Says the Surfboard Guide: The Happy is a new performance shortboard recently released by Channel Islands Surfboards and designed by Britt Merrick. It’s been hyped up over the last month or so from all their top team riders including the great Dane Reynolds, so we thought it would be good to check it out in both Spinetek and PU! Both the Spinetek and PU Happy I have are both custom at 5’11 x 19 1/4 x 2 1/2 @ 29.9L I have been surfing the Happy in a variety of conditions from very average waves at home in Sydney Australia, and had the opportunity to take the Happy to Bali for a few days into fairly good surf in Bali Indonesia. The Happy tends to perform better in larger (3ft+) and more quality waves, but is still able to perform in the local average conditions where the waves still have a little bit of push. In Bali, I had got the Spinetek for smaller days, and the PU for larger days, but with some pretty poor surf forecasting in hand, I ended up taking the Spinetek out on one of the largest days we had at Uluwatu (6ft+). The Spinetek really impressed me in larger heavier surf, where some EPS constructions can be great in smaller stuff, they can feel a bit sketchy in larger stuff, but not the Spinetek which felt really solid in larger surf. The Happy is a new performance shortboard model built to give surfers the freedom to easily go wherever their mind takes them. Low entry rocker and strategically placed forward volume allow the board to paddle well, get up to speed quickly, and perform extremely well in the tube. To harness all that speed, Happy’s refined rails and thinned out tail make for a highly responsive board that is also extremely forgiving through critical maneuvers and it holds like a mutha – no matter how hard you turn. Single concave under the front foot, transitioning into double between the fins, and flat off the tail give the perfect combination of speed and control. Over the past two years Britt refined and tweaked the design thanks to a steady stream of Team feedback by the likes of Zeke Lau, Lakey Peterson, Mikey February and Connor O’Leary—who have all since been riding it on the pro tour. Surf better. Be happy. With the Happy, I rode both the AM2 and new Legacy Series R8’s from Futures Fins – both fins have a raked template, and felt great in the board!”

Check out the Happy model here