Superbrand's The Fling
Intro
There have been a number of boards over the years that have been designed as small wave grovellers, that are overly wide and thick to get you going when its one foot. It has been hard to find a balance between performance and fun in these boards. Some have been dogs just for the fact they do not have enough performance in them. Some don't go that well in the smaller waves due to having too much performance. It has taken me some time to find one that I really enjoy riding and want to jump on. That was the case until Super brand threw a remarkably cheap staff price in front of me, this tempted me to invest in their latest small wave creation the 'fling'. A small wide quad with your traditional short board shape. This board hit the nail on the head in the bid to find the middle ground between fun and performance in these small wave boards. I have been more than impressed with were this board is willing to go on a wave regardless of how wide the tail is.
How it goes
The problem for so many years with these wide short fat boards is they loved to skip down the line taking high lines and getting as much speed as possible, however due to the wide nose and wide tail it was hard to put the board on rail because of the short rail length and the amount of surface area on the water it was very easy to bog down when doing a cutback. Not to mention the added influence of the quad fin which is initially designed for drawing out your turns and getting as much speed as possible. In saying all that though this board surprised me in its ability to go a lot more vertical that some of the other small wave boards I have used in the past. This performance comes from the outline curve in the board which is very similar to traditional short board. The curvy outline mixed with a nice wide diamond tail gives you plenty of pivot off the bottom to counteract the drawn out drive that the quad fin produces when put on rail. This makes for a fun small wave board to keep you going through summer without having to lose anything performance in your surfing when having to jump to a groveller. In saying that do not get stuck on a board like this. Because anything over three foot this type of board including the fling which has a touch more performance than your baked potatoes and sperm whales is going to slide out. The wide tail in these boards creates a lot of area for water to move about within the fins so in waves of power and size there is too much space between each fin for the water to push your fins off track. This is why, in bigger sucky waves of consequence, you will notice most people ride tight round pin tails where the cluster of fins is very close together. The less room for water to move between the fins the less chance you have of sliding out because your fins aren't big enough.
Who is if for
If you are sick of grovelling through summer on your small wave performance board but you hate surfing a wide fat alternative board this is one to look at, it has the paddle and the get up and go of those small little grovellers but it still has the ability to go top to bottom and throw the tail around when you like it to. At the right size I can see this board having the ability to be useful to someone of all skill levels just due to the fact that even at 5'4 the stock dimensions are over 20 wide. All the surface area in a board like that in the right size will even give a beginner the opportunity to have fun and catch plenty of waves. A perfect board for a summer fling.
Ideal fin set up
FCS2 AM2 Quad set
Rating
8
Ideal Wave size
1 to 3 foot
Conditions
Clean points to junky mush
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