We at FoamieCrew love the foam surfboards Mick Fanning produces. This summer we tested the Surf School Edition soft top. Read here about our experience.
– The MF’s aren’t truly soft boards – they’re hybrids: Rigid boards wrapped in foam which makes them really stiff and really durable. The MF Surf School edition is both of those things AND is probably the board with the best grip I’ve ever surfed.
I have been a fan of MF since I first set foot on the DHD Twin. Their line of high-performance shortboard-like foamies is so much fun for advanced surfers! But MF is not exclusively catering to the high-performance market: they saw a demand for durable soft tops in the Surf School and Rental space. So Mick and Co developed a specific branch of foamies that are build for surf schools and surf rentals. High impact, heavy use surfboards. Not the prettiest nor the most light-weight, but functional and solid.
The MF Surf School Edition is modeled after the Beastie. The foam surfboards come in 7’0, a 8’0 and a 9’0 with hardwood stringers in a high-density EPS core. The Surf School Edition has a ultra-grippy top deck – what MF calls a MICRO-DOT DECK TEXTURE. The more high-performance MF’s, such as the DHD and the Little Marley don’t have this deck texture’. The normal Beastie doesn’t neither, only the surf school edition does. MF increased the durability of the board by adding bumpers on the nose and tail. The board comes with standard FCS Flex Pop in fins.
Surfing the MF Surf School Edition this summer
I don’t actually own an MF Beastie. For FoamieCrew, I have been wanting to test the Beastie for a few months now. I finally got the chance to ride the Beastie Surf School Edition when I was at Surf Village Terschelling.
The waves were absolutely pumping that morning. Perfect shoulder high lefts and rights. Not too hollow, so a high volume surf board would be ideal. I opted for the 7’0. The board is quite heavy when compared to softtops from other brands such as Olaian and Softlite. The boards are kind of.. arduous. This isn’t really a problem in terms of transportation: the surf school edition MF’s have a handle that makes them easy to carry around. But the above average weight does play a role when you’re in the water. When you’re paddling for a wave you feel that the soft top needs some time to get up to speed.
But once you’re in the wave the board is pretty fast. The MF Beastie holds rail, allows you to ride up and down the face of the wave. The bouncy flex that other big soft tops tend to have is absent in the MF. This is because of the MF technology. As I explained in this article, the MF softboards aren’t truly soft boards. The are hybrids. They’re rigid boards wrapped in foam which makes them really stiff and really durable.
What truly sets this board apart from other beginner soft tops: it’s super grippy. This is the first foamie ever that I didn’t need to wax. The ‘micro dot deck texture’ is like a anti-slip shower mat.
The Best Soft Top for Surf Schools?
Everything about this board screams ‘durability’. Above all the black bumpers. “It is inevitable that the Surf School Edition will be dragged by the nose or tail along the beach. With this in mind we have included strategically positioned bumpers at the nose and tail to slow this abrasive behaviour!” says Mick Fanning on his website.
The owner of the surf rental told me that in his search for soft tops that would
- last longer than two months of full-time use
- would be fun for intermediate and advanced surfers as well as for beginners
He ended up buying the MF Surf School Edition and was happy he did. The boards tended to last longer than other brands he’d had the previous season. It’s just such a
The MF is a good option for surf schools. For more advanced enthusiasts the normal Beastie is a better option. Comes in the same sizes at approximately the same volumes as the Surf School Edition, but without the bumpers.
Read our review of the DHD Twin here, the MF Eugenie here or our review (and video) of the MF Little Marley here.
