Chilli Surfboards Sugar Twin Fin Review

I surfed the Chilli Sugar at a handful of breaks in different conditions. Semi-close out, fast rights. Rip bowls. Summery reef peaks. Beachies. 1ft to 4ft. I wish to the Twinny God (Mark Richards) that I’d been able to ride it on a pointbreak. Every time I got a down-the-line wall it sent pleasure vibes all through my netherparts. The fast rights were for sure the goods, especially when one shouldered up enough to put this Chilli’s spice to the test.

You’re fine surfing the board up to 4ft, but any bigger than that and you’d have to nurse things pretty hard when turning. Sloppy waves are okay too, it’s width skates over flat sections fine, but when you’ve got a wall ahead of you it’s a totally different ball game. A Trim Machine, through and through.

Overall Best Conditions: The Chilli Sugar’s dream conditions are 2-3ft zippy runners. This is where really it shines. The pickup speed is crazy. It chases down sections like a greyhound with its tongue lolling out, ready to maul that fluffy bunny pole thing at the track. Just Googled it. It’s called a Lure. 

We’re at a point in the surfboard market where we get to differentiate between a performance twin (like Album’s Twinsman) and OG Relicas. Life is good for Twinny addicts.

The Chilli Sugar bridges that gap right down the middle. It’s not something you’re throwing airs or surfing Pipe on. It’s more something you pull out of the quiver when you want to soul arch across walls like a capeless superman. The thing absolutely comes alive on fast, forehand waves with sections to chase down. Once you’ve trimmed up a wall like a hipster’s barber, you can still lay down some rail for a satisfying sssaaaahhhhh. 

Chilli recommended when asked that I use MR Twins in it. The reason being that the fins are set back a ways and the shape offers more hold anyway. That was fine. It went well with the MRs, but I definitely preferred the Modern Keels. I found the MR’s a little loose at the end of some turns, and on lefts especially they didn’t offer the grab I wanted. The Keels though? Wax my balls and call me hydrodynamic. More speed, still plenty of response to glide through arcs, and release at the end if I wanted to get freaky like Bertleman. It even went well in lefts which, for a twinny, is like finding unicorn shit at a rodeo*. 

*I should note, I often prefer a wider base fin in shortboards do, being a heavy-footed (ahem, slow) surfer. So, while this was my experience with the keels, you might prefer the MRs like the shaper suggests.

If you’re looking for a retro-vibe board to pull out and mix up the dancefloor, the Chilli Sugar is an epic option. It’s not for full-shred lords who always want to be performing at their peak (even when using a fun board). It’s for those who love the magic carpet feel of gliding on water, taking your time, and then throwing a stylish sang when the right section presents. More than once I had people come up to me on the beach and ask what I was riding and that ‘it looked like you were having so much fun out there’. I was. They didn’t say I was ripping, notice, just that I had a big smile and loved being in the water. 

The board probably isn’t something I’d pull out when the surf was firing, nor when it’s utter shit and need something that goes off the sniff of an oily rag. It’s that middle way Buddha board which makes fun waves even funner, balancing old-style shapes with modern materials and finishing.

Speaking of finishing, I did manage to sink the leash plug into the deck somehow. Maybe it was a heavy heel, or knee when duck diving, but definitely a surprising one. Probably just a freak thing, but need to highlight any wobbles in an honest review. A bummer to do damage like that when it’s still pretty new and hadn’t been ridden in heavy waves.  

Overall, though, I loved the taste of the Chilli Sugar. A very sweet and spicy ride indeed.

The Wins:
*Down the line speed is ranked Millennium Falcon
*Holds through turns while offering end release at the end
*Actually goes on your backhand too (especially with Modern Keels in)

The Challenges:
*Not full performance if that’s what you’re after.
*A fun board for fun waves, not so much shit ones.
*Glass job perhaps wasn’t strong enough?