The art of balancing work and family life around promising swell forecasts or the lure of a hollow low tide session can be tricky at the best of times. What happens when you run out of excuses for why your late, rocking up with wet hair, trying to hide that cheeky grin from your last hollow endeavour. It's bound to happen sooner or later and that's why you need a back up plan, a plan B and here it is! (you can thank us later) When the tides not quite right or you've missed the peak of the swell by a day and the winds just gone onshore, versatility is your best friend.
So in this blog post we take a look at one of FORM's most versatile designs, the FORM ADPT. The ADPT design originated from a small wave shortboard that Alan Stokes would have in his quiver for the smallest of surf days or lack lustre competition surf. With it's tweaked performance fish outline low rocker and swallow tail Alan couldn't help but wonder what the board would feel like if it was a twin fin. This started a design and test phase that would last a couple of years with both a thruster version and a twin fin version of the design in Alan's board bag. Alan would jump from one to the other depending on the conditions that day.
The boards design performed so well as both a thruster and twin fin it was decided to try and incorporate both fin options into one board. Alan and the FORM crew set about reinventing fin plug configuration and fitting methods and after some trial and error the ADPT was born, a legitimate twin fin and thruster setup that would allow you to swap and change fins quickly and easily, completely changing the performance and feel of the board for different types of surf.
The ADPT's template and unique fin plug configuration also allows the board to be surfed as a third fin option, a two plus one fin set up gives the board both a thruster and twin fin feel, fast and drivey like the twin but with added manoeuvrability for tight thruster style snaps in the pocket. So if your really undecided about which fin option is right for that day's surf just throw the two plus one fin option in and all bases are covered!
The ADPT is one of our most popular and versatile boards in the FORM range. A high performance small or average wave thruster shortboard or for those cleaner bigger days, a high performance modern twin fin. So for those days when your just trying to squeeze a surf in around other commitments, maybe the tides not quite right or it's a little wind affected having the ADPT is a sure fire way to get you in the surf and having fun!
Then there's fin options which are endless! Here's are tried and tested favourites
Twin fin - FCS Power Twins This fin has amazing drive and hold through big hacks and carves
Thruster - FCS Toledo Filipe Toledo's signature high performance thruster setup. If your looking to raise your surfer performance on and above the wave this is the fin for you.
Two plus one - FCS AM Twin + 1 The fin setup that bridges the gap between twin fin surfing and high performance thruster surfing. Keeps all that lovely speed of a twin fin but adds a little more vertical flare to your snaps and turns.
Check out the video below of Alan Stokes surfing the ADPT as both a twin and thruster.
The FORM ADPT is available in stock sizes
or as a custom exclusively from Boardshop.co.uk