Will Forrest: I would market this towards someone that's trying to get big barrels and do big turns on heavier, more waves of consequence.

Trip Forman: Welcome to the REAL Board Loft. I'm Trip Forman. Today we have REAL team rider Will Forrest with us. Will, welcome.

Will Forrest: Thanks.

Trip Forman: And we are talking today about the Christenson OP4. Chris Christenson has a four-board, easy-to-understand shortboard lineup. OP1 is his small wave grovel shortboard. OP2 is the all-around everyday shortboard. OP3 is the swallow tail shortboard—again, another all-rounder with a little bit of a tendency towards better waves, and that board he developed with Brad Gerlach. And this is the OP4, which is the round tail for good waves. So Will, let's dive into it. First, we're going to start off with your height and weight, and then dive into the board dimensions and the volume.

Will Forrest: I'm 5'9.5" and about 145 lbs. Here we got the 5'10" at 26.3 liters.

Trip Forman: Okay, so just a little bit more than your standard. Your standard is like 26 liters.

Will Forrest: Yeah, a little bit more than that. I would say I wish I got it a little bit bigger just because it is for better waves and it might have paddled a little better, but performance-wise it was great. The paddling was just a little underwhelming for the waves it's meant for.

Trip Forman: Okay. So size-wise, again, you're normally at 26, this is 26.3, and you're thinking maybe upper 26s or 27.

Will Forrest: 27 probably would have been pretty sweet for the bigger stuff.

Trip Forman: Let's talk about performance then. First of all, let's dive into better wave round tails versus squash tails, and what your experience has been on those two styles of boards. When you're going towards better waves, why do surfers at your ability level look towards smaller, reduced-area round pins versus squashes when the waves get juicy?

Will Forrest: It's just for hold. When you're taking a late drop or doing a carve like a bottom turn with a ton of speed, you want a ton of hold in the rail of your board. You don't want it sliding out, and you don't want a lot of lift in that back foot as you're driving off the bottom or taking a late drop. I love round tails even in my smaller wave boards. I'm not a big squash tail fan. I've had a few, but I'm much more of a round tail board person. I don't have much experience with squash tails in bigger surf.

Trip Forman: You're just going round pin and pulling in the area for hold.

Will Forrest: Yep.

Trip Forman: Okay. So this board is set up as a dedicated thruster. It looks like you got your go-to fins in here, right? The Futures Legacy Mediums.

Will Forrest: Yep, Neutrals.

Trip Forman: Neutrals, yes. Did you try any other fins in here?

Will Forrest: I did. I tried the Ethan Ewing fins in there, so a little bit more rake in those ones. It was pretty good, but I didn't like them as much as the Neutrals. I've really been loving these fins as well. The Ethan Ewings were good if it was a longer wave—like I was riding a right point in Puerto Rico and had a ton of fun on it with the Ethan Ewings. But for around here where we get a little bit more peaky surf, I prefer the Neutrals.

Trip Forman: Okay. So basically for beach break surf, you're liking the Neutrals just to tighten up the turn radius, and then for longer, stretched-out points—like a couple of those days in Puerto Rico were sizable, right?

Will Forrest: Yeah, one overhead day.

Trip Forman: So more rake in those, because those Ethan Ewings have more rake. Matching the rake on the fin to how much space you have on the wave makes total sense. Where did this board shine in your quiver? Kind of size-wise on the waves, and then also the type of waves?

Will Forrest: In my quiver, this board was kind of battling with my JS Big Baron for wave selection. It was very back and forth on what I wanted to ride. I was definitely riding this in bigger surf and a little bit steeper barrels for sure. This board, I would say, is a little bit more performancy than something like the Big Baron. It definitely gets barreled good, but it turns better. It's more of a turn board in my eyes.

Trip Forman: So when you say performancy, do you mean it's got more of a shortboard feel? Because I know a lot of boards like the Big Baron are more wide-point forward paddle machines just to get into the wave, whereas this still has more turn in it.

Will Forrest: Yeah, this has a lot of turn in it even in bigger surf, which I loved because I've been trying to find a board that I could take out when it's bigger and try some bigger turns and carves on. This thing worked out really well. I've definitely done some of the biggest carves on open face waves that I've ever done before, especially around here where we don't get a lot of overhead days where you're doing turns—most of the time if it's overhead, you're just trying to get barreled. It was nice to have a board that fit those days where you could get barreled, come out, and do a carve if you wanted to. It definitely excelled over the Big Baron in that field. On the Big Baron, I'm just getting barreled and not turning it, whereas this you can do some turns on.

Trip Forman: That's really good, and it's awesome to have both in your quiver so you can look out at the session, see what's going down, and pick the right one.

Will Forrest: They were very back and forth. I had a session at the lighthouse one day where it was head high but running with barrels mixed in. I rode the Big Baron in the morning when it was a little cleaner and focused towards barrels, had a blast, and then switched over to this thing and was mixing in turns with trying to get barreled. That was really fun. It fits perfectly for what I wanted, which is a barrel board that you can also carve on.

Trip Forman: Obviously anybody at your ability is going to appreciate a board like this, but what's the accessibility rating on this board for putting people on it who have less ability than you?

Will Forrest: I wouldn't say it's the most accessible for people a little bit below because if you're not trying to get a big barrel or do huge turns, there are better options. It's a very high-performance board and very narrow for how long it is, so it's a hard board to ride. Even for me, it took a lot of figuring out at first. It's very sensitive, too. Trying to get barreled on this thing at first was a learning curve for me because I'm used to boards that are super stable. On this one, you have to be a little bit more sensitive and on it because it's basically a high-performance shortboard that's stretched out and pulled in. I wouldn't say it's the most accessible board. I would market this towards someone that's trying to get big barrels and do big turns on heavier, more waves of consequence.

Trip Forman: Okay, so basically advanced and above.

Will Forrest: Advanced. This would be a great board for a strike mission somewhere with long point breaks. I would love to ride this thing at a wave like Punta Roca—just a big wall with a lot of room to do huge carves. Somewhere like that would be awesome, especially since you can mix in barrels with turns. That would be a really good match for the board.

Trip Forman: Awesome. Well Will, thank you so much. Appreciate the feedback. It is the Christenson OP4. Viewers, if you have any questions on the Christenson OP4 or would like to place an order for 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.