Flying Fish – Exocet Fish 8.11ft x 30” review

http://www.exocet-original.com

Exocet’s Fish 8.11ft x 30” is a striking beast with fluro yellow rails and glaring white deck. A full nose, pronounced wide point and tapered swallow tail looks like it means business. The name Fish suggests a board for less than ideal conditions and we were keen to see if this rang true as far as performance on the water goes.

Paddling from the beach it’s a lively feeling ride with good secondary stability that initially makes the Exocet feel a little wobbly – surfers stepping down board size could initially be caught off guard. After a few scoops though everything settles down and the rider will learn to trust their tool.

There’s a pronounced degree of nose kick that flows into a flat section, giving the Fish a degree of glide and tracking that sometimes is lacking on surf orientated SUPs. As such getting to further away breaks is more efficient and entry into waves is super easy.

With a few powerful strokes riders can drive into gutless waves or get onto better quality walls extremely early. Experienced paddlers, who are used to generating speed, will have no trouble winding things up ready for that next hit.

The Exocet Fish races through flat sections and allows for fun rebounds off the white water and gouging cutbacks. You’re never going to turn quite as critically as on more rockered/less width/less volume shapes, but that isn’t the point.

It was startling how small you could actually go with wave size when riding the Fish. We tried it in everything from knee to shoulder high and all through the spectrum it displayed easy to use and fun to ride traits. As a one board ‘real world wave SUP’ you can’t go wrong with the Exocet Fish 8.11ft x 30”.

CONCLUSION
Exocet have delivered a great shape for lacklustre wave conditions with the Fish 8.11ft x 30”. ‘Real world waves’ are this board’s forte and it copes well with everything from gutless onshore crud to shoulder/head high perfection. Fast down the line it red lines with ease allowing for full chat cutties and carves. Whippy in the pocket but with good secondary stability it’s a great step down board for those getting into surf or a more composed crud stick paired with a higher performance model. Try the 8.11ft x 32” for even greater versatility.

Further info: www.exocet-original.com/fish30.php

Price: £859