I’ve got two of his longboards and love them and I’m now
looking at one of his fishes. Anyone surf one before?? Thoughts?
Thanks!
J
A friend of mine had a 6’2" S-rail fish. It was his go-to board for a few years.
His one complaint was that it would skip out on him on head+ waves during the bottom turn.
I made him a replacement with the same dims,(minus some of the fancy bottom and rail work) only I pulled the tail in a bit and slapped a quad fin setup on it. It has now become his go-to board, and the Stewart has been retired to the garage. (it did have a bunch of dings as well)
The exact dims of the Stewart were: 6’2" x 14" x 19 7/8" x 15 1/2" x 2 1/2" ; It had a tri-fin setup and a well done single (started early) into double inside vee to flat at swallow tips. …and of course, the ‘S-rail’, a chine on the deck that started about 1/3 of the way the cut the rail down to a thin edge.
Here’s the S-Railed fish in 6’4". This one delamed from siting in my car on a hot day and Bill made me another one (in red). This is one of the most fun boards ever. It’s EPS/epoxy. It floats great even though it’s thinner than normal for me - 2-3/8". It’s lively and quick. I ride it as a twin on mushier stuff and throw on a trailer for bigger, steeper surf. I’ve tried it as a thruster and hated it.
Bill Stewart says this is the most fun board he’s ever surfed.
The first few times I took it out I thought it was slow and unresponsive… then I moved forward about 6" and started driving off my front foot more. All of a sudden this was one of the fastest boards in my quiver. I’ve surfed it in up to about double-O jacking SF Ocean Beach and love it.
