Aardvark

The honest answer: most riders sit 0–2 inches shorter and 1–3 liters lower than their go-to thruster. The Aardvark wants the release a twin fin is built for, and a heavier / longer board starts trading that release away for paddle.

If you're a 150–180lb intermediate-to-advanced surfer who rides a ~6'0" thruster around 30L, your Aardvark size is probably 5'8"–5'10" in the 31–35L range. Lighter riders or surfers who prefer a more sensitive feel underfoot can drop to 5'5"–5'7" / 30L. Heavier riders and anyone biased toward paddle / margin can step up to 5'10"–6'0" / 35–38L. The full stock catalog runs 4'5" through 6'6" in 1-inch increments, so the band is wider than the featured set if you sit at the edges. If you're between sizes, message me and we'll talk about the waves you actually surf, not the ones you hope to.

The two contours do different jobs.

The channels and double concave through the front and middle of the board load the rail with drive — water tracks through the channels and stays attached to the bottom even when the board sits flat off the back foot. That keeps the Aardvark from feeling skatey through the middle of a turn; the channels give the board something to push against.

Behind the fins, the bottom transitions to a single concave that releases cleanly when you weight the back foot. That release is what makes the snap feel crisp. If the channels ran all the way through the tail, the board would drive but resist coming around — you'd lose the pivot the Aardvark is built for. The transition is deliberate.

Twin is the canonical setup. Two fins, deep release, weight off the back foot to pivot. It's what the Aardvark is designed around and what most riders should order.

Twinzer (twin + two small leading canards) adds a touch more drive forward without giving up the twin release at the tail. It's a $30 upcharge and worth considering if you ride twins with a complaint that the standard twin feels too loose or skates out at speed — the canards give you something extra to push against on a long, drawn- out line. There's precedent in the inventory: one Aardvark in the shop ships in twinzer.

If you've never ridden a twinzer before and you ride twins comfortably, start with the standard twin. If you've owned a twin and wanted more drive, twinzer is the right add-on.

Clean, organized waves with shape. Around home that means Salt Creek on a south swell, T-Street on a glassy morning, Trestles cutbacks when Lowers is doing its mid-range thing — chest-to-head with a face that holds.

On a surf trip the Aardvark belongs at mainland-Mexico point surf with vertical opportunities — Saladita on a building day, the inside section at Punta de Mita where the wave funnels. Anywhere the wave has push but you want to break it into pivots rather than draw one long line through it.

It's not a knee-high grovel weapon — twin fins built for that job run wider, flatter, and lower-rockered. And when the surf gets to solid overhead with real push, the twin-fin release starts reading as "spinning out" — at that point a thruster step-up handles the heavier wave better. The Aardvark's sweet spot is roughly waist-to- head with shape.

Probably not, but it depends on what you've been riding and where.

The Aardvark is built around the back foot. If you're an intermediate who already weights the back foot consistently — you hold rail through cutbacks, you don't bog the tail when you commit to the inside line — you'll get the Aardvark immediately. The board rewards exactly that input.

If you're newer to surfing and still finding your stance, the Aardvark will feel sensitive in a way that punishes timing errors. The hard-edged release tail wants commitment; if you're tentative on the back foot, the board won't pivot, it'll wash. In that case, something flatter and wider is a better fit until your back-foot weighting becomes second nature.

The honest answer: if you're a strong intermediate getting confident with rail-to-rail surfing in the chest-to-head range, the Aardvark is in scope. If you're earlier than that, it's the wrong board.

Honest comparable framing — the modern-twin design space is broad enough that no two boards in it ride the same way.

The CI Two Happy Twin is a performance modern twin biased toward drive — a shortboard-derived twin envelope with modern rocker. CI's twin family wants you projecting through long lines; the Aardvark is biased the other direction, toward pivot and pocket time. Same volume range, different design intent.

The Album Insanity is the closer published match — turn-first modern twin with deep swallow and modern rocker. The Aardvark and the Insanity are in roughly the same camp on intent. Where they diverge: my proposed Aardvark contour runs medium entry rocker with a channeled double-concave forward, where Album typically runs flatter rocker with a single-to-double bottom. Different drive feel, similar release on the tail.

If you've ridden both, your read on which one fits you better will do more for your decision than any spec-sheet comparison. If you're choosing between an Aardvark and one of those, message me and I'll talk through the difference for the waves you actually surf.

Both work; the choice is about feel and durability, not performance ceiling.

PU blank with polyester resin is the default. It's what most production shortboards have ridden on for forty years. Slightly heavier per-cubic-inch than EPS; gives the board a familiar flex, weight, and ding-pattern. If you've ridden any factory-glassed shortboard from CI, Pyzel, JS, etc., you've ridden PU/poly.

EPS blank with epoxy resin is a $175 add-on. Lighter per-cubic-inch, which means a board with the same dims paddles slightly easier and feels livelier through the air on top turns. The flex is stiffer; EPS resists pressure dings better than PU. The trade is feel — some riders love the EPS livelier feel, others find it floaty or unresponsive at speed.

For the Aardvark specifically: I'd default to PU/poly for the back-foot pivot the design wants — the slightly softer flex helps you load the rail through a turn. EPS is the right pick if you want a lighter, more durable build for travel.

Built-to-order timelines run 3–6 weeks for clear-sanded, 6–8 weeks for tint with gloss + polish, and 8–10 weeks for tint sanded. Those windows reflect the current shop queue and get confirmed at order time. A 25% deposit holds your slot; the balance is due on completion.

Try-before-you-buy: I don't currently run a formal demo program, but the shop is in San Clemente at 106 W Mariposa Unit B and I keep in-progress and finished boards around. If you want to come see an Aardvark before you commit, message me and we'll set up a time. Sometimes there's a customer board ready to ship that you can hold, sight-unseen test-paddle, or at least spec against in person.

When an Aardvark inventory board exists (used or new), it shows up on the model page's stock list. Right now there's a used 5'7" twinzer-spec Aardvark in the shop — the only in-stock Aardvark as of this writing. If you want to see that one specifically, message me before you make the drive.

- [ ] Voice review — confirm the tone reads as Blake's. The default is plain, hydrodynamic, no clichés. If specific phrasings feel off, mark them and I'll redraft. - [ ] Q1 weight bands — confirm 150–180lb / 30L thruster as the reference rider, or supply Blake's preferred reference frame. - [ ] Q5 skill-level cutoff — confirm "strong intermediate weighting the back foot consistently" as the floor; widen or narrow per Blake's read. - [ ] Q6 competitor comparisons — CI Two Happy Twin + Album Insanity are the two named competitors. Both are draft; `descriptions.md` §6 has 12 candidates and Blake's primary-source ✅/⚠️/❌ pass should drive which two anchor the FAQ comparison. - [ ] Q7 PU/poly default recommendation — confirm PU as the Aardvark default vs EPS. The recommendation reflects the back-foot-pivot design intent but should match Blake's actual build preference. - [ ] Q8 demo policy — confirm the "no formal demo program, but come by the shop" framing matches current Lundquist policy.