Board Review - 6"3 Morning of the Earth - FIJI
Morning of the Earth - Fiji
6”3 x 19 3/4 x 2 5/8
Single stringer
After waiting over a year for this magic sled by none other than Simon Jones of Morning of the Earth Surfboards.
An avid fan of Torren Martyn and his super smooth style and simple approach to wave riding on Simon’s crafts, I couldn’t wait to try out my 6”3 Fiji.
I’ve been watching Torren’s ‘Lost track’ films on repeat for the last year and always marveled at the waves he’s slaying on Simon’s boards.
I ordered the Fiji with the goal of using it as a travel board and semi-step up for decent lined up reef and point waves.
I’d always wanted a longer twin fin that wasn’t a fish or modified daily driver type shortboard. Recently, almost all of my go to boards have been twins; there’s something addictive and “freeing” about the speed and unique feelings these boards offer.
My initial thoughts after unpacking the board and examining it under my arm were centered around the immense quality of the board and its shape. The refined rails, amazingly crafted channels, flat deck and slightly beaked nose all perfectly blended into what felt like a very balanced board with foam in all the right places. The nose rocker was subtle and positioning of the twin fin boxes carefully positioned to work with the tail channels and pin tail. The outline runs quite parallel with wide point slightly front of center and slight single concave to vee with the quad channels to exit.
Simon even hand crafts his own leash loops with fin off cuts.
From the outset I imagined the board to paddle well and glide into waves with ease and that’s exactly how it felt.
For fins, I ordered the Need Essentials twin fin template that was designed by Simon with Torren for his twin fin boards and which lay somewhere between a model twin and keel fin design. The wide base gave plenty of drive with some upright rake for a decent amount of release when needed. These fins are also very stiff which gave a decent amount of response and control in larger waves. They felt a perfect compliment for this model.
My first session was at a point break on an overhead swell and slightly choppy conditions. There was a lot of water moving around and a bit current pulling off the break. The board handled it all very well, super smooth paddling into waves cutting through the chop and with the extra length and foam allowing me to get to my feet earlier than on my usual set of fishes and other shortboards. The glide and speed offered by this outline was instantly recognisable, the board also felt very stable and solid underfoot likely because of the signature tail channels and lower entry rocker. On steeper waves the board surprisingly handled the take offs with ease and gave me confidence to sit deeper and back door otherwise trickier sections.
The board was deigned for larger open faced waves and I can see why. The twin fins , channel pin tail combo worked nicely in these types of waves and made deep carves and more swooping open faced turns and cutbacks a staple for this board. Surprisingly, I did find that you could really drive the board hard off the bottom and your back foot and it would hold and project nicely.
Taking high-lines before dropping down to the bottom for a deep bottom turn and smooth cutback where definitely the highlights for me. Having more rail in the water really felt good on the bigger waves and offered a very different rhythm from my other shorter boards. A key for me was not to over surf the board but rather channel my inner Torren and smooth out my approach and lines!
Despite being designed for larger waves, the board also handled smaller lined up waves well. The easy padding and large sweet spot under foot made for a very forgiving ride in a wide range of surf. Maybe not the best groveller for tiny gutless waves but still a super versatile shape that gives confidence in even the larger heavier conditions.
Having had quite a few sessions on the board, I have to now say its a new favourite of mine for travelling and for more solid waves at home.
Ordering one of these requires patience but I promise it’s worth it!
Until next time…
Stay Stoked
JK