Channel Islands 'Fever' Srfboard Review by Noel Salas EP. 23

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This video is about Channel Islands "Fever" Surfboard Review by Noel Salas EP. 23

The Fever is a new signature High Performance Shortboard by pro surfer Pat Gudauskas and shaper Mike Andrews. Noel Salas gets two custom boards one in his Groveler DIMS and the other in his High Performance DIMS.

The 5'7" has incredible speed in 2-3 foot surf. On paper the Fever would seem to have to much overall rocker to be a good Groveler but to Noel's surprise it is his new favorite CI board to date in 2-3 and 4-6 foot surf. Fin selection is always important for small waves and the Blackstix F8 3.0 by Futures Fins was his fin of choice.

The 5'9" High Performance Short Board goes mental too says Salas. This board has the FCSII fin system and the signature Mick Fanning fins were his fin of choice.

This is what Channel Islands Surfboards has to stay about the Fever.

The Fever has its roots in Al Merrick’s trusted and proven high performance short board designs. The goal in designing this board with Mike Andrews and Patrick Gudauskas was to create a more accessible tour level performance board that anyone who jumped onto it would “instantly feel the speed and zest for creativity.” Borrowing Pat’s favorite elements of the Proton, Rookie and MBM, and combining them with a subtle single concave and lower rocker resulted in a board with a huge sweet spot. With a slightly more parallel outline and forgiving rocker the Fever has proven to be an all-around design that excels in a wide range of conditions and wave types. The Fever also has responded really well to the FlexBar Technology- “ I think because it’s such a fast board, the Flexbar technology gives it extra pop and flair and is a nice compliment to the relatively simple outline”.

The Fever in the words of Patrick Gudauskas:
Overview: The Fever was born from a desire for an all-around performance board based on elements I love, Speed, Drive, and Flair. My Goal in designing this board with Mike Andrews and Channel Islands was to create a surfboard that I could surf in almost any conditions and have a hell of a good time on it. I wanted a more accessible Tour Performance board that anyone who jumped onto it would instantly feel the speed and zest for creativity.

Conditions: I like to surf my Fever in anything from 2-3 foot softer California style beach break and point break waves, to 6ft+ World Tour style waves, like Snapper, J Bay, Bells, Lowers, Haleiwa, and Backdoor. I prefer to ride it just above my groveler/small wave board, and all the way until I need a step-up or round tail surfboard.

[socalboys]

Mad props to Noel for all of his help and his stellar reviews of boards. I bought myself a Fever and thought I would post back here after a good few surfs on it in various conditions. If you are an intermediate to advanced surfer, this board should definitely be in your quiver. It's the best shortboard I have ever ridden.

I'm 5'9" around 155lbs and I got the PU Fever in the stock 5'9" x 2 1/4 x 18 3/8...at 25 liters. I rode the large CI Tech 1 fins. I came from a Tomo SKX in the epoxy flex bar tech and I don't miss it. To be fair though, I bought the SKX used and it had too much volume for me. Sold it and caught a bad Fever.

I live in North County San Diego, so I have a ton of great reefs and beach breaks that I rode the Fever in. I rode waves from 2-7 ft and the board was amazing in all conditions. In the beach breaks I rode it on super clean days and even a couple of crummy days and it went equally well in all conditions. I was quite surprised at how good it went in the big crummy beach break days, but a lot of that has to do with the large RTM tech 1 fins too. I caught the reefs in cardiff around 3-5 foot and super clean. That reef is kind of a slower runner with some nice steep sections here and there. The Fever gave me some of the best sessions in my life there due to the speed I was able to generate on this board. I was smiling ear to ear. Speed is your number one need on a board and the Fever delivers.

The first thing I noticed is how fast the board goes under foot! Wow, it just flies down the line and blasts out of turns with a lot of pop. And this is in the PU construction. I have been able to take my tail slides and carves to the next level because this board gives you the speed and recovery that is just over the top. It feels equally great both frontside and backside. Taking it vertical is like cutting through soft butter with a ninja's blade. Your snaps happen with so much speed and pop you will be amazed. And, coming out of the turns the thing does not lose speed at all. That is what surprised me so much about riding in a PU construction. The simplicity of the shape delivers in spades.

I think I said enough, just get yourself a Fever and see and feel it for yourself. If you have some skills in your arsenal, this board WILL take your surfing to the next level. I think I'm going to add another one to my quiver in another tech.

Thanks to Noel I have caught the Fever. We are blessed to have a resource like surf n' show on the web to help us all and even more blessed to watch the boards that catch our eye under Noel's feet. Live, surf, and surf again.

Peace!

[cjsmith]

Finally - A dude that can actually surf reviewing boards 🤙

[mattcotton]

great review as always.just got a fever this past week partly based on your reviews.man this board is legit soo fast down the line and turns just have that extra pop it seems.thanks for the great reviews.

[taylorneuer]

Absolutely love what your doing with the channel and love where it's going always killing it with the vids and the surfing🤙

[patrickboyles]

Hey Noel, thanks for another great review. I am considering ordering a custom CI board for everyday beach breaks in socal. Mostly surfing el porto in the 2-7 foot range and I am 5'9 and 165 lbs. If you were to pick one CI board to surf year round in avg socal waves, which model would you go with? Thanks!

[triathlonSDhsp]

Your surfing look absolutely on-point riding the Fever. Timmy Curran's music is a perfect match for your vids... love that.

[WyattScott]

Been loving my 6’2” Fever with FCS MF fins for the past 3 years. Good to know you like that combination too.

[jt]

I disliked my Fever at first. Until I took out the medium am fins and put in the large ones. That’s when I found the speed Noel talks about with this board.

[sdsurfs]

Noel on the OG Flyer vs Fever: Fever has more flow and is snappier, but the OG Flyer was throwing way more spray and looked the easy winner for power surfing. Thoughts?

[ResearchprojectX]

Hi Noel, thanks for this. Am
I right in thinking that you added 3/4 inch to the 5’7 board? I have these dims from
What you said:

5’7 x 19 x 2 3/8 - 26.5

5’9 18 7/8 2 3/8 - 27.2

Stock ::

5’7 doesn’t exist. But

5’8 x 18 1/4 x 2 3/16 - 23.8
5’9 x 18 3/8 x 2 1/4 - 25


Thanks again!

I’m trying to decide if I can add just over 1/2 inch to the width without messing it up.

[killtheapostrophe]

Thanks Noel! Your review really helped me, just ordered my fever custom to replace my pocket rocket I snapped in half. I got the standard 6/4 glass job as opposed to ultralight, since I really wanted to avoid snapping another board and the one CI I had in the past got lots of pressure dings. I think this was the right call, but was wondering how much the extra glass/ weight effects the board.

[mitchell_w]

Hi Noel! Is the Fever still your favorite all around HPSB from Channel Islands for the 4' to 8' range? Looking for something with good control, but fast down the line and responsive, and just a good all arounder HPSB. Any boards from CI you'd recommend over the Fever for that? Thx

[JoaoPCavalcanti]

Hey Noel,

Hope the waves have been good at your local break!
I currently have a JS Monstabox Hify 5'8" 18 3/4 x 2 1/4 25.2L and a CI OG Flyer Spinetek 5'8" 18 3/4 x 2 5/16 26.4L (got both after watching your reviews). I surf the OG when waves are average and take the JS when it gets a bit better. I like to have my literage around 25L and prefer the volume of my JS, even though I don't mind having the extra volume for the average waves with the OG.

I live in Sydney, Australia and I'm 5'7" 139 lbs, solid intermediate level, now wanting to progress and push my turns even further with a narrower HPSB and decided to get a custom Fever in PU for when the waves are good. Ideally I would like to surf it around here but also take it to surf better quality waves up on the Gold Coast and eventually Bali.


Also I noticed that on this review you were riding the boards with a bit more volume than what you are now.

Sorry for the long comment, I'm excited about getting my first custom but don't know if I'm messing too much with the dimensions from the original ones and I'm a bit confused.

Thanks in advance!

[TheMrtommo]

CI pro coming up? Would love to see your thoughts on their new model considering how much you loved the fever

[oscarmurton]

Yes it answers it you just the best YouTuber replying so fast keep it up love every single video top quality reviews, your such I got guy Ann's a great surfer thank u so much u legend

[UniqueStranger]

Good job on another great review. The general impression I get from the C.I. description and your review of this board is that the fever is a forgiving version of a WSL championship tour board. A high-performance all-arounder that is utilized in WSL championship tour conditions and breaks as well as local conditions and breaks.

[henriquevert]

Hi Noel ... I was a little afraid of Fever because I'm used to more user friendly boards. I surfed with her in small waves (even though she is a little bigger than the conditions) and the board is spectacular. I found it relatively easy to surf and easier to maneuver than the boards I've been using (OG Flyer / Sampler / Chilli Churro / Lost Uber Driver). I liked it so much that I decided to follow your idea and make a smaller one with custom dimensions to use on smaller waves. 🤙

[brodykuhn]

Hi Noel. Would you say the fever is your favorite high performance shortboard overall?

[laulytof]

Hi Noel, Thanks for your great feedback !! 👍
I used to love more the Staged Rocker Style than the Continuous one for the speed feeling in weak sections but you talk about a nice sweet spot on the Fever... does it mean there is a small flat part in the rocker ?
I'm always disappointed with continuous rocker (because of my surf) when it's not very hollow but the Fever looks different :)
To notice I really like the New Flyer (5'8 18'7/8) but I am searching for a board replacing the NF & more versatile.
Thanks.

[aerwsrf]

Hi Noel. Just want to start off by saying thank you for your insight and the work you do. Could you please tell me, after all the reviews, which model/brand stands out to you most? Or, what exactly do you usually ride in your free time for average SoCal surf?