Channel Islands Happy + Futures Fins Al Merrick AM2 & Legacy Series Review - The Surfboard Guide
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- Опубликовано: 9 сен 2024
- The Happy is a new performance shortboard recently released by Channel Islands Surfboards and designed by Britt Merrick. It's been hyped up over the last month or so from all their top team riders including the great Dane Reynolds, so we thought it would be good to check it out in both Spinetek and PU!
Both the Spinetek and PU Happy I have are both custom at 5'11 x 19 1/4 x 2 1/2 @ 29.9L
I have been surfing the Happy in a variety of conditions from very average waves at home in Sydney Australia, and had the opportunity to take the Happy to Bali for a few days into fairly good surf in Bali Indonesia.
The Happy tends to perform better in larger (3ft+) and more quality waves, but is still able to perform in the local average conditions where the waves still have a little bit of push.
In Bali, I had got the Spinetek for smaller days, and the PU for larger days, but with some pretty poor surf forecasting in hand, I ended up taking the Spinetek out on one of the largest days we had at Uluwatu (6ft+). The Spinetek really impressed me in larger heavier surf, where some EPS constructions can be great in smaller stuff, they can feel a bit sketchy in larger stuff, but not the Spinetek which felt really solid in larger surf.
From www.cisurfboards.com/board/happy/
The Happy is a new performance shortboard model built to give surfers the freedom to easily go wherever their mind takes them. Low entry rocker and strategically placed forward volume allow the board to paddle well, get up to speed quickly, and perform extremely well in the tube.
To harness all that speed, Happy’s refined rails and thinned out tail make for a highly responsive board that is also extremely forgiving through critical maneuvers and it holds like a mutha - no matter how hard you turn. Single concave under the front foot, transitioning into double between the fins, and flat off the tail give the perfect combination of speed and control.
Over the past two years Britt refined and tweaked the design thanks to a steady stream of Team feedback by the likes of Zeke Lau, Lakey Peterson, Mikey February and Connor O’Leary-who have all since been riding it on the pro tour.
Surf better. Be happy.
With the Happy, I rode both the AM2 and new Legacy Series R8's from Futures Fins - both fins have a raked template, and felt great in the board!
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Thanks for watching!
Such a sick review! I am so amped to get one of theese!!!!
SoCal Surfer a great board if you’re going to be surfing half decent waves! 💪
Hey Craig.
Been waiting for this review so thanks mate looks like a fun board👍
How about a quick break down of the Monsta 8, Fever or Happy?
Which one would you grab first? And what waves do they prefer or are they all very similar? If you could only have one which one?
Cheers mate and keep up the good work
Trevor Hocking haha! There’s no quick breaking down of those three boards... I’d say the Happy and Monsta 8 are very similar in performance as both quite high performance shortboards, and the Fever just behind them as a little more forgiving and a little less high performance... I hope that makes sense!
Ah yes l did read that on your instagram feed about the Fever so which board you prefer between the Monsta and Happy? How do you think a Happy round tail would go?
Trevor Hocking hey! No preference between the Happy and Monsta 8, both great high performance shortboards! Supposedly, the Happy is great as a round tail and a slight step up. I wanted a 6’2 for the review to show it as a slight step-up, but it didn’t come in time!
The Surfboard Guide I am wondering....currently have the NB2 Spinetek & Ultra Joe Spinetek looking for a step up from the NB2. Live in Cronulla Happy or Fever Spinetek? 🤪
Thanks your your review. Could you please tell me your height and weight?. I,m 5,11 and 190 libras. You you think 6,3 34,1 litres is ok?
Over the last year and a half I have had two Fever’s from CI as a hp short board and they have been my favorite boards of all time! However the happy looks insane. How would you compare the two? Do you think I should get a happy?
SoCal Surfer hey! The Happy sits just above the Fever in terms of performance, and subsequently the conditions you’d want to surf it in. So if you’re going to be surfing decent waves in the 3ft+ range then the Happy will go mental!
Craig thank you for the review. Would you say the Sabo Taj is a much superior paddler to the Happy. And easier to surf? Great work mate.
Hey! The Happy is easier to surf, but the Sabotaj was probably a better paddler... The Happy said it was 30L, but it really didn't feel like it was... Good luck!
trying to decide between this and the fever for like 3-6 feet waves with some punch quite steep short sharp beachy and occasionally a slow but wally beachy
I think the Happy over the Fever if you are primarily going to be surfing it in above average waves and 3ft+ - Hope this helps!
Great review, would love to see one on the Chilli Hot Knife if you've checked that out?
Magic Unicorn yes - I’ve got one, it’s pretty epic and it’ll be one of our next few reviews!
Which FCS fins would you recommend? I got myself the Happy 6'3 (I'm 6'2 at 183 lbs) and own the MF and Biolas in Large. Which of the two would you think suits better and/or would you recommend definetly getting a total different set for the Happy (and my size/weight)?
Hey mate! I'd definitely recommend the large AM - i find it really hard to go past the AM template in C.I surfboards, they are just designed to be together! Haha!
Hi craig..what is your weight and height.. ?I'm 5.7 and 81kg..im torn between buying the 6.1 at 30 liters or going 6.2 at 32 liters..?
What ya think?
Been riding 5.10 hypto at 33 liters..
i'm 92kgs x 5'10.5 - hope that helps!
Love your reviews Interested if you have ridden the FRK by Slater designs
Hey! No I haven't, but they look pretty epic and I'd be keen to check one out!
Awesome review! could one compare a happy round tail to a sabotaj? or do they perform way different.
Hey! Way different.
Happy is more standard performance shortboard, where the Sabotaj is very similar to the Ghost with volume forward and a rounded pin tail.
Hey mate did the spine tek get a lot of bump and chatter on bigger waves, I tend to find epoxy boards can’t handle bigger waves. Very keen to try this board out in spinetek but I don’t want it to let me down in the 6ft + range
Hey! I surfed it in quite large Uluwatu around 5-6ft and it felt fine, which actually surprised me!
Hi Craig, great review. How would you compare the float on a spinetek to a PU? How much more float do you think the spinetek has? Thanks
Carlos Ramos hey! Just a tiny bit more, I wouldn’t go altering your dimensions to accommodate the EPS float unless you’re Kelly Slater... 😂
😂😂 Good to know. Thanks!
Great review, thanks. How does it compare to the Original Flyer?
Hey! The Happy is very different, much more of a performance shape rather than the forgiving and small wave orientated outline of the OG Flyer. This would be the next step up into better waves and more high performance surfing.
Hey, how does the Happy compare to a Chilli Spawn? Looking to replace it as an all rounder/ for waves slightly better than average
Hey! Just a tad more high performance, and a little less forgiving. If you're going to be surfing good waves, then its a go! If you want it as an all-rounder that mainly surfing average waves, then it may not be forgiving enough.
Thanks, would you say the Spawn is closer to the Fever or the Happy? I have a JS HYFI Air17x as a step down so want something that sits between that and a step up. I felt like the Spawn did that perfectly, but not so keen on the euro ones available (im UK based) so looking at elsewhere!
@@james-oz1sr Hey! Yeah, the Spawn is probably more comparable to the Fever! And the Happy is more of a better wave shortboard!
Unless you're somewhere with consistent fairly good waves, then the Fever would be good between the Air17X and a step-up!
are you guys going to do a review of the new raging bull
Yes, I got both the new JS Occy models arriving in the next few weeks!
you've been ridiing the happy in spine tek for a while how would u rate spine tek durability? does the deck dent easy or is it pretty tough
Hey! It dented really quickly in first surf, but then didn't dent anymore. The original dents from the original surf are all that exist on the board.
Thanks for the review! How would you compare the spring and flex of spinetek to future flex, Hyfi, or others out there?
Hey! I have ridden a few other technologies, but never really in a performance shortboard, and not in decent and solid waves, so it's a strange comparison really. I also liked the Future flex I rode recently in the Hypto Krypto and would imagine that would feel fairly solid when it got a bit bigger...
Cool, thanks for the feedback!
You said the Happy wasn't necessarily a great paddler, is that because the nose is narrow and thinned out?
@@lohena1 Not 100% sure, it felt volume wise it floated ok - but paddling into waves wasn't amazing. But as you can see from a few of the surfing clips it is quite fast considering I'm 90kgs on 30L.
One more Q for you! How would you compare the Happy as a user friendly HPSB to others you have tried?
@@lohena1 Hey! Probably not super user friendly, the Happy is more made for performance! If you want something similar, but more forgiving, you'd probably like the Fever!
Nice reviews! Happy or Dagger?
Hey! What is the Dagger?
Oops. I meant rusty blade
@@waikikiwilly13 they are very very different boards - so a comparison isn't really fair.
The Happy is a high performance shortboard steered towards good waves and high performance surfing.
The Blade is more of an all-rounder with an 80's flavour, still performs, but probably aimed at the lower end of the wave range...
Hey.
Did you surf the happy...with eps same volume as your pu?
Cheers
X -MAN X MAN hey! Yeah, I think I mentioned that in the review? The boards say 30L, but those dims on the C.I online custom board builder cone out at 29.9L, so much the same 🤙
@@TheSurfboardGuide tnx
@@soulsurfer3102 enjoy!
If any of the waves in the footage are considered average, then where I surf is dismal. (Florida) hahaha
Andrew Ratchelous haha! The Bali stuff was ok, but the home stuff was wobbly closeouts... but, it was over 2ft for a change so I can’t complain! 😂
@@TheSurfboardGuide I've been riding my fever in 1 foot slop for the past two months haha! Not about to stop either I love surfing it so much.
@@andrewratchelous the Fever is pretty epic!