There are many of us Keeper owners, myself included, who have a tendency to push the board to its limit & beyond, surfing the Keeper in head high plus surf. And it's an absolute weapon for medium to bordering-on-bigger days that seem shortboardable at first glance, but in reality are just too fast & racey to make most waves easily on a shortboard. Sometimes we make it work by easing off the gas a bit, other times the Keeper simply gets outgunned via too much speed/lift/width and not enough rail length to provide the control & stability needed for such waves. So from my own desires, and requests from my customers & team riders (extra thanks to Brandon for the many nuanced conversations during the designing phase & leading the R&D charge on the first protoype while dealing with a chronic injury, love ya dude), I've developed a new shape based off of the Keeper to optimize it for where the Keeper's ceiling leaves off: in plus-sized surf. Welcome to the family: the Keeper Plus.

The idea here was to keep as much of the coveted ride-feel & personality, speed & flow of the Keeper as possible while adapting the shape to its bigger ideal & functional wave range. In short: it's a longer, narrower Keeper wth a bit more rocker and more aggressive bottom contouring plus a quad fin setup selected as the best option for most surfers (though other fin setups may be chosen: upright twin, twinzer, twin keel, etc). The fin setup was probably the aspect I struggled most with as the twin keel is such a huge part of the Keeper's personality, but we cross a threshold into the upper and more critical end of the wave range with this board, and I feel a quad is simply the optimal choice for most surfers. My choice fin set is the FCS II Split Keel quad set, which puts the ride-feel in between a twin keel and a performance quad set - a perfect option for the purpose of the Keeper Plus.

A similar approach to the outline/plan shape, foil & rails are in place, again modified for bigger waves. Aside from the switch from twin keel to quad, the bottom contours are the starkest change to the shape design. Utilizing the bottom contours from the Keeper in the tail half of the board as an analog, they're deeper with the addition of single concave under the nose & front foot. The purpose of this is to harness more wave energy & power than the Keeper typically sees, reducing the looseness & ability to break free quicker and improving grip & control.

The Keeper Plus is designed to be surfed approximately 2 to 4 inches longer than your standard Keeper, depending on personal preference. My personal Keeper Plus currently is 3" longer (I'm 170 lbs and surf a 5'4 Skiff, 5'6 Keeper and 5'9 Keeper Plus).

Here's a graph depicting the wave coverages of the 3 true fishes: the Skiff, Keeper and Keeper Plus. The inner, darker bubble for each model represents their ideal wave range where they will surf the easiest, feel the most natural and perform optimally. The outer, lighter bubble represents their functional wave range where they will surf well & reliably for most surfers.

Order the Keeper Plus if:
⬩ You're looking for a board for bigger, faster conditions to maximize your wave count & wave makesn where you may struggle on a performance shortboard.
⬩ Speed, flow & extreme fun are more important to you than vertical performance.
⬩ You love the feel of the Keeper or fishes in general and want a version of that designed for bigger waves.

Consider the Seahawk if:
⬩ Medium to somewhat bigger sized waves are your focus.
⬩ You want a healthy amount of performance but more ease, user-friendliness, speed and fun-factor than a traditional performance shortboard.
⬩ You want a board capable of looser feeling or tighter feeling depending on the waves and your mood.

Consider the Bombshell if:
⬩ Bigger, hollower surf is most important for this board.
⬩ You're more focused on surfing in the pocket and hunting for barrels and while you prefer early entry as often as possible, find yourself in late drops occassionally to somewhat regularly.
⬩ Supreme in-the-pocket rail and tail hold is desired.

Consider the Charger if:
⬩ Bigger surf is most important for this board across a variety of wave shapes & conditions.
⬩ Optimal paddle power and early wave entry is important for bigger and tougher wave conditions.
⬩ Down-the-line surf and long rides are most important, both going for barrels and racing fast sections from the pocket to out on the shoulder.