In an email to Justin Cote, Channel Islands team manager, Travis Lee, explains the theory and how this revolutionary board came about. I've been saying this for years, that there has to be a way to ride shorter boards at spots like Pipe. Now, I'm not saying what I thought of is exactly like Slater's "Deep Six," it was similar, I was going to call it the "Big Barrel Chode." You know like a fishy board with a semi-gun's pulled-in tail.

Here's what Travis Lee had to say:

"Kelly Slater's "Deep Six" board ridden to victory in the 2008 Pipeline Masters is a result of Al Merrick's pursuit to place surfboard design in the hands of surfers themselves. Kelly worked with Channel Islands' CAD software and library of designs to marry a 7' 0' K-step and a 6' 0' K-board (tangent?) into a completely original 5'11" with the wide point pushed forward. Once our in house CNC machine milled the blank based on Kelly's specs, he walked the board over to Al's shaping room to have him put his finishing touches on the Deep Six. This 5'11" x "18 1/2 x " 2 1/2 round pin enabled Kelly to get into the hollow waves earlier and deeper allowing for adjustments that only a shorter board can provide. The Deep Six is the latest in Kelly's quest to ride boards shorter than normally thought possible in surf conditions all over the world."