The surfboard industry continues to branch in a hundred different ways, from performance fish to traditional longboards and everything in between. This can make it hard to decide which board is right for you. Our answer? Pick two. We found a pair that were so good that we couldn鈥檛 choose a favorite. One鈥檚 a modern take on a classic and the other is as futuristic as you can get.

Lost Rad Ripper ($725 and up)

The Lost Rad Ripper is a shameless throwback to the eighties. Think: bright logos, thick rails, flat rocker, and a wide tail. Packed with foam鈥攖he stock 5’6″ we tested is a beefy 27.25 liters鈥攖his offering from master shaper Matt Biolos was designed for uninspiring waves. Testers found that the extra volume under the chest made the board extremely easy to paddle, yet the shallow single to double concave V bottom allowed for a great mix of speed and control. And it鈥檚 not just for groveling: pro Luke Davis rode four-to-six-foot tubes in Bali on this model and came home singing its praises. Ride the Rad Ripper at your height or two to four inches under.

Sharp Eye Inferno 72 in Dark Arts Technology ($1,305 and up)

On the other end of the spectrum, Sharp Eye鈥檚 Inferno 72 in Dark Arts Technology is on the cutting edge of performance and engineering. It starts with a stringerless, two-pound EPS core designed and shaped by Sharp Eye鈥檚 Marcio Zouvi. The foam is then sent to the Dark Arts factory, where it鈥檚 wrapped in carbon鈥攊nstead of fiberglass鈥攁nd vacuum bagged to remove all the excess resin. The result is stronger and lighter than your standard shortboard. It weighs just four pounds finished, but after six months of testing shows little sign of wear or tear. The board鈥檚 deep double concave creates lift, which, along with the construction, gives the sensation of floating above the water. And the unique flex of the carbon is like having a gas pedal under your front foot: the harder we pushed, the more speed and spring we felt in return. Designed for waist-to-head-high surf, this is a one-board quiver if there ever was one. Ride it an inch or two shorter than your standard shortboard.

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Channel Islands FishBeard ($720)

For a few years prior to 1980, twin fins were the gold standard for performance surfing. But they were left behind for progressive and competitive surfing when the three-fin thruster鈥攚hich generally offers greater control鈥攄ebuted that year. There have since been many modern iterations of the twin. But when freesurfer Parker Coffin asked boardmaker Channel Islands to meld two of his favorite designs from the brand, something magical happened. 鈥淭he FishBeard is all I want to ride,鈥� Coffin says. 鈥淔rontside, backside, small waves, big waves, reef breaks, beach break. It makes every other board not as fun.鈥� I tested a stock FishBeard (5’6″ by 19″ by 2 5/16″) in San Diego and quickly fell in love. The thinner width above the front foot (compared with a traditional twin鈥檚) allows for precision surfing, while the absence of a third fin creates more speed. And because the proprietary keel fins have more splay (outward angle) and less surface area than traditional offerings, the board holds better on rail. In bowly three-foot surf, it allowed testers to push off the bottom and vertically into the lip without sliding out, a rarity on other twins. At a local winter slab, we had no issue swinging late and taking off under the lip. Testers made a few tubes and didn鈥檛 skip out once. Ride the FishBeard longer and narrower than a traditional twin and just a couple of inches shorter than your shortboard. It鈥檚 a hybrid of the two, but you might find it replaces both.

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