone and imported surfboards have an easier entry into the U.S. surfing market. Costco has been selling cheapo beginner type surfboards in California and Hawaii since 2001.� The Realm� established itself as a cheap Costco brand after selling out by mass-distributing their boards throughout various Costco warehouses and even Gordan & Smith boards have made it through the aisles.

Costco predicts that it will sell between 7,000-8000 surfboards this summer and sheds an even greater problem in the surfboard industry; the invasion of cheaply made Chinese surfboards. China, which was once the ‘Sleeping Giant’ has obviously awakened with their economy growing at full steam. The Chinese have taken notice of surfing’s recent popularity explosion and there are now more than 60 Chinese shapers in the communist country. These shapers are currently being trained by some of the best surfboard production names and while none of the 60 Chinese shapers have ever surfed before let alone seen an ocean before, all of their shaping is done by hand. It seems as though the quality of their shapes is getting better and even Rusty Preisendorfer was impressed by what he saw.

It would be hard for surf shops to reject these cheap Chinese imports because they have the potential to finally give shops greater margins on surfboard sales. On the flip side, these cheaply made import boards take away business from local surfboard shapers and manufacturers who form the backbone of the surfboard industry as a whole.

I can see how these cheap imports help beginner or budget surfers by providing them with a functional board that doesn’t break their pocket. But I also know how difficult it is for surfboard� shapers and glassers who work off of razor thin margins. There will always be a need for custom surfboards and if you’re thinking of spending a few dollars on a Costco board, think twice, because it would really suck to see a line-up littered with surfboards sporting ‘Made in China’ stickers. Support your local shaper, you’ll be happy you did:

Hawaii Shapers

California Shapers

Rest of Shapers�

This is by no means a recent trend, but the growing popularity of surfing has lead to the introduction of a various surfboards specifically designed for beginner type surfers made with softer and more forgiving materials. One of the companies producing beginner surfboards is Liquid Shredder, a company based in Peru, where their soft tops are both manufactured and tested.

The unique part about this company is that they claim their boards have entry level prices with professional performance. Their soft top surfboards feature Peruvian hard wood stringers to help stabilize the board and a soft (but not spongy soft) deck to minimize injuries.

The company also claims that their soft tops look and perform like a traditional fiberglass board. That may be an overstatement but with a starting price of only $129, these boards may be good for kids and rank beginners on a tight budget who are looking to get into surfing.

Because the thruster has been most surfers’ “go to” board for quite some time, it isn’t uncommon to see hot-dogging shortboarders riding their 5’10 potato chip in all types of wave conditions including 2 foot slop. I always see these shortboarders struggling to catch waves on days like this and when they get lucky enough to catch one, the lack of foam causes their board to bog and after a weak turn their wave is over.

The retro revival has shown many of us how functional and exceptionally fun old throw back boards can be. The twin fin fish is arguably the most popular retro board out in the line-ups and if you watch good surfers on these things, the first thing you’ll notice is how insanely fast they can go in weak and pathetic waves.

While the hot dogging younger crowd is obsessed with riding their Kelly Slater shortie, the smarter surfers are riding twin fins, quad fin fishes, single fins, eggs, and longboards. These surfers are not only catching more waves than surfers riding potato chips, but they’re also learning about lines and curves and different positioning and feel required to surf each type of board.

Take it from Rasta and Rob Machado who both believe that expanding your quiver and riding a variety of different shapes will improve your surfing tremendously. Longboarders will find that learning how to ride shortboards drastically improves their ability to pump and turn those huge planks around and shortboarders will find that riding a longboard for a few sessions will smooth out their surfing and help them draw better lines.

Check out TORE Surfboards if you need help or advice with expanding your quiver.

Quad fins are making a comeback and increasing in popularity. Superstars like Kelly Slater and Bruce Irons are riding quads and there is talk that once someone on tour wins a contest with a quad, all hell will break loose and the quad will see an explosion similar to the abundant fish population.

Four fin quad set-ups first arrived in the early 80’s during the thruster rampage. Back then, quads felt were very similar to twin fins and because of that surfers were looking for something which provide something in between a twin and a single fin. The early thrusters provided a happy medium by providing an excellent balance of drive and turning ability. Thus, the quad died a quick death and was over shadowed by it’s popular thruster cousin.

Many shapers have since dusted off their original quads from the 80’s and have tried to apply quad fin setups to today’s modern day board design, foils, rockers, fin templates, and everything else in between. The modern day quad utilizes today’s board technology in the pursuit of helping surfers achieve that elusive ‘next level’ of surfing.

Why Do Quads Work Better?

Quads are way faster than standard thrusters or even twin fins. Most would think, how can they be faster with an extra fin…wouldn’t that create more drag? Actually, because both sets of fins are working together on the rail, there’s nothing to slow you down like the center fin of a thruster. Quads are a lot more efficient with speed.

Quads are much more responsive than twin fins or thrusters. The reason is that the fins are set further up the board which essentially puts the fins directly under your back foot. The end result is an ultra responsive board that goes where you want it to go and fast.

Four fins boast an extraordinary amount of holding power in larger surf. A large number of the world’s best big wave surfers use quads in giant surf at Jaws and Mavericks. Many of them claim that a quad fin board has better holding power and speed in giant surf. If it works well at Jaws, imagine what it could do at your local beach break?

Quad fins have a ton of versatility due in large part to the advent of the removable fin system. There are countless combinations of different fin setups you can use in your quad from fin size, cant, rake, angles, fin material, and more. You can basically find a fin setup that will work for your quad and if you have a quad that isn’t performing very well, you should probably check your fins.

Quad Fins

FCS PC-3 Performance Core Surfboard Quad Fin Set – Red		FCS PC-5 Performance Core Surfboard Quad Fin Set – Blue		Future Fins VFT1 Quad
$87.99		$87.99		$60.00
Future Fins Stretch Quad		Future Fins Stretch Quad		Future Fins VFT1
$88.00		$53.00		$49.00
Future Fins FYU F.Glass Set		Future Fins FEA Fiberglass		Future Fins FAM2 Fiberglass
$66.00		$68.00		$68.00
Future Fins FJC1 Fiberglass		Future Fins VII JC1 Quad		Future Fins VII FAM1 Quad
$66.00		$53.00		$53.00
Future Fins VII F4 QUAD RTM		Future Fins VII FSG1 Quad		Future Fins VII FR1 RTM
$88.00		$53.00		$88.00
Future Fins VII FR1		Future Fins VII FJC1		Future Fins VII FAM1 RTM
$43.00		$43.00		$88.00
Future Fins V II FAM1		Future Fins VII FR2		Future Fins VFJC1
$43.00		$43.00		$49.00
Future Fins VF4		Future Fins FAM1 RTM		Future Fins FPS RTM
$49.00		$64.00		$68.00
Future Fins FJC1 RTM		Future Fins FAM2 RTM		Future Fins FWT RTM
$59.00		$64.00		$64.00
Future Fins FSG 1 RTM		Future Fins FPS Fiberglass		Future Fins FJC1 RTM
$64.00		$68.00		$36.00
Future Fins FAM 1		Future Fins V2 FJC1 FC Set		Future Fins Scimitar Quad
$36.00		$40.00		$60.00
Future Fins V2 QJC1 400 0.75 in.		Future Fins VII FEA Quad		Future Fins VII 1 Quad
$50.00		$53.00		$53.00
Future Fins VII F4 Quad		FCS H-2c Quad Set		FCS S25 PC S.A. Quad Set
$53.00		$85.00		$88.00
FCS SF-4 Rear 4 Set
$56.00

Quad Fin Reviews

Kimo Greene Retro Quad Fish

After the fallout of Clark Foam last December, epoxy surfboards were thrust into the spotlight once again. With an extremely limited supply of Clark’s PU foam, the abundance of polystyrene foam (foam used in epoxy boards) looked quite attractive. However, the previously bleak future of traditional foam is looking better than ever with more foam companies producing a larger variety of foam types, densities, plugs, etc. which has brought their popularity back up to the pre-Clark shutdown era. There are many pros and cons to both epoxy and traditional PU surfboards which we’ll examine below.

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