Picked up a 5'7 Channel Islands Sperm whale yesterday, and had one of the best surfs I have had in a long time. My journey with boards has been an interesting one, and whilst I try to avoid spending on fancy kit, sometimes buying quality really pays dividends. Obviously Al Merrick is one name synonymous with highly efficient surfboard design, so why has it taken me long to ride one of his boards ? The reasons are many fold, but after yesterday, today and no doubt the rest of this week, the affinity with this board will just grow. At c. 30 litres its fully submersed whilst I sit and wait out back, but when paddling the design is incredibly efficient, that it paddles like a board much bigger, yet still duck dives like a small short board.  In essence I would describe this as where mini simmons meets shortboard, and something so very different to a fish. Quite how is not so simple to articulate, but its five fin setup, and sharp rails seems progressive like so much about its design. Whilst I loved the 5'10 Bing mini simmons, this craft is a serious step on, and one I will be keeping for much longer. Whether I will successfully template this and copy will remain to be seen. Currently I just want to ride it till its dying day, and mine for that matter.