Sessions #01, Kommetjie Longboarding

https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=RD4j3FKHB18IY&v=4j3FKHB18IY

Kommetjie, August 2025. Matt surfs the Malo 10" at a local peak. This wave is luckily only 5 minutes down the road from the factory and has been the grounds for a whole lot of fin and board testing over the years. The Malo wasn't landed on by luck, more than a few different templates were tried and even more were drawn up before the final fin was settled on.

The Malo was born out of a desire to have the pivot-fin stability and feel while adding the spark of a fin that flexes. 

After surfing the Arica for a few months straight, the feeling of pushing through a faded bottom turn and being sprung out onto the face had been lost. The Arica is a classic pivot-fin in the way it feels. It has an immediate response through turns and lots of drive too, admittedly something I had to get used to. 

One feeling I was hoping to bring back to the experience was the delayed ‘spring’/projection that you get from a fin that flexes. Bending under the pressure of a turn, the fin loads up energy which is released when the momentum of the board has changed directions. The result is a feeling that is akin to being towed by an elastic rope, stretching out and contracting as you surf down the line. A feeling that needs getting used to but is a lot of fun when dialled in. 

For the Malo, the goal was to find a happy place where there are the elements of quick response for initiating turns, stability and hold for nose rides and a bit of flex to push off and get projection from. It took about 4 template variations and a few foil tweaks to get this feeling right. 

Video by Brad Spence of Daydream Productions