Comments (0) Best (Almost) Finless Surfboards - 2010
Mollusk Surf Shop
The surfboard looks nothing like the ancient Hawaiian aliaias it’s based on — or any other board, actually. Sold at Mollusk Surf Shop, it’s more sculpted than shaped, more tail-punched-out than left in, and it features sets of canyon-like channels and ribs across its belly. Then there’s the matter of the fins. Forget the standard six inches that stabilize surfboards and create a frictional connection to the water. These are micro-sized. Rising to 1.25 inches at their peak, they look more like the slight ridge running down a stingray’s back than something that stands a chance of holding deep in water. Maybe that’s why the board’s design collaborators, shapers Josh Farberow and Scott Anderson, christened it the “Slide and Glide.” “It doesn’t have the limitations of other surfboards,” says Ken Seino of Anderson’s shop as he describes the ultra-nimble, ultra-fast object. It slides sideways, glides backwards and can skid on wave lips. 1600 Pacific Ave., Venice Beach. (310) 396-1969.
—Tibby Rothman
