The phenomenon that is the Evo, the wide style wave board that started a revolution in wave board design, was much loved and dearly missed. This fact was evident by the unnatural high prices being fetched for second hand Evos in the UK market.

So here at Starboard HQ, it was decided not only to bring back the Evo, but bring back an even better Evo. A new and improved, more intelligent shape: the Evo IQ.

But let us explain the return of the icon and the origins of the boards' shape:

Scott McKercher: "What was initially ignored was the fact that the single fin Evo was an incredibly easy and predictable board to ride. Shorter and wider, all the effort was taken out of wavesailing, allowing much more energy for enjoyment. Very simply, they were more fun to ride and accelerated people's learning curve, but also a board that satisfied a ripper of the highest order. "

So we stuck to short and wide, and took what we learned from other models to improve the outlines and rocker/bottom configuration to create a "new" shape.

Now some are going to look at these boards and see a familiarity with the previous generation Quad. And that would be astutely, absolutely correct (apart for a little 71 Evo version which has never seen the light of day; it's an all new shape).

This is because before we played around with 4 fins, the Quad's hull shape was developed as a twin fin first and had also been tested as a single fin against every size of the Evo, consistently outperforming each and everyone.

That's why Starboard exec's decided to exclude the Evo from the range, even though some people were surprised by that decision. Having a superior Quad board which in its convertible format (i.e. using the Quad in its single fin mode) outperformed the previous Evo made us do it!

The thing was, Evos are also exceptional twin fins. But that had to sit by the way side in this format due to being overwhelmed by the performance additives of the Quad fin set up.

Scott McKercher: "It was actually a critical decision. At the time as I was with Svein and Tiesda at Gnaraloo, switching between the two setups and having a tough time deciding which was the one I preferred (twin or quad). On one hand there was all this power and drive which had never been experienced before, and the other was the smooth flowing turns of the twin and skatey feeling through the lip."

The rest as they say is history and the Quad set up was born, which in hindsight was the correct way to go. Going into this new season, with the further evolution of the IQ edition of the Quad, we were still left with molds that offer an improvement over the last generation of Evos, whilst also being an improvement over the last of the Evil Twins. The new Quad IQs also are not as good in single fin performance, so the Quad IQ 'Convertible-into-a-Single-Fin' like in 2010 was not an option. So what had to be done to offer the famous Evo single fin performance for 2011? The solution was simple: the Evo has to return.

With shapes proven in either single- or twin fin and with the weight saving development of the IQ's Slot Boxes we had the opportunity to release a board with the best of both worlds, appealing to all those that were devout Evo or Evil Twin followers. Thus was born the Evo IQ.

Through the development process, each size had its particular evolution. The slightest changes made dramatic differences in many instances. A few extra mm of rocker at the deck box in one instance made the board better in an onshore bottom turn as it didn't stall out through a turn. Or a few mm change in the curve of the last part of the tail, finding the fine line between too loose to just right, for the perfectly smooth carve through a turn. It's quite a delicate balance (tricky business).

Scott McKercher: "A little side story to once again illustrate the wide range of conditions these new boards are able to cover began a couple of seasons ago up north in West Australia. On one of the most perfect days I can remember in over a decade; mast high+, perfect mid tide, perfectly powered 4.7 down the line, with silky smooth faces. It was as good as it gets.

And on that day there were rail to rail transitions like I've never had before, where I'd already finished my turn and trucking down the line, but the spray from the turn was still on the rise. It was so fast it was ridiculous. Now hold that story, take the board a couple of years forward, and deliver it to a young fella by the name of Phillip Koster who's new school wave performance at Pozo blow's minds. At the last PWA Pozo comp last month, Philip was sent a selection of boards, Quad IQs, Evo IQs and some prototypes - he chose two stock Evo IQs. So from peeling sideshore waves in Australia to windy, choppy Pozo, these boards cover a stupidly big range."

Scott: "I think the new Evo IQs are pretty darn good boards."