The worst surfboard was the 90s Glass Slipper boards
6-3 x 17.5 x 2 with a banana rocker is no good for anyone besides Kelly.
In defense of the sting.
Aipa and crew were down in Solana Beach one summer knocking out stingers at the SNI factory. Might have been 1975? Anyway Blacks was producing some nice chest high to head wave. It was clean and glassy conditions. Who should be out that day non other Then Larry Bertelman. to say he was ripping is an under statment. Of couse we had seen him in movies and photos but this was the rubberman live and doing things that seemed impossible on a wave. he was riding one of Aipa sting.
My good friend and shaper Pat Flecky made a couple at his Carlsbad Factory. I borrowed one and rode it at Tamarack in some small surf. The board was a blast. Surfed Oceanside on that board in some late summer south swells. For me this was a great little board That I loved in surf to just over head. Anything bigger it just got too squarely. Of course if you had the talent you could control that squarely feel. I have an old sting not an Aipa but an SNI most likley shaped by Rick Hammond.
the sting was almost unrideable unless your feet were planted nose to tail and you squatted low till your a** was planted on the deck or just above it. Most of those guys moved their center fin 2/3 up the board. And this gave rise to modern surfing as we know it.
I like to call it the Michael Ho stance not the Gerry Lopez/Rory Russell stance of the previous generation.
I remember when people were giving Terry Fitzgerald sht about his board designs or BK riding 16" wide minguns at Sunset during the 70’s. I’m glad neither gave a crp about what people thought and stuck to doing their own thing. Just like what Owl was doing back then experimenting with Brewer riding waves the way he wanted and not how people told him he should ride them. Rabbit did the same and was scorned for not just riding straight in to the beach during his hotcurl days in waikiki back in the 40’s.
Its all relative
never judge
you can ride anything
if you have to
but most of us
are too spoiled to even try
Ben designed the Sting (Stinger) for Larry B, Mark Liddell and Buttons. They surfed so differently from other guys during that time. If you think about it, LB, Liddell and Buttons moved on to other designs long ago.
I used to live by Mark’s Island Energy shop near where the old Surfline shop was and I use to stop by and talk story with him. He was making a lot of boards then (the 90’s). I never saw a Sting in there. Not sure about Larry, but he’s been doing a lot of shaping too. I don’t see a Sting in his list of boards he makes.
My problem with the sting was that fat middle section that would cause the board to slide out. If you were really low, you could deal with that but I am more old school in stance.
The Sting is not one of the worst designs, but it definitely didn’t work for everyone. Same thing with twin fins, mini simmons boards, extra thin narrow pro boards.
One summer while working at Lindens, Ben came and shaped a few in his spare shaping room. Just one of many I was privileged to watch shape. He let us copy his Stinger shortboard template. So I still have that template. 6’2" 12" Nose. 19" Centre. 14" Tail. Wing at 19". It had a 3/8" bevel rail from wing to nose. Dead flat bottom to slight “Vee”. Two gutter channels off tail 4" apart. Swallow tail. They worked well. Especially on the flat part of the wave.
That template has Ben’s name on it. As it should be.
Definitely NOT one the worst designs.
I would put anything made in China way ahead of an Aipa Stinger.
He is a great shaper with a lot of surfboard experience.
Thanks Ben.
Barry
Exactly. A guy like Aipa would be just about incapable of dreaming up a “dog” design.
Similarly, I once tried a friend’s Frye Eagle. I could not do a damn thing with it. Maybe it’s because my friend is 6’4", rides nothing but logs, and outweighs me by about 75 lbs? But, I couldn’t ride the damn thing worth crap. That doesn’t mean it’s a bad design, or that Frye doesn’t know how to shape.
Could be that my style and muscle memory is just geared toward smaller boards. My “longboard/noserider” is 8’0". Daily driver is a 6’3".
ALL STAND UP PADDLE BOARDS ARE SHIT! SHITDY! SHIT!