OF BROTHERS AND BOARDS
A FCD BOARD TESTING TRIP TO FIJI
By Liam Wilmott
Photos by: Chris Peel, Scott Winer, Liam/Kohl
If you know Kohl you know the guy is hairy. Like, hhaaaaiirrryyy hairy. So last summer, when he checked the surf models and saw an intense low pressure rounding the bite of Australia, enough of the follicles on his neck, chest, cheeks, belly and biceps, plus those between his fingers and on the side of his toes stood on their ends. It made him jumpy. This swell was gonna be something.
Kohl Christensen has been chasing swells to Fiji since the surfing decree ended there in 2010, so he knows what to look for. Even though the forecast called for a lot of wind coming with the swell, he knew there would be at least three days of solid waves. The thought of heaving barrels on the ledge with stiff side offshores was enough for him to pull the trigger again.
In the last thirteen years, the lanky goofy-foot has wrangled some of the most celebrated rides at Cloudbreak. He’s been nominated for an XXL Surfing Award and held Cloudbreak spot analysis seminars with BWRAG. But it’s obvious that accolades and recognition don’t mean that much to him at the moment. His drive is simple and shared amongst all surfers— fulfilling an endless need for one more, better wave.
Local knowledge pays off. Tevita Gukilau during the June swell.
“Man, I just wanted a shot at a big barrel. This would be my third trip to Fiji this year chasing a swell. I went in March and didn’t get one. Then again in June. Tevita got an absolute nugget — the only one that came through all day— and I got washed past the tower four times! I didn’t even get a proper wave! It was so frustrating.” For someone who is well known for their funny stories, this is perhaps the most boring and non-funny story he’s ever told. It’s clear as day though, Kohl had a bee buzzing in his bonnet about this trip.
Cloudbreak has both built Kohl’s surfing profile and evolved into a personal litmus test for him. Maybe it has something to do with pushing himself in heavy waves past the age of 46. Or, maybe it’s navigating a pause that comes hand-in-hand with being dedicated to his wife and daughters back home. Or, there may be some mental fatigue residing in the corners of his psyche since January 1, 2020, when Kohl faced a long road to recovery after a wipeout at Pipeline left him being stretchered to the ICU. In truth, there’s a whole host of valid reasons why a middle-aged charger like him might become, shall we say— less chargey. It may even be something as simple as not enough yoga and meditation. But, then again, it’s Kohl, so it’s just as likely to be too much yoga and meditation. Whatever. The point is, the man makes it no secret— he needs to know if he’s still got good Cloudy waves in him. He’s content with going down solo, but on the day he was set to fly out, his little brother, Nick, signed up for the mission too.
“I hadn’t been to Fiji since before COVID, when I stayed on Tavarua with my family,” he said on his decision, “there was literally no surf or fish that week. Zero. I spent the whole time looking for seashells and losing spearfishing stuff.”
Kohl may tell funny stories, but Nick is a naturally funny guy. The younger Christensen is 42, a General Contractor and a die-hard surfer from 2’ to 20’. Nick looks some-what like his older brother, though not to the extent that warrants how often they get confused. At 6’1” and 180lbs he comes in an inch shorter and 5 pounds lighter than Kohl. But there is something else that makes them unmistakably siblings. They’re both reserved, especially around strangers. Tallish. Soft spoken. They are both kind and Nick is also of the haired variety. They don’t hassle annoyingly over anything, least of all waves. On land they walk with a slow and elongated stride. If you ever happen to see their dad, George, pumping helmeted and high-kneed around Haleiwa on his bicycle, you’d know the apples fell straight down.
“I was stoked when my brother came,” said Kohl, “we haven’t been on a trip together in years. Because the flight was leaving in a few hours we decided to just share my boards. My brother is a really good surfer, and because he’s a natural footer and I’m a goofy, we thought it would be interesting to compare how the boards felt.”
“I hadn’t rode that many FCD boards,” confessed Nick, “but my favorite board on the outer reefs at home is an orange 10’6 that Fletcher shaped. I’ve had that board for about eight winters. So, I knew there was a pretty good chance I’d like them. Kohl’s Fiji quiver is a lot different to the kind of boards I usually ride, but I trust Kohl's judgment because he’s surfed down there more than most people on the planet, and I know Fletch can shape.”
There’s another benefit to Nick joining the trip. The brothers have supported and pushed each other in the ocean since they were teenagers. And while Kohl maybe a more recognized name in big wave surfing, the younger Christensen does more than hold his own in heavy water waves. Having Nick on the trip might be the edge Kohl needs to line up a smoker.
On the ground in Nadi, the boys linked up with their good friends and Fijian nationals, Uri Kurop and Tevita Gukilau. From there it was plug and play. A daily step and repeat of dark morning commutes from Nadi to Momi Bay, bumpy boat rides out to the moorings and all-day body-taxing surfs—all while trying to avoid wash throughs and pit-rash. They go until dusk and then retrace their steps until they are snoring, full bellied, under the roof at the Kurop compound again.
The swell arrived as Kohl predicted it would. 20-25kt winds, 8-10 feet on the ledge with frequent wash throughs. All-in-all, over four days, five different FCD boards were ridden by the brothers.
Below is their feedback on the designs and some pictures as proof in the pudding. You can be the judge on whether Kohl still has a good Cloudy wave in him or if the mantle should be passed to his little brother, Nick.
Green F Rocket | 6 Channel | Twin Fin | 7’4” x 20” x 3”
Kohl: Fletch and I have worked on the F-Rocket for a while. So, the green channel bottom was fun to try. I rode it as a twin fin. My last trip down here I rode it at Restaurants as a single fin and it was really drivey. The twin had a little bit more agility in the tube and on the wave face. It held really nice. And it had the same kind of trust that I give to my regular F-Rocket.
Nick: I didn’t ride the twin F-Rocket
Kohl: Why not?
Nick: I don’t know why. I was scared of it.
[Laughs]
Nick: I think at that stage of the trip I’d rode the old school pipe dimension board and then I switched to the F-Rocket. It was my first time surfing Cloudbreak at that size and both those boards were completely different to anything I’d usually ride.
Kohl: Really, that was your first time?
Nick: Yeah, when I came for thundercloud swell it was way bigger. And then when we came for your birthday that one time, it was way smaller.
Kohl: Wow.
Nick: I think the idea of a 6 Channel F-Rocket set up as a twin fin on my back hand was going to require a lot of adjusting. And it was pretty gnarly out there so I just didn’t want a bad beat down.
Kohl: Well. It went great for me!
Triangle Spray F-Rocket | Quad | 7’6” x 19.70 x 2.93
Kohl: With F-Rockets you kind of have to set your line on the drop and go for it. One of my favorite things about that board is the bottom turn, it gets so much projection and hold on powerful waves. And the F-Rocket is more about more micro adjustments in the tube using the rail.
Nick: I noticed the F-Rocket has a really low rocker and the rails feel really turned down. It’s like such a hard edge on the rail for me, that, with the low rocker made it just such a different board than I’m used to riding.
Kohl: You can definitely trust it.
Nick: Yeah, and once I learned how to think ahead and choose a different line on the drop I got a couple sick ones. I found it had so much hold and squirt off the bottom turn.
Kohl: That’s why we named it the F-Rocket! When Fletch made the first one for me he asked me how it went and I said it went like a fucking rocket!
Kohl: Yeah, and what’s also nice is that you can catch a lot of waves on them. I had that one good one on it where it just boxed out and I got to just stand in it.
Nick: Yeah, I really liked how you can lay into it as hard as you want on a bottom turn and then how solid it is in the barrel.
The Boar | Diamond Tail | Quad | 6’8” x 19.5” x 2.63
“Diamonds are forever”
Kohl: Diamond tail really took it. Held when you needed it to hold and it was responsive and it came off the bottom really nice.
Nick: The Diamond really took the cake for me too. It was the right size I think too for the waves. A 6’8 felt a lot better than the longer boards.
Kohl: Yeah, I think the 6’8 was the right size board for most of the good waves on the ledge. Fletch made me a 5”10 Boar and I loved it; I still ride it in Hawaii a bunch. Then we made a 7’0 and I didn’t like it as much, but then the 6’8 seems to be the magic number.
Nick: It had a lot of volume too. Paddled really good.
Kohl: Yeah, you don’t need a huge board to surf that size ledge, even with the wash through, you’re kind of hunting the ones that back off and those ones typically give you a pretty good in, and they jack just enough to catch the big ones on a shorter board.
Tevita: Diamonds are forever!
[Chuckles all around]
It felt really nice to get on after riding a big board all morning. It felt really drivey. I liked it.
Nick: Oh. I got a barrel and I threw the Diamond Claim inside and Jojo (Roper) thought I was throwing a love heart and threw one back to me!!
[Everyone busts laughing]
Kohl: That’s the best thing ever.
Nick: It seemed to stay down underwater for a long time.
Tevita: Haha. yeah that happened to me too!
Nick: I got cleaned up by one set and it stayed down forever.
Tevita: Yeah I came up and I thought it was snapped in half, it took maybe 20 seconds for it to come up.
Kohl: You think that's cause of the diamond tail?
Nick: Like a shovel almost!
Tevita: I could feel it doing something down there and I was like is this gonna ever come up?
Kohl: Tevita got a real good one on the diamond.
Tevita: Yeah I liked it a lot.
Nick: Me too.
90’s style Pipeline Board | Thruster | 7’5 x 18.75 x 2.75
Nick: Kelly Slater from the 90’s, it didn’t work so well. I tried to do a turn on it and it went waink!
Kohl: I saw that wave and your feet were in the wrong spot. [Kohl and Tevita laugh]
Nick: I think it’s because Fletch shaped that board for someone who doesn't surf as vertical as me.
[Laughs]
Kohl: But yeah, that one Fletch made me a while back cause I wanted a replica of my pipe board from the late 90’s. It just didn’t have the volume or the float for me now. So I just brought it down here.
Nick: Oh I see now. So you just passed off another board to me that you didn’t like?
Kohl: No not at all. I actually thought it could go good on the ledgy ones.
Nick: So you rode it?
Kohl: No.
Nick: I knew it! [Laughs]
Kohl: I was just getting too many sick ones on the green twin
Step-down Big Wave Gun |Quad | 9’2 x 20.5 x 3.5
Kohl: Yeah, the 9’2 worked good. It trimmed nice. I hadn’t rode it yet, though Fletch shaped it for here. It has some hard long rails on it, and I wanted to give it a go to get some confidence that I could ride it on an outer ledge day. I might try it with a little bigger fins in the front to give it a bit more drive instead of the tow fins I was running. But I’ll definitely ride it on the next swell that’s bigger on the outside ledge.
