Mikey February, Stephanie Gilmore, Johanne Defay and Ryan Callinan recently rode our CI Twin Fins in the J-Bay Corona Highline heat on July 14, 2019. Mikey walked away with the win.
These highlights feature the four identical 5’11″ CI Twin Fins equipped with our new keel fins made by Futures to provide more drive on the very fast, down-the-line J-Bay walls. Britt Merrick, who designed this model a few years ago, was in the booth to provide some added insights on the board and the beautiful lines these surfers were drawing.
The CI Twin Fin has a retro ’70s feel that is melded with updated with modern, state-of-the-art performance and design characteristics of today. It was originally designed and hand-shaped by Britt Merrick when asked to compete in a surf contest and was inspired by a twin-fin that his father Al had shaped for himself in 1981. A friend of Britt’s had recently found the original board at a garage sale, and he gave it to Britt who took then a template off it, cut it out on a fresh blank and hand-shaped an updated rocker, bottom, and rail profile to have a more modern feel with added positive drive and carving ability.
The CI Twin Fin has become a favorite of Dane Reynolds and Mikey February, and it works great in everything from weak beach breaks to good points and has proved to be a fast and fun wave catching machine. To offset negative characteristics of a high-volume retro design, the Twin Fin’s rails are tapered and relatively thin feeling for added sensitivity and responsiveness.
Ride the Twin Fin 2” to 4” shorter than you are tall; 1/2” to 1” wider, and 1/8” to 1/4” thicker than your normal shortboard.
