Channel Islands The Solution

The Channel Islands The Solution is Al Merrick's answer to one of surfing's oldest frustrations: what do you ride when the surf is smaller, softer, or less powerful than ideal? Britt and Al Merrick engineered The Solution as a dedicated step-down shortboard, drawing on feedback from Channel Islands' world-class team to produce a board that doesn't compromise performance just because the waves do.

Channel Islands Solution Design and Outline

The Solution carries a wider, fuller outline than a standard high-performance shortboard, giving it the surface area and buoyancy to paddle into soft, mushy, or under-powered surf with ease. The nose is moderately rounded to catch more open-face, while the mid-section holds enough width to generate drive and flow through flat sections. The tail narrows to a rounded pin shape that keeps the board engaged in the pocket and prevents it from sliding out in weaker push. This is not a board that demands steep, powerful surf to work well. It is shaped to make honest, fun waves feel like great waves.

Rocker and Bottom Contours

The rocker profile on The Solution is flatter than you would find on CI's more high-performance shortboard templates, a deliberate choice to maximize planing speed and early entry in gutless surf. The entry is low and smooth, reducing drag so the board accelerates quickly onto the face. Through the midsection, a subtle concave lifts water flow and generates lift underfoot, translating paddle speed into rail-to-rail drive once you are on your feet. The tail rocker releases the flow cleanly, allowing the board to exit turns with speed rather than stalling.

Five-Fin Versatility

The Solution ships with five fin boxes, giving the rider genuine flexibility in how the board is set up on any given day. In a quad configuration, the board becomes a loose, fast, down-the-line machine that rewards surfers who want speed and flow in small surf. Switch to a thruster setup and you get more pivot and vertical drive for when a wave throws up a section worth hitting. The five-box layout means you can dial in the feel for the conditions at your break without swapping boards. Use the variant selector on this page to confirm the fin box system included with your chosen option.

Construction: PU Feel Under Your Feet

The IWS version of The Solution is built in Channel Islands' PU (polyurethane foam, polyester resin) construction. PU has been the benchmark for performance shortboards for decades, prized for its lively, responsive flex pattern and the familiar, connected feel it delivers through the turns. When Channel Islands shapes in PU, riders get a board that flexes with the wave's energy and snaps back, keeping speed through and out of the turn. This is the construction Al Merrick's team riders have built their feedback on, and the one that has informed the design of The Solution from the beginning.

Who The Solution Is For

The Solution is built for intermediate to advanced surfers who already ride high-performance shortboards and want a dedicated small-wave option that does not force them to compromise their technique. If your regular board feels stiff and unresponsive when the surf drops to chest-high and below, The Solution is the board that keeps your surfing sharp on those days. It rewards active, progressive surfing, generating speed where a smaller-volume board would stall. Beginners will find it more forgiving than a competition shortboard, but its design assumes you can already read a wave and generate speed through your turns.

Wave Range

The Solution performs best from knee-high to a couple of feet overhead, in surf that lacks the power or consistency to drive a standard shortboard. It handles beach break, point break, and reef break equally well, as long as the waves have some shape. In clean, punchy surf it can stretch into slightly larger conditions, though surfers who regularly tackle powerful overhead-plus waves will find dedicated performance templates better matched to that environment. For South Florida's typical summer surf and everyday beach break conditions, The Solution earns its name.

Channel Islands is a privately held organization built around rider-driven product development and a commitment to manufacturing the best possible equipment. The demand on design created by the world's greatest surfers is what drives every template CI releases, and The Solution is one of their most enduring answers to the question every surfer eventually asks: what do I ride when it's small?

Questions about fit, sizing, or wave type? Stop by Island Water Sports or call us at 954-427-4929.

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