Trip Forman: Welcome to the REAL Board Loft. I’m Trip Forman. Today we have Dawson with us. Dawson, welcome. We are here to talk with you about the new Channel Islands Mikey February Shorty. It’s a new high-performance shortboard in the CI range. On the CI website, they talk about where this board fits in their performance shortboard range. It's right in the middle between the Two Happy, which is a very user-friendly better-wave shortboard, and the 2.Pro, which is also a more user-friendly version of the popular CI Pro. The one word that they go back to again and again on the Mikey Feb Shorty is flow. Obviously flow and Mikey February are synonymous. Dawson, myself, and Cody put this board in the bag and took it to one of the flowiest waves in the world: Chicama, Peru, also known as the longest left in the world. Dawson, let’s dive into this board. I’m stoked to hear your impressions on it.

Dawson: This board is 5'11 x 18 7/8 x 2 3/8 at 27.6 liters. We took this thing to Peru and immediately I was looking for a board around the shop and talking to Trip about taking it down there. Because it's a left-hand point break with super drawn-out turns, I was looking at the dimensions on this one and it’s a little out of my range height-wise. It’s a 5'11 and usually I’m riding a 5'8 or 5'10 around here, even a 5'7 on these smaller, punchier waves. But there was a swell coming, so I figured I'd jump it up and try to get a full old-school type shortboard with more rail length. I grabbed this one and took it there. First off, it felt like you could really get on the rail. It is totally different surfing than the Outer Banks type of wave. You have so much time to just set your rail and let the board do the turning for you. Dig into the bottom, get that rail engaged off the top—it was just more rail surfing than anything. It was totally different for me because the last time I rode a board like this was probably in the early 2000s because it’s taller but still super high performance.

Trip Forman: Even before you dig into the CI information on this board, you think about Mikey February making a new shortboard model. You think of all of his alternative board surfing and then going from those boards onto a shortboard. What is he going to want it to feel like? Even without them prompting "flow," you’re thinking this thing is going to be a style-master shortboard.

Dawson: That’s what it felt like, too. When you got on it, you just let the board do the work—rail-to-rail surfing where you try not to pump as much and just use the rails.

Trip Forman: Let’s talk about the feeling difference between your standard shortboard being 5'9 and this 5'11. What are you feeling under foot?

Dawson: Even on the paddling for the wave, you have a little more length. Just catching the wave, you can feel that difference 100%. Then, digging into your bottom turn and getting close to the lip, you really get a spring off your bottom into the lip. I thought the fins released really well on this thing. It’s just fluid surfing without a lot of hiccups in between.

Trip Forman: We’re surfing the longest left in the world and you were getting some of the longest waves of the day. You mentioned the fins. Let’s flip this thing around and talk fins a little bit. Looks like you have the Jordys in here for Futures. For people that have not surfed the Jordys, it is a more raked template, really good for point breaks and down-the-line drive. How did it pair up with this board?

Dawson: I like the Jordys because that wave is so down the line. You have so much time, so you can really rely on those fins off the bottom. They are honeycomb, so they do have a little bit of flex. I used the large size because while the wave is not super powerful, I feel like a larger fin gives you a little more drive.

Trip Forman: Just for reference on this board, the dimensions you mentioned and riding large fins, what is your height and weight?

Dawson: I’m 5'9 at 175 lbs.

Trip Forman: What about the wave range? We had that one really good day, but what was the range of size you were surfing it on?

Dawson: Probably chest-high to two feet overhead. It worked really well. For any kind of point break wave, I think this board is pretty ideal.

Trip Forman: With all your time spent in the board loft pairing people up with the right boards, what’s the accessibility rating of this board for people that are below your ability level?

Dawson: I think for someone who is obviously catching their own waves and wants to get more in the pocket or rail out their turns, this is definitely a good one for that high-performance feel. It is a lot narrower in the nose, but it still has a little bit of foam under the chest. Because it's two or three inches bigger than me, you still have that extra paddle power there and the length obviously helps catching the wave.

Trip Forman: I think people are going to start moving back to shortboards. Is Mikey Feb releasing his own pro model shortboard what was needed just to let people know it’s okay to go back to shortboards now?

Dawson: Yeah, they feel so good. You have that long rail line and so much flow. With smaller, wider boards, you feel like you don’t have that flow; it’s a little more glitchy or snappy. I think the old-school shortboards are going to make a comeback. There has been a lot of talk about bringing back Andy Irons-style dimensions—really long, stretched-out boards—but that’s even more extreme than this. This seems to be a happy medium of keeping it modern but having a little more rail line.

Trip Forman: Dawson, thank you so much. Viewers, if you have any questions on the new Channel Islands Mikey Feb Shorty or would like to order one either stock or custom, you can always reach us at the shop at 252-987-6000 or look us up online at realwatersports.com/surfing. Thanks for tuning in.