9 Fish Surfboards Interview

FirstStoke.com sits down with 9:Fish co-founder Sunny Trinh, who talks about the surf industry, what makes a good fish, and Grilled Ahi.

What was the inspiration behind 9:Fish?

Before we started 9:Fish, we were just surfers in the market for a new board. To us, surfboard shapes and designs had seemed to be pretty stagnant for a while. Everything “new” seemed to be just another high performance shortboard or longboard or the dreaded combination “funboard.” We were both looking for a shape that can paddle really easily, catch a ton of waves and still be very maneuverable. Unable to find that type of board in the stores, we decided to use our engineering backgrounds to design it ourselves. We drew upon the fluid dynamics principles we had learned in school and started playing around with ideas. Our boards would allow the surfer to maximize their ability to paddle and catch waves without having to go to a longboard. On the creative side, we also wanted to have fun with our designs and artwork. We noticed that most surfboard companies were overly concerned with being “hard core.” We wanted to go against the status quo and make surfing fun again, so we expressed that in the colors and graphic design and names of the boards. What we came up with was the 6’2” Seared Ahi and the 7’4” Hammerhead.

You guys are unique in that you only manufacture fish shaped boards. How has that worked out for you?

We believe that one day every surfer will own a fish and we’d like those to be 9:Fishes. Since fishes are all we make, our focus and resources are truly dedicated to perfecting that design. We aren’t distracted by all of the other possible shapes. We don’t want to be everything to everybody. We just simply want to make boards that will help people catch a ton of waves and have a lot of fun doing it.

A lot of guys see fish boards but are not sure what type of rider and/or surf is right for a fish. What type of surf is ideal for a fish?

The industry has typically typecast fishes as small wave summer boards. However, 9:Fish is proving that fishes can work in almost any type of surf conditions. It helps that we’ve expanded beyond the traditional size range for fishes (most retro fishes range from 5’6” to about 6’2), whereas the 9:Fish lineup goes from our 4’11” Pufferfish all the way to our 12’ Orca. 9:Fish customers have even surfed our fishes in places like Pipeline and even as a tow-in board in triple overhead Mentawais. Our designs help the surfer generate speed when the waves are small and also hold extremely well when the waves are super steep.

I hear you guys have taken a stance around being an environmentally conscious surfboard company. Tell us how you guys are helping out mother nature?

We are very serious about this topic. We invest a ton of our time and resources in organizations that work towards improving our environment. One of our co-founders, Wes Negus, is the chair for the West LA/Malibu chapter of Surfrider Foundation. We’ve donated quite a few surfboards to various fundraisers for organizations such as Surfrider Foundation, Heal the Bay, Lily Claire Foundation, Life Rolls On, and Wild Coast. At the same time, we’ve been using our engineering background to work with our other co-founder, Sunny Trinh’s alma mater, Harvey Mudd College (the #1 rated engineering school in the country). We’ve been working to develop not only a completely eco-friendly surfboard but also a completely new way to build surfboards. So far, we have two prototypes of boards that do not use any foam, resin or fiberglass and are almost 100% recyclable. We were even able to get some great advice on this project from Gordon Clark, who happens to be a chemical engineer that graduated from one of the Claremont Colleges, of which Harvey Mudd is a part. This is another example of not sticking with the status quo. Other companies have done a great job working towards making foam, resin or fiberglass less toxic to the environment. Our approach is that instead of trying to make a bad product less harmful, we should work on eliminating the harm altogether.

Who are some of the guys that ride for 9:Fish and what are they up to?

One of the neat things about 9:Fish are the people. Not only do all our people love to ride 9:Fish boards, they have quite a few other talents as well. Co-founders, Sunny and Wes are engineers, VP of Sales Matt Panegasser was a PGA golfer, and Paul Grundman, one of our sales reps is an accomplished musician (his music can be heard in some of our videos). Also, our team rider in Santa Cruz, Zoltan Torkos, is a professional magician.

Is shaping surfboards more art or science?

It’s really a combination of both. There’s really no right or wrong answer here since there’s no right board for everyone. There are some great shapers who have zero science background and do it mostly from the art side of intuition and feel. We’re on the other end of the spectrum where we probably use more science than any other company. As engineers, though, we truly believe that carefully applying science to surfboard design can bring about a real breakthrough. We already see it happening with the customer response to 9:Fish.

The surf industry seems to get increasingly competitive every year. What do you guys do to stand out from the competition?

First of all, we have a lot of fun with what we do. Just take a look at one of the events we sponsor every year called Doo Dah Surf Day. At this event, surfers dress up in costume and surf together. We’ve noticed that over the years, too many surfboard companies have become too “corporate” and it’s really hindered their creativity. At 9:Fish, we just continue to do what feels right. This doesn’t always work and we’ve had some failures. But overall, we’ve had a lot more hits than misses. We feel that having fun is very contagious. If we can pass this attitude to our customers, they’ll have more enjoyment in surfing as well.

Secondly, we love to surf and take every opportunity to go surfing with our customers, test our newest designs and take in feedback. That’s why we do demo’s every week and sponsor surf competitions like the annual Fam Jam at Leo Carillo. We also love to talk surfing and surfboard designs. We’re one of the few surfboard companies who has a toll free number (877-9FISH-SB) where anyone can call up and ask questions about our products and find out which board would fit them best. We want our customers to have the right product that they can enjoy for a long time. That’s why we get a ton of repeat customers and referrals.

Third, our designs will always stand out because we don’t follow the pack. We have unique designs that work extremely well in the water while also showcasing some very cool graphic design.

We know we’re doing things right because we’ve seen interest in our products grow dramatically. In addition, a lot of our larger competitors have blatantly copied our shapes, artwork and even marketing campaigns. So goes the old saying, imitation is the greatest form of flattery.

Where does the future hold for 9:Fish over the next few years?

There will definitely be new shapes and designs coming out. We also hope to take one of our eco-friendly prototypes to production some time soon. Other than that, we’ll be out in the water “Hanging 9”.

*For more information on 9:Fish, check out 9FishSurf.com