What's Inside?  A Brief History of the CJ Nelson Sprout 2.0  CJ Nelson Sprout 2.0: What's New and What's Changed Key Features of the Sprout 2.0 Rocker Step Deck Tail Rails Parallax Bottom Construction and Flex Fins and Recommendations Frequently Asked Questions David recently had a Zoom call with legendary surfer CJ Nelson to discuss the highly anticipated Sprout 2.0 surfboard. CJ shares his insights on the design evolution, key features, and construction of this game-changing board. From its rocker and step deck to its tail and rails, we explore what makes the Sprout 2.0 a versatile and performance-oriented surfboard for all levels. Whether you're a seasoned...

The Attempt to Translate Sperm Whale’s Clicks and Find a Way to Communicate With Them I recently discovered Hakai Magazine, which presents a bunch of interesting content about coastal science. One of the articles that really stood out to me was about project that is working to interpret the sounds made by sperm whales with artificial intelligence and then communicate back to them! Photo Credit to projectceti.org Named Project CETI (Cetacean Translation Initiative), the program began in March of 2020, but was inspired by a group of international scientists who were working together at Harvard in 2017. They noticed that the...

Firewire and Thunderbolt: Going Their Separate Ways Over the past 10 years, Firewire has established itself as one of the largest and most progressive, high-tech surfboard brands on the market. Part of this has been in-house innovation, but another major factor has been collaborating and partnering with dozens of industry-leading shapers, designers, and inventors, from Kelly Slater (Slater Designs), Rob Machado, Dan Mann, and Tomo to Ryan Engle, CJ Nelson, Kai Sallas, Harley Ingleby, Taylor Jensen, and Ben “Skindog” Skinner.   The Firewire x Thunderbolt Collaboration SHOP FIREWIRE SURFBOARDS The Firewire x Thunderbolt collaboration brought a huge stable of world-class surfers, shapers,...

In this month's newsletter: 👉 The GOAT Kelly Slater Visits Hawaiian South Shore 🏄 Prolozone Therapy: The Permanent Solution to Chuck's Chronic Back Pain 💨 Member of the Month: Dane Minami  🌊 Sharkbanz New testing with Bull Sharks  🌞 RSC NEW LOOK 📌 Reviews From Surfers 🏆 Surfing News This July The GOAT Kelly Slater Visits Hawaiian South Shore We are soooooooo stoked The GOAT Kelly Slater visited us. Everybody was stoked, Sean and The Team had time to talk story from him and learned a lot, and broke down a few of his boards for us, and showed us two new boards...

CJ Nelson Sprout 2.0: Gear Review by Matt Rode Matt, who typically rides shortboards but weighs 150 lbs, found the ample 76+ liters of volume on the CJ Nelson Sprout 2.0 allowed him to regularly catch more than his fair share of waves. The surfboard's dedicated noserider design performed as expected, with easy entry and positioning, even in steeper, more critical waves. While not designed for radical turns, Matt noted that CJ Nelson Sprout 2.0 excelled at the type of turning required for setting up noserides. He found power turns like drop-knee cutbacks to be the most effective for redirecting the board....

NEWSLETTER DECEMBER 2020   Taylor Jensen’s TJ Pro—The Preferred Board of a Three-Time World Champ Good surfers win contest, but good boards help—and Taylor Jensen’s TJ Pro has helped him collect three longboard world titles. Designed with shaper Dan Mann, the TJ Pro is Taylor’s go-to competition board, and comes in a stock size of 9'0". Originally available in Firewire Timbertek, but now in Thunderbolt Black (carbon fiber) and Thunderbolt Red (xeon fiberglass) The Thunderbolt Red provides a bit more flexibility and responsiveness, whereas the Thunderbolt Black is stiffer and provides more control in larger, more powerful waves. Regardless of...

Hawaiian South Shore Member of the Month - Ari Fisher When and why did you initially get into surfing? I first leaned to surf as a kid in California from my best friend’s dad who grew up here on Oahu. The joy of spending the morning with family topped off with a hard earned In N’ Out burger, fries, and shake are some of my best memories.    Did you have a time period you laid off from surfing? If so, when and why did you start back up? After a couple of seasons, I ended up moving away for school.  After...

Brand: CJ Nelson Surfboard  (traditional longboard)Model: Sprout 2.0Length: 9'6" (76.2 liters)Construction: Thunderbolt SilverNumber of sessions: 20+Types of conditions: Ankle to chest-high+ running walls, in conditions ranging from clean/offshore to blown out/onshore.   SHOP NOW Paddling I weigh 150 pounds and ride shortboards most of the time, so the ample 76+ liters of volume in this board meant I regularly caught more than my fair share of waves. Entry was exactly as you’d expect for a dedicated noserider—as long as you are in early and know how to position a log, the lack of rocker up front doesn’t matter. In steeper,...