THE 5’ 5” X 19 ¼ RNF IS BACK AND BETTER THAN EVER!
The surf industry was in a 20 year performance design rut when in '94 and '95 Matt Biolos experimented with multiple variations of fish for himself, Chris Ward and Cory Lopez that became the building blocks for a performance hybrid revolution. “I’d never before had so many surfers and shapers ask me what are you riding?” The RNF '96 sh designs that teenaged Chris and Cory took to the North Shore and made their indelible mark on the surfing universe were featured in the seminal '97 surf film 5’5” X 19 ¼. The key component of Matt's fish is that they are performance minded inspired by MR’s competitive minded twins of the '70s and '80s with relatively pulled in tails designed to rip, not just small surf but in all sizes and shape of waves. Most fish have been predominantly influenced by wide tailed '70s kneeboards that create speed but have always fallen far short of the peak performance of modern short boards. In the name of great surfing and surfboards Matt has applied the past 25 years of board building to create a better surfboard faithfully based on but not exacting to the 96 RNF versions.
“With diligent testing being done by Kolohe, Coco, Ian Crane, Crosby Cola and other “guests” including myself in the last few months of 2020, we are very confident that the RNF ’96 will perform at and above expectations, as an all-around, rip-able fun machine, for a wide level of surfers.” - Matt Biolos
We Say
Having been present for the revolution that came with Matt Biolos' reinvention of the fish throughout the 90s the RNF is a shape that has never left my daily quiver due to the incredible benefits afforded by the short, stubby, slightly wide point forward fish shape that really did redefine performance surfing at the turn of the century.
Now 20 years later the RNF is still possibly the greatest hybrid surfboard shape ever conceived & even in the sloppy waves that we get here, the board is able to generate speed from the second you get your feet moving - the very pulled-in tail means that the rear of the board acts just like a performance short board as soon as you get your foot over the fins.
That stubbyness upfront allows for quick paddle entry & a lot less board under your feet then you might need in a more traditional shortboard shape.
Having gone through several iterations of this shape over the years the "RNF 96" version - without the hip, which I sometimes feel lets go from the face of the wave in the middle of a bottom turn, especially in choppy waves - is by far the best iteration of the shape so far.
Suits:
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Teenagers who are increasingly finding their current board is lacking in speed generation or wanting to tighten up their turn radius' with a shorter rail line.
- Performance surfers who want a flighty, rapid response board under their feet and don't mind working a little harder to make up for the lower volume.
Shipping Info
Available to Guernsey customers only