Channel Islands Pod Mod - Al Merrick - X-Lite - Futures - 5 Fin

In 2000 the original Pod rapidly became a global favorite, allowing surfers to drop six inches off their shortboards and revolutionize punting.

The Pod Mod design is a heavily modified Pod, designed to be ridden even shorter and wider than the original, catering to the surfer who wants a little more volume forward to catch waves but doesn’t want to sacrifice performance. The tail has been widened for small wave glide, and the original single to double concave has been replaced with a flat entry to concave vee for quick rail-to-rail transitions.

Experienced surfers ride this board 3”- 6” shorter than you are tall.

Fin(s) included: None

Construction - X-Lite Technology by Torq Surfboards

X-Lite is our TET molding process with a performance tweak for our Channel Islands colab models.

X-Lite starts with a model blown blank –EPS blown to completed size and shape for perfect shape reproduction, no shaping, waste or inaccuracy. The fin box recesses are already included in tis process.

The Blank is wrapped in Biaxial fiberglass cloth, Impact Mesh for dent resistance, Carbon strips on the base for responsiveness and a Shield Skin for scratch resistance.

A second press mold – precision CNC cut from a single block of aluminium – is used to cure the resin, heated for perfect resin distribution.

What are the benefits?

Accuracy – there’s no shaping, sanding and guess work. The whole process is controlled; foam density, resin content, fin inserts.

Low waste – no shaping means no shaping waste. The cloth is laid up dry so off-cuts can be recycled. Resin is measured by weight and applied with no waste dripping on the floor.

Durability – Biaxial cloth is stronger than plain weave and we can use a lot due to the efficient lay-up. Our blanks use high density EPS and epoxy resin is stronger than Polyester.

Sustainable – A low waste process and a long lifespan = less impact. The production is run on solar power. All materials are sourced locally. Shipping is in slim fit, bleach free boxes with plastic free packing. We make the fin boxes from GRS and UL certified recycled plastic.

How do they surf?

Surf fast and built to last.

The feel is similar to a PU with less of the light weight directness of a vacuum EPS/Epoxy. They have good dampening but not a flat feeling – the carbon keeps the stiffness for response.

Overall they’re fast and take very little time to get used to when moving from any other board tech.