It’s summertime in California, which means a few things: south swells if you’re lucky, and small surf if you’re in Santa Barbara. It’s a time for grovelers, a time to figure out how one can have the most possible fun in little waves. Bobby Martinez called up the Channel Islands crew with that on his mind.
“Bobby Martinez challenged us to build him as short of a board as possible with the goal of maximizing his fun in Santa Barbara’s tiny summer surf,” the CI team wrote. “He also added that it had to be a quad, and it still had to live up to his high-performance standards.”
A tall ask, but if anyone’s up to it, it’s Channel Islands. Bobby’s regular shortboards are 5’8″. For the quad you see above, however, he wanted something in the 5’2″ range. In order to do that, the shapers shortened the rail line, and distributed the volume into the width — which, for Bobby, means he has the ability to skate over the little sections while still carrying enough speed to smash those gouges he’s so famous for.
“The Bobby Quad has a very low entry rocker that goes into a flat planing surface under the gas pedal portion of the board that provides the speed to get into waves and over those flat sections,” the CI team explained. “The exit rocker is designed to be all business with lots of flip and a generous double concave for added lift to help Bobby boogie down the line in gutless waves. The performance-oriented tail flip combined with the width of the tail and a modified swallow allow for speed and hold during quick directional changes.”
