Summer is here and that's when the wave climate changes. The low pressures that spiral out of the North Atlantic providing most of the West Coast of the UK with quality waves have subsided, and it's the slow moving high pressures which are getting ready to park themselves over us in the next couple of months. This means the waves start to drop in size and become few and far between.

Given that my quiver has been lacking in a board that is really going to make the most out of smaller waves, the solution was some kind of fish.

Summer Waves

The waves that are most often available during the summer are small, have a short period (this means that they tend to be fatter without as much power to them) and are disorganised but WARM. That's what summer surfing is about most of the time - not hunting for serious waves, calculating tide times, driving miles to sleep in a cold van on a remote wind swept bit of coast line. It's about hanging out with your mates enjoying the sun, finding a mushy peak where you can get a few turns in, swapping boards around and having a laugh - then going to the pub.

The Idea Behind the Fish

The basic idea behind a fish can be summed up in three words 'Short, Fat and Fast' (bit like Ronaldo...) . The other two features that define a fish are a smaller amount of rocker (curve through the tail and nose) which combined with the added width means the board has a larger than normal planing area. This allows you to get going in smaller slower waves.

The tail of the board is much wider and traditionally has a twin fin set up. Twin fins are larger than normal thruster fins and are set in the board nearer the rail. They produce a lot of drive, but due to a combination of being close to the rail and missing a centre rear fin, tend to produce a 'looser ride'. This means heaps of fun - it allows you to go faster and get more turns in on smaller mushier waves.

The Technical details

When I got the cash together to buy a Fish for this summer I started a forum post to see what other people knew. Retro surfboards are all the rage and I was in two minds whether to go for a traditional type of fish or more of a modern hybrid that uses the best of both worlds. My decision was made in the end by picking up a 'retro' fish in a shop and feeling the 'retro weight' - man, boards were heavy back in the old days!

I've been surfing in West Wales recently and had noticed a lot of people riding Simon Noble SNS surfboards - there were some real rippers on them and I like to support local shapers so I thought that I'd give him ago. In his of stock small wave boards is a modern hybrid fish, the SW-F1. He combines influences of traditional fish, such as wide nose and fat swallow tail with modern sharper rails and subtle single to double concaves through the bottom. Traditional fish tend to use reverse V.

He's also started using Future fins which have apparently almost completely taken over the market from FCS in places like Hawaii. Instead of the fins being attached to the board with two small tabs, the whole of the fin base sits in the slot, bringing the fin set up a lot nearer to fixed fins. Meaning less flex and more drive. The future fin set up for the SW-F1 uses a small 'micro fin' at the back, that adds a little more hold than a traditional twin fin and directional drive in more powerful waves. This makes it more forgiving and extends the wave range in which the board can be surfed.

I'm 82 - 85kg and through chatting to Simon decided to get the board 5'11" long, 20 1/2" wide and 2 3/8" thick with a light glass.

How It Rides

Firstly I was a bit freaked out by having a board under six foot and what it would be like to paddle, my nearest short board is 6'4". But due to the width being drawn through the entire length of the board there is plenty of foam/buoyancy and this makes it a piece of cake to push through the water. When it comes to taking off on a wave, the scope of where you can take off is a lot less critical than a normal short board, it's about the same as a mini mal, which is heaps more relaxing and with such a wide tail the board is really solid and stable when you pop to your feet.

But this is really when the board comes alive - jeez it's fast. That's the fun thing, when you take off on a peak and then it fattens out, you expect to lose speed quickly but this is what surprised me 'whooooaaa' I'm still flying. When you go to cut back you have to try to place your weight more evenly, or a little further forward.

Another example of the speed of this board is when a section crumples in front of you and you don't think that you're going to make it round. you can drop to the bottom of the section, stamp on the front foot and you just squirt right round it back on to the clean face of the wave. This lets you link more waves up in average conditions so that you can put longer rides together.

Conclusion

I really can't recommend this board highly enough to someone who is comfortable on a normal short board but wants to try something different and ride more waves in summer conditions. It's really opened my mind to a whole new way of surfing. The fish is all I want to surf at the moment and it's not limited to small waves but will go well in anything up to head high waves.

Another reason the made me decide to buy an SNS SW-F1 was the price £280 with future fins and a two colour spray. I think that this is a good price, you can pay another £50 at other places for a custom shape.

To round up I'd say 'The Fish is the Future' - go 'Fat and Fast!'.

Contact details

If you're interested in SNS surfboards you can find out all the details on the website: www.snsboards.co.uk

(Quick note: Simon Noble did not slip me any dirty lucre to write this review, it's just a damn good board.)

www.realsurfboard.com