Board review van de Webber Mini Fish (By MeSurf.com)

Key Features & Benefits:
• Great paddle power
• Smooth and easy rail to rail transitions
• Easier to control and maneuver than a standard fish
• Great small wave weapon in surf 1-4ft

Bottom line:
• Since receiving this board to test I have used it more than any of the other boards. I found it super easy to ride in almost all conditions up to 4ft and can't seem to leave it at home!

mesurf Review:
When the board was dropped off I was initially blown away with the volume. It's thicker than it appears in images and I wasn't expecting it. There isn't a great deal of rocker in the board, but more than a traditional fish and has insanely deep double concave. The board is made of Super Lightweight Epoxy Construction (SLX) making the board super light for the actual volume of the board. The nose is shaped like a performance board, and adding all this together you get a sweet and unique ride. With it's own specially designed fins, this board was looking pretty unique, which is expected from the Webber madman.

"The Mini Fish is designed to rip apart small waves, not just handle them. With a bigger jump in thickness than width, huge paddle power is achieved while still maintaining the rail to rail feel which gets lost with much wider boards. The rocker is lower than a performance short board but not as low as some retro fish designs which are very restrictive on rail, and are hard to 'fit' into the tight curves of smaller waves. As a result you can pump the mini fish as hard as you would a normal short board but with the bonus of huge increases in glide and flow and paddle power."- Greg Webber

I first tested the board without a centre fin and found it a bit too loose for my style of surfing. If you want to ride the board like your normal fish then this setup would be fine, however I wanted to push this mini-fish a bit harder. So I put in a H2 medium centre fin the board handled a lot better and suited my style. (This is not mandatory, each surfer will work out their own setup. I have been told some guys put in their standard thruster setup and have the board purring.)

SPEED
What I noticed straight away is the eye watering speed you get from 2-3 pumps. The board sits very high in the water so drag is reduced and you are screaming along like a skatey on the road. You can get to your feet super early, and because it floats high, you can start driving down the line instantly. It is an easy board to push rail to rail like a performance board so you can gain speed instantly unlike other traditional fish designs.

RESPONSE
The response of this board is awesome, allowing for tighter turns than you would come to expect from a board with this much volume. You could push the board up into the pocket for a snap and bring it back down quickly and easily which as you know can't be achieved on a normal fish. Due to its volume and materials, the board feels light and whippy and allows you to do 'almost' anything you do on your performance board. Floaters, barrels, cutties, rheos, roundhouse, slides the works. If you are a competent surfer, you will be able to push this board pretty hard and through it's paces.

WRAP UP
I loved every surf I had on this board and always had fun. I got a sweet surf at the Pass in Byron at 4ft+, and the mini-fish was in its element, screaming down the line and pulling wide arc roundhouses, bouncing back off the foam and then two more pumps and I would be back out in front again. All time! On the smaller end, I was out in 1ft glassy beachies at Curly hooking into the closeouts, with little floaters cutties, while the crew on their short board didn't get a thing.

The mini-fish will be in my summer quiver without a doubt. Nice job by Greg, using his amazing shaping knowledge and surfing experience to create this sick little hybrid.