Jim Banks
The Mk III Fish
Price: £
599.00
Description / Purchase
About
Jim Banks
Jim Banks says "This is really an unbelievable board! My quest to ride the twin keel fishes to higher levels of performance, especially in more serious waves and yet still keep it a fun board for tiny powerless waves, has been the driving force behind this years improvements to the design. The speed, power and glide of this board is truly a beautiful thing to experience. The MKII was already a finely tuned performance machine capable of riding waves from 1 - 8ft but the MKIII is leaps and bounds above it. It's taken more than a year of trying out various combinations or rocker, concaves and planshapes to get the MKII to where I believed it could go and finally earn it's next generation MKIII tag. I know that most of my customers who got themselves a MKII enjoyed them so much that they stopped riding their other boards. I think that when they grab a MKIII they'll probably throw their other boards away...."
Key Features:-
- Improved the entry rocker…..so that you can push them harder, especially in critical situations
- A deeper concave out the tail…for better control at high speeds and in critical turns
- Increased fin toe in…..to produce all round better handling and control and a more stable response
- Low rail for control and holding power through critical turns
- Twin long base keel fins
What folks are saying:
"The Mk III it is by far the best board i have ever had. My surfing has improved faster than at any time in the last 10 years and moves that eluded me were possible from the first session - almost effortlessly - the board really wants to surf and i just encourage it - really amazing. My wave count is much higher than ever. It is perfect for Cornwall - I've had dozens of boards in the past looking for the 'perfect' one but I am now very doubtful i will ever need anything different."
- Andy Bowden
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Long before the term professional free surfer had become an accepted part of the surfing vernacular Jim Banks had established a cult following as an intrepid surf traveller who was willing to push the limitations of design and performance in extreme situations.
A hollow-legged appetite for heavy, challenging reef breaks was developed from a young age at the breaks around, Cronulla [Sydney Australia]. Voodoo and Shark Island were the spots where he first earned his stripes by charging the hollow and explosively forceful waves, which hit the two world-class reef breaks. Taller than most surfers with his ability, he revelled in powerful conditions where speed and momentum were readily available.
Jim’s brief competitive career coincided with the formative years of professional surfing. He became the first backside surfer to win at Sunset in the 79 Pro class trials and in 81 proved he was equally as skilled on his forehand when he took out the Om Bali Pro. But despite the competitive success it was increasingly Jim’s willingness to put himself in situations others wouldn’t that was getting the attention. 1978world champion Wayne Rabbit Bartholomew was in awe of Jim’s approach to pipeline.
“Banks is something of an enigma in big wave riding circles. He attacked the Pipeline like a true warrior, he’d paddle out as though every session were his last, and considering his approach to the world’s deadliest intersection, every session could easily have been his last. On a good west day at Pipeline, the pecking order, starting with Lopez, would jockey within a very tight, take off zone, but sitting a good forty metres inside of this elite pack was Banks always. ASL 1996.
In the end Jim became disillusioned with professional surfing and went in search of a surfing state of mind that was very removed from the mainstream direction in which the pro circuit was heading. After walking away from the tour in 1981 he began to spend more time pursuing waves in remote locations that would challenge not only his surfing ability but also his capacity to develop suitable equipment. There was also a major cultural dynamic to Jim’s motivation to explore new surfing frontiers. “Jim Banks is a real explorer. He makes his own boards, heads off to Indo, stays in primitive housing, learning the language and customs of the locals and carves up anything that comes his way. He’s his own man, easily recognised by the gleam in his eye.” …James Elder, ASL annual 1990.
Many of the waves Jim pioneered, like Grajagan, Desert Point and Gnarloo are now pencilled into every surfers list of must surf locations and he is still an advocate of the nomadic surfing lifestyle which opens the mind up to a realm of possibilities and breeds an unshakeable sense of independence and resourcefulness.
These days Jim resides in Byron Bay. He spends his days making boards for all kinds of conditions and attending to his tribe of six kids. He has travelled down many of surfing’s paths and so exists as a kind of sage who is well qualified to offer meditations on the passion that became his reason for being.
“Oh yeah, and he still rips.”
Luke Kennedy, Tracks
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