The anointment of the J.Splee Big Fish I custom ordered from JC Matthews occurred at this morning's dawn patrol
There was a really thick layer of clouds - which dampened the wind.
And if you were patient, there were waves (and if you were smart and sat inside, there were plenty of good waves to get onto).
Before leaving the truck, I swapped out the 0 degree canards for the 4 degree set. I felt opening the gap between the canard and the main fin would accentuate the twinzer feel, and serve as a good baseline before going into full fin testing mode.
This board paddles into waves easily, felt balanced, and was on the upper limit of me being able to duck dive it. I asked for a durable glass job - and I can tell by the weight it's there. I prefer my surfboards to have more glass than less - I feel you can build momentum and it smoothes out the ride.
I had about 10 rides in just over an hour. And as you would think, the more waves I caught, and the more I rode the board, I was feeling the board out for how it wanted input in order to maximize energy extraction from the wave.
My last few waves were pretty darn good - lots of turns and really long. That's mostly due to the wave been good shape and the tide supporting the breaking - but the board certainly played its part.
I really like the feel setting into a bottom turn - generates speed going through the turn. I didn't quite figure out the top turns, especially having a mental image of what I normally get out of the Boogie Fish. The DNA is there - but this being almost two feet more board, there is physics that needs to be worked out in order to find the "over-rotation" ability that the Boogie Fish has. I think I'll swap out the TW1 fins for the TA High Pro twins next and see if the smaller fins open up that top turn.
The second to the last wave, I was riding in front of Dennis who was paddling out his Foil Drive setup - he had a front row seat to the turning capacity of the Big Fish.
This is going to be another great partner in the quiver!
PF:11/W:3/PW:91/FD:58/S:21
