Retro Fish

[EastCoast4Life]

i hear this whole "retro fish" term being tossed around alot and from what i understand its a fish that is wide and thick. and then they also vary from 3 to 1 fin. now this sounds like somethin that is easy to get speed, very stable and depending on the number of fins its gona ride tight or loose. can anyone who has ridden on give me the real deal on em?

[drowningbitbybit]

A retro fish is usually a twinnie, but not always. Three fins or whatever are generally hybrids.

Hydrid or retro fish are great for smaller or more gutless waves as they let you generate lots of speed and get over the crumbly sections...


...BUT... they also lose speed very fast, and the one thing you got wrong is that they're not very stable. They're very loose boards so that you can pull tight turns or slide the tail out on small waves with little power.

From your other threads I think you a beginner right?
A fish, retro or otherwise, isnt the best for learning on (you need to be able to take off late, pump the board and throw some committed moves to get the best out of them) but - as always in surfing - its a style and technique thing. My fish 'fits' my surfing much more than any of my other boards, including my short boards.
So, the usual advice, find one you can hire/borrow and see how you get on!

[EastCoast4Life]

thanks for the info, im not a begginer but im deff far from being an expert, i have an old school hanson that i learned on, got a custom shortboard made about 9 months ago and now im lookin into gettin a fish just to try and tear it up better, think i should go retro?

[drowningbitbybit]

im lookin into gettin a fish just to try and tear it up better, think i should go retro?

Style and technique!
Personally I prefer a hybrid fish (with two fins plus one mini-fin) but its all down to individual style and preference

But if you're wanting to tear it up on smaller waves, then a fish of some sort in the quiver is the way to go!

[EastCoast4Life]

sweet, now all i gotta do is make friends with people who ride the different kinds

[fred wootts]

bic have just bought out a new 5'10" fish what do you guys think

[g0necrazy212]

i ride a 5'7 retro its ultra loose but it has enough to hold up on even the big waves. I know now that you can get a quad which is 4 fins 2 on each side anyone know how that is?

[tomcat360]

*coughreallyoldpostcough*

[Driftingalong]

i ride a 5'7 retro its ultra loose but it has enough to hold up on even the big waves. I know now that you can get a quad which is 4 fins 2 on each side anyone know how that is?

From what I understand (I've never ridden a quad before); the quad adds speed, lift in the tail and holds better (less sliding than a twin fin).

[Euan]

Does anybody know what the Cortez 6'3 fish is like or any other cortez boards

[thebacksideofbeyond]

I bought a circle one 5'10" epoxy retro fish with four fins about two weekes ago! im loving it really easy to catch waves but not as loose as a twin fin but you can always take to fins out!
i would definately recomend this board its pretty fast (not as fast as a twin) and the extra two fins stop it for sliding in the corners!

The only thing i wasn't sure about was the fin set up!

u get two large fins and two smaller fins!

i found that with the larger fins at the back it doesn't want to turn very much and you have to be careful or you will turn and your board goes staight!
one of my other twinza boards has the larger fins at the front and that turns really wel so going to try that set up on my new fish!

but overall it a lovely board and doesn't ding!

[kitesurfer]

Almost finished my latest retro style fish. Retro outline with a more modern style bottom contour but a 3 fin set up, 2 large outers (not keels) and a small trailer fin close to the butt crack. All 3 fins can be adjusted so it should be interesting to play around with the set-up to see how much the trailer fin stiffens up the board.

Photos soon.

KS