MF Beastie Review: Our Honest Take on the High Performance Soft Top Funboard

July 28, 2022

Key Points

• Fun to surf, you can actually turn!
• Very Easy to catch waves
• Thoughtful shape with thin rails and a narrower profile overall 
• Balances Stiffness and Forgiveness

Nice Touches

• Blue fins
• Clean look 
• Doesn’t come out of cellophane slimy 
• Complete fin pack

Minor Difficulties 

• Hard to get the futures fins in side fins
• Doesn’t come with a leash string 
• White looks clean new but get dirty fast, even roof racks made marks 

MF Beastie Video From Mick Fanning Softboards

Choosing a Size

We finally got excited enough to unbox one of the beasties we had in our inventory. And it really surprised us. Read our honest review of the high performance soft top funboard designed by the guys over at Mick Fanning Softboards.

Initially we couldn’t decide what size to choose, given that we were testing it as a spring/summer board, we wanted to make sure it had sufficient float for those casual “it’s nice out” sessions.

Considering Santa Barbara and Ventura point breaks are typically 1-3 feet during this time of year, we’d typically opt for something in the 6’6-7’0 range. Given the generous outline of the beastie, we considered going short at 6’0 to take advantage of its surface area. The 7’0 also seemed like a versatile Funboard size, but we ended up going all the way up to 7'6 to really put the shape to the test -

We wanted to see if the difference in shape and construction would lead to an improved ride comparable to popular alternatives like the 8'0 Wavestorm we all can relate to or 7'0 Catch Surf Log we have here at home base.

Unboxing

Taking this beauty out of the box was definitely a "treat yourself" moment for us. While this is not the cheapest option out there, you definitely get what you pay for when you decide to gift yourself a premium soft top like this. We appreciated the clean white look and minimal logos, it's easy to mistake this board for a normal mid-length which is good if you want to blend into the lineup.

When we've unboxed other boards, like our 7'0 Catch Surf Log, we've noticed that they come out with a layer of slime from the cellophane. Not only does this result in an impossibly slippery deck for the first couple sessions, but it's probably not that great for the ocean either. We noticed that the beastie has no such residue when unboxing it. The surface is soft but not slippery, and naturally a bit more grippy than a wavestorm, it's more like a yoga mat feel.

We were impressed when we unboxed the fins and saw that this board comes with a sleek looking set of blue fins with medium stiffness. If you'd surfed a wavestorm, you know the fins are typically more of a rubber feel which may be safer for beginners but really have no performance value whatsoever. The fins provided are definitely an upgrade, and would be fine to use as provided. We decided however to take the performance to the max on this one and put in our own favorite pair of futures fins.

We did notice that it was a bit difficult to get the future fins into the fin box as it is just a little narrow. FYI if you're going to go this route it does take a bit of muscle but it is doable. 

Surfing the MF Beastie

When we did take this board out on a 2-3ft Ventura day we were pleasantly surprised - we've surfed it many times since. It definitely makes sense to wax this board and would recommend waxing before taking it out. We were happy to find that the board wasn't as slippery on the first session as other boards we've unboxed. With a little wax it feels just right.

One of the first things that stood out when getting it into the water was the stiffness - the board feels like a normal polyurethane board under the chest and floats extremely well. As a result it was very easy to paddle and had us gliding across the water as opposed to dragging. 

As a 5'10 and 175lb surfer it was possible to duck dive this board at 7'6 but for a beginner it would be better to focus on a turtle. At a smaller size like 7'0 this board would probably duck dive just fine. At a point break you can sit out the back and catch anything that comes your way which made for a fun session.

What we were all waiting for was to see how well this board could turn. While at 7'6 you do have to stand back on the board, we found that this board could bottom turn and head down the line with the best of them. This takes some skill to maneuver a board of this size but it was a fun challenge.

With how floaty and stiff the board felt underneath our feet nothing was off-limits, we can safely say that this board will have you cheating 5 and cutting back like you couldn't do on other soft tops. Due to the thinner rails, it was easier to edge into the face of a wave on a takeoff and dig the rail in on a turn than it is on our 7'0 Catch Surf Log. These boards have a significantly beefier rail that doesn't like to get wet. Additionally, the rocker and thinner outline meant that we could fit this board into hollower sections of the wave even on low tide.

Conclusion

All in all our take is a big thumbs up for the MF Beastie in the 7'6 size. It performs much better than a wavestorm or catch surf equivalent, was easy to catch waves and pretty fun to surf. I would definitely consider getting this board in a smaller size, 6'0, 6'6, or 7'0 would be great depending on whether you're tending towards points or beach breaks. For a beginner to intermediate surfer, this would be a fantastic step up to a more performance oriented ride while still maintaining a low barrier to entry. The price is definitely worth it if you're looking for a treat yourself kind of board or want to get out in the water more and have more fun in the summer months. The cons were there but manageable - futures fins can be a bit hard to get in the first time and the white color way does get a bit dirty over time.

We hope that's helpful! Reach out to us if you want to chat more about the MF Beastie. 

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