9 Fish Surfboards

Here at 9:Fish, we only do one thing, but we do it extraordinarily well: we make fishes. In fact, we’re the only company in the industry that does nothing but fishes. Not just any fish, mind you. But the kind of hand crafted rockets that can get you into just about any kind of surf without sacrificing an iota of maneuverability.

Our core designers are part engineers, and part mad scientists. Their job: to ensure that each and every 9:Fish is thoughtfully engineered and precision crafted. The end result: fish sticks that are user friendly, regardless of your skill level or what kind of board you currently ride.

On the other side of the water cooler is our R&D (ride and destroy) team, who are comprised of passionate and progressive surfers. Enter our master fish philosopher, Clyde Beatty Jr. With over 30 years of fish experience, he lives and breathes this functional design inside and out bringing the best elements from its past while adapting the latest design philosophy and techniques.

So when you combine a team of wild-eyed engineers and dedicated, progressive surfers and a fresh blank, what you wind up with is an extremely versatile surfboard that can paddle like a longboard while performing like a short board in just about any conditions.

We, at 9:Fish also believe that helping improve the ocean environment is just as important as having fun surfing. This is why we spend so much of our time working with environmental organizations such as Surfrider Foundation. Wes Negus, one of our cofounders, is the chair for the West Los Angeles / Malibu Chapter. 9:Fish also donates a ton of surfboards and accessories for various fundraisers.

With regards to reducing the environmental impact of traditional surfboard manufacturing techniques, we are at the forefront of the industry. By using our engineering background, we are totally committed to the goal of creating the first commercially viable, totally eco-friendly surfboard solution. For this challenge, we’ve been working with Harvey Mudd
College in Claremont (the alma mater of cofounder, Sunny Trinh, and the #1 undergraduate engineering school in the US), and have already spent an entire academic year with 5 students, 1 professor and the help of Gordon Clark (a former alumnus of the Claremont Colleges). It's our belief that to really fix the problem, we need to get completely move away from foam and resin altogether. Using bio-foam and improved resin only reduces the emission of harmful by-products. The first 9:Fish eco-friendly prototype, on the other hand, was a 6'2" Fish made completely of aluminum; hollow in the center, with 2 chambers fused together. This board emits no harmful toxins while being made and is completely recyclable. This aluminum board was shown at ASR in the Green Room in January 2008, and generated some buzz from many green publications. However, our latest prototypes are using some newer materials that are even better and we are working to bring them to market as soon as possible.

So if you have any comments or suggestions, feel free to give us a buzz at sunny@9fishsurf.com.