Get Your Hands On The Board That Mick Fanning Loved A Little *Too Much*

Imagine a surfboard that works so good it feels like cheating.

That’s the “conundrum” Mick Fanning faced in our latest Stab in the Dark, after realizing his favorite murdered-out blade had been shaped by his life-long boardmaker, Darren Handley.

To avoid a conflict of interest, Mick decided to disqualify the number 86 board, despite the fact it had made his top-three in terms of overall performance. Some viewers thought it looked best of all the boards beneath his feet. 

While Darren was understandably bummed that his design, by an ethical technicality, had to be disqualified from SITD, this story does have a golden lining. 

Number 86 is now available to the public!

Number 86, or as DHD calls it, ‘Stabbed’.

DHD is doing a short-run release on the MF 86 model (AKA ‘Disqualified’, AKA ‘Stabbed’), with the black version hitting stores early this week and some plain-white shooters coming soon after.

DHD plans to make 40 of the black boards, which come with the complete MF kit, including his sponsors’ stickers, FCS fins, and a Creatures of Leisure pad. This exclusive set sells for $1,495 AUD, and Kirra Surf reportedly sold out their inventory in under an hour.

The white version will be slightly less exclusive and comes without all of the MF gear, which is why its price point drops to $1,150 AUD.  

Here are the specs:

The MF 86 is the only EPS performance shortboard in DHD’s commercial line – typically just team riders can get their shooters in epoxy. And, keeping pace with this year’s SITD (which ensured that all the surfboards involved were made from eco-friendly epoxy blanks), all MF 86s will abide by Sustainable Surf’s strict production criteria and be constructed entirely in Australia. 

Other noteworthy features:

• EPS Epoxy Construction – 4 x 4 Glassing
• 1″ Black Innegra Carbon Strip
• White Carbon Innegra Toe Patches
• Swallow Tail

Some insider trading: 

“Mick hates epoxy,” Darren Handley revealed in his shaper profile, prior to the filming of Stab in the Dark. 

Fanning confirmed this fact while shooting in Japan, citing epoxy’s tendency to sit on top of the water as his primary gripe. 

“What you have to do,” Handley said, “is drop the rails a little. That makes the board sit down in the water.”

So Mick rode the modified Number 86 and he loved it. 

“This is the only epoxy I’ve ever liked from DH,” Mick mentioned on camera. “It was just an instant connection. The board is fast, has good drive and release – this is definitely one of my favorites.”

In retrospect, it was unfair to include Handley in Mick’s Stab in the Dark – the man knows White Lightning better than most people know their own children. But this relationship has made DH and Mick exponentially better at their crafts, so in the end, we all benefit from their unknowing collusion. Especially when the fruits of their extended union (namely, stellar surf crafts) become available to the general public. 

The MF 86 is officially ripe for the picking. Grab one before they’re gone (or riddled with worms!).