Channel Islands Surfboards

Our Favorite Air Board: NeckBeard 2 x Parker Coffin

Like nearly everyone on our pro team, Parker Coffin's go-to board for airs—and in particular for wave parks like Waco—is the NeckBeard 2. Parker's dims here are 5’6 x 19 x 2 5/16. He leans toward Spine-Tek most times because he likes the pop for airs and he flex through turns, but says he also loves the familiar feel of PU.

Filmed by Ryan Perry

Learn more about the NeckBeard 2 here:

Zeke Lau Breaks Down His New CI Surfboards Quiver - Hawaii 20/21

In Zeke Lau's latest vlog posted Nov 27, 2020, he unboxes his new quiver from Channel Islands Surfboards, all shaped by Britt Merrick. Listen to Zeke break down details about each one!

Editor/Filmer: MATT HEIRAKUJI | https://www.instagram.com/mattkuji/
Additional Footage: JUSTIN MACK | https://www.instagram.com/jmack808
Additional Footage: COLE YAMANE | https://www.instagram.com/hammahtimeinc/

CI Surfboards FishBeard at J-Bay

When you think of twin keel fin fish designs, what better place to ride one than J-Bay? South Africa’s Shane Sykes recently put out this session of him getting fishy at J-Bay. He is riding a FishBeard that is 5’7”x 19 1/8”x 2 3/8” 27.9L.

Video by @steven_michelsen

Learn more about the FishBeard here:

Lakey Peterson at Teahupoo

With Teahupoo now on the Women’s WSL schedule next year, Lakey Peterson took advantage of some late season south swell to get her first-ever session in at the perfect, slabby left-hander. During the more tubey days in this edit she’s riding our new step-up model the Happy Traveler, which you can learn more about on our website (now available as customs globally, except for Bali region which now also has available in their shops). On the smaller turning days she’s on a regular Happy model. Lakey says she loved her first time there and plans to go back a few more times before the event takes place next year.

Video by Jeromy Czermak (@j.czerm_photography)

Is this Trader Joe’s Best Surfer? Josiah Amico in 'Shift Change'

Most people would be stoked if their avocation could become their vocation. Few would disagree that getting paid to surf is a thing of beauty! But if you're like 99.9% of surfers, that’s never gonna happen. That fact won't stop a good many of us from being on it as much as possible anyhow. We live for it, and we’'ll work to surf. Take Josiah Amico, for example, a full-time employee of Trader Joe’s, who spends every moment outside of his time in America’s favorite grocery market out in the water.

Josiah just put this edit out (made by Mini Blanchard) that’s comprised of several sessions between shifts at Trader Joe's. Enjoy!

He is riding the NeckBeard 2 (with and without Spine-Tek), OG Flyer and the Happy.

Jordy Lawler Shreds the East Coast

Last year's Vissla Sydney Surf Pro champ, Jordy Lawler, was set to follow up his win by pouncing on the QS Tour and landing a CT spot. With all things on hold since March, the 25-year-old Australian (Narrabeen local) put his efforts toward ripping apart his home range on the East Coast this past winter. The results were this edit he called “Motherland." We are thinking that if he can translate the surfing of this video into the QS next year (yes, we are optimistic it will resume), then watch out world: here comes Jordy to the CT!

CI Mid: Britt Merrick Breakdown

Over the past few months, the CI Mid has garnered more buzz than just about any other surfboard in 2020. Ok, maybe the FishBeard actually has, but this Mid is a close second! In this new video, we wanted to share a bit more info and visuals behind the inspiration for this egg-inspired model, as well as added insights on what you can expect from its ride.

"At Channel Islands, everything we do is performance oriented,” explains Lead Shaper and Designer Britt Merrick. "We’re not satisfied with just making boards that go straight and fast. We want speed, flow and glide in that feeling we’re all after—but you've got to be able to do the turns that you want to, and you've got to be able to do your best surfing. So that’s the philosophy that we took into our CI Mid project.”

“One of the cool things we have at CI, having been around for 50 years, is this incredible design library of templates and history, and rockers and all the things that go into making a board,” adds Britt. "In the ’70s, my dad had a board called the Huevo Caliente, which was this really beautiful looking midlength, egg sort of board. We'd been looking at pictures of that around the factory, and felt pretty inspired by that so we dipped back into the archives, and pulled out some of those old templates to accomplish those curves that created the CI Mid. We also updated the bottom so that it performs like a modern board but still has that classic feel and vibe that my dad created so long ago."

The CI Mid is a modern classic design resulting from a fun collaboration with Devon Howard, a southern California surfer that has spent the past two decades riding and refining egg-inspired designs that are in a category of boards many refer to as midlengths. "I wanted to work on a board that blended all of the different characteristics of these type of boards into one,” explains Howard. “Although the CI Mid was inspired by the clean, longer-railed lines drawn by traditional eggs and single-fins like Al’s mid-1970s Huevo Caliente, it offers an improved crispness, sensitivity, and freedom made possible by his modern rails, rocker and bottom contours that earned him a rep as one of the greatest shapers of all time. ”

Boasting a sleek, egg-like template with low entry rocker and foam a tad forward for ease of paddle and effortless trim speed, the CI Mid scoots, squirts and swivels thanks to contemporary features like double-barrel concave, gradually accelerated rocker, and hard, slightly tucked rails through and off the tail. Britt adds: "The CI Mid is a long-railed board that has all that speed and glide you need to draw those high lines and get that flying feeling you’re after, but you can still really turn down the face and up it, and surf the board well."

A reliable all-arounder that flies over the flatter, smaller stuff, the CI Mid shines best in shoulder-high to nearly double overhead point surf—where surfers are able to lay down flowy, arcing turns with total confidence, speed, and control.

The CI Mid’s minimalist logo is also out of the Channel Islands Archives—a lam Al put on his boards in the early ’70s—and all CI Mids are stocked with high quality, colorful resin craftsmanship (6-4oz. decks with 6oz. bottoms).

Fins can make or break any surfboard. For the CI Mid, we again worked closely Devon and our friends at True Ames Fins to custom build a 2 + 1 fin set that enhances our the board's high-performance characteristics, as well as helping it be versatile in a wide range of conditions with just a simple adjustment of the center fin.

Zeke Lau Goes To Town On His CI HAPPY

Oahu's favorite ripper Zeke Lau is a known standout on the North Shore of Oahu, and the world stage for that matter. But come summer time, he loves a full surf day on the South Shore, aka Town. Follow Zeke on a typical summer day when there's a southern-hemi lighting up some of his favorite reef passes in an around the Waikiki zone.

Video Filmed and Edited by Cole Yamane: @coleyamane https://www.instagram.com/coleyamane/

Song is called “Less is more More Version” by Dry and Heavy (Japanese reggae band)

Channel Islands Surf Team Goes Ham on Spine-Teks

Watch the Channel Islands Surfboard Team enjoying the benefits of a surfboard technology that offers next-level performance advantages you can truly feel. With any CI model built in Spine-Tek, you'll find that this Eco-Certified construction does the following: Redirects faster, is livelier & more sensitive, and maintains its flex memory.

Optimized Flex Available in Three Sizes:
Small - 25.9 Liters & below
Medium - 26 - 36.5 Liters
Large - 36.6 Liters & Over

"Spine-Teks are super light and frisky,” says Sebastian Zietz. "You get lots of load and spring off the bottom, and through turns. It’s definitely the future of surfboards.”

Spine-Tek built boards are more responsive, and, like a spring, they wind up on energy, provide pop, accelerate out of turns whilst holding speed down the line, and the “spine” keeps its flex pattern unlike timber which loses it over time.

"These Spine-Tek boards have reinvented the way I’m looking at small waves,” explains Pat Gudauskas. "The boards are lighter, faster and have great pop—it’s opened up more speed and overall creativity."

Surfer in order of appearence: Dane Reynolds, Parker Coffin, Eithan Osbourne, Noah Waggy, Luke Swanson, Tanner Gudauskas, Pat Gudauskas, Michael Dunphy, Connor O'Leary, Yadin Nicol.

Edit by Sean Leash

Videography by Ryan Perry, Sean Lesh, Alex Kilauano, Mini Blanchard, Noah McPherson