Description

Chilli Shortie Surfboard

The Shortie is a new shortboard by James ‘Chilli’ Cheal. As described by Jack Robbo from the 2021 Stab In The Dark, “this board is easy to ride. You don’t have to think, you just jump on it and surf.” Our new performance driver packs high-performance surfing into a forgiving shortboard that caters to intermediate and advanced surfers. The Shortie was refined throughout 2021 with Adriano de Souza (and Chilli team riders) during his final year on the WSL championship tour, and James saw it a fit for this year’s Stab In The Dark with Jack Robinson.

James had ‘user friendly’ mixed with ‘high performance’ in his brief. He went to work combining a balanced rocker from nose to tail (creating a wide generous sweet spot), a moderate single concave (speed generating with drive), and a semi-rounded pin tail (control in the pocket at high speed). This created a forgiving performance shortie that is easy for surfers to jump on and immediately gel with (the most challenging part of Stab In The Dark, no second chances!).
 
The generous sweet spot is the product of a unique extra bit of foam designed into the stringer line, making it an excellent paddler. You may notice the thickness in the dimensions compared to the length and width seems a bit high, but this strategic design concept creates a board that allows you to surf without thinking too much. The thickness is balanced out by a medium performance rail, allowing full control when surfed in critical parts of the wave.

The Shortie fits into the Chilli range as a good wave driver for 3-6 feet. Choose your volume and this is the board for your next surf trip overseas, a great winter board, or your board for when it’s pumping at home.

About this board:

Construction: PU
Glassing: Standard (4+4 deck, 4 bottom)
Fin Boxes: Futures or FCS2 x 3 (Choose option above – Fins not included)
Tail shape: Round Tail
Dimensions/Litres: See size graph above

About Chilli Surfboards:

The founding owner of Chilli Surfboards, Jamie Cheal, did his first top turn on a surfboard at the Gold Coast’s Greenmount aged 13, and he’s been surfing most days since.

In his late teens, Cheal moved to Sydney and started working at a surfboard factory, sanding and sweeping for next to nothing. In 1995, aged 22, Cheal shaped his first board. When he eventually took his creation to water he was more than a little surprised; It actually worked! “It was a total fluke,” he laughs. “I shaped about 20 more after that first one and they all went like wet towels.”

Cheal knew it wouldn’t be a walk in the park, but with that first gem in mind, he persevered with shaping and not long afterwards, it started to pay off. Two years later, Chilli Surfboards was born in a small factory in Brookvale.

In the years that followed, demand for Cheal’s boards grew and each week he produced more. Soon, demand was high and some of Australia’s best surfers were riding Chilli Surfboards to victory. It wasn’t long before World Tour surfers started asking Cheal for boards, too. In 2004, the dearly missed Andy Irons rode Chilli Surfboards in his successful campaign to claim a third world title.

Cheal loves seeing the best surfers in the world ride his boards but would take just as much pride in seeing one under your feet. That’s why he’s worked hard to create a model range that has something for everyone. Check them out on this site and find your next dream board.