Time for a board comparison!
When I worked in the boardroom the most common question I would get from a customer is “whats the difference between this board and this board?” Sometimes the boards were so similar we had to really dissect the granular differences between rocker and foil and get down to some serious hair splitting for them to make a decision on what to get… so I want to offer my opinion on some newer performance boards from Channel Islands that may look pretty similar in the racks.. the Happy and the Fever.
OK, where to start.. these are my personal boards so Im going to share my stats for this post and my board dims. They are both normal PU construction FYI.
height: 5’9.5″
weight: 157 lbs
Fever: 5’9″x 18 1/2″x 2 1/4″ 25.4L FCS2 tri
Happy: 5’8″x 18 5/8″x 2 5/16″ 25.2L FCS2 tri
I use medium CI fins for both of these designs.
I like to ride shorter boards with relaxed rockers for most of our conditions so you’ll notice the boards are a tad curvier than stock and shorter. Let’s face it, we most likely are surfing chest high+ waves with alot of push when its good and not blown out so having a little less length is best around here.
Let’s discuss the Fever first…
The best board I have had in about ten years was my first Fever in 2017. I got it right when the model was released and felt so confident on it I would ride it in anything. Of course, when you have a magic board you seem to destroy them quickly and to no fault of the board I broke it during a hurricane swell on the south side of the pier.. I have a copy of it(pictured) and havent even put wax on it yet this season because I want to preserve it for a trip or a great day here. The Fever is well rounded and easy to ride, you can push it really hard and it has a great positive feel to it for a performance surfboard. I’ve turned my friends onto this design and have had nothing but good feedback.
Fever rocker measurements from CIsurfboards.com
Little Surfline clip on my first Fever:
OK onto the Happy…
One word comes to mind when I describe the Happy: precise. That tiny tail block lends itself to being precise and snappy, the thing feels insane off the lip, especially backside and reminds me of the late 90s/ early 2000s designs from CI, Arakawa and JS. I like to ride my Happy in pitchy wedges with steep faces where you can go off the bottom quickly and go straight up. It has a great response time and good flow with that forward width and low volume rails. Youll notice I ordered my Happy thicker than my Fever because of that. The rocker is more relaxed up front than the Fever and the rails are really pinched so this design lends itself to being ordered with more volume than what you see, CI even has made a set of dimensions called the “Happy Plus” that we will be carrying soon. It lets the bigger guy ride a performance shortboard without having to order a pig. If you like a board that is really sensitive and fast this one is for you.
Happy rocker measurements from CIsurfboards.com
In summary, in my opinion and experience the Fever is a bit more forgiving but can be pushed harder and the Happy gets going easier and is snappier off the top.
Happy v Fever!
Take your pick! You wont lose.
Click here to shop the Happy!
Click here to shop the Fever!
