Stewart Hydro Hull
There are times when, despite all my internal protestations, I realise I'm just as susceptible to marketing as any network TV watching chump. The latest example occurred while checking the Stewart surfboards website and the line that got me was this:
"Catch more waves with less effort and become the wave hog you've always wanted to be!"
Now, when it comes to sex in advertising I'm a veritable saint, or monk, or priest, or anyone of those costumed cats who've taken a vow of celibacy; you can take your titillations but I'm rock solid, can't be tempted. However, offer me a cheap shortcut to an otherwise hard-earned achievement and you've got my business.
So I got my hands on a Stewart longboard – a Hydro Hull. It had the prodigious dimensions you'd expect of a wave hog's board - 9'6" x 23 inches x 3 1/8 inches. But these day we all know volume is king and the 9'6" Hydro Hull kegs out at a rotund 73 litres.
With a logo scrawled in 80's cursive font and a pair of red racing stripes the Hydro Hull makes a tacit statement: Here I stand, a board more concerned with utility than appearance, made for people who value function over fashion. So if resin tints are your thing then better you look elsewhere. But if, however, it's waves you wanna catch...
Put your shoulders into it and the Hydro Hull can catch almost anything, from unbroken lumps the size of carpark speedhumps to, well, anything bigger than that. And it can catch them from a good distance outside the line up – just the way us wave hogs like it. You can be to your feet and cruising before the tracker and mid-length mob have started stroking. You can rise above hipster contempt and simply leave 'em in your wake.
So how does it perform? Well, it catches lots of waves, but it's also worth mentioning the Hydro Hull design. Basically it's a bevel that runs parallel to the outline around the bottom of the board about four inches in. It helps the board – all 73 litres of it - get up on rail and, as the rails are thinner than they'd otherwise be, allows it to stay their longer. It's a simple little feature that cuts out some of the boards overwhelming corpulence.
The rails may be thinner than usual but there's no way to hide the 23 inch girth. After a solid session on the Hydro Hull I felt like a cowboy after three days in the saddle; just trimming the trails in a bowlegged stance.
Another thing I found out: attempting to duckdive a 9'6" board is an exercise in futility. You may as well be doing push ups on a concrete slab for all the downward motion generated. I've no doubt that if a succesful duckdive were achieved Archimedes Principle would come into effect with the resultant rise in sea level turning staunch climate sceptics into willing believers. If nothing else it taught me to paddle around the break and not straight through it. There's always room to improve one's surf etiquette...
Recently, while I was surfing and catching three waves to everyone else's one, an older chap joined me beyond the line up. Sitting astride a board that measured ten foot in length he eyed me imperiously then stroked into the very first wave of the set. A wave so far from breaking even I would've had trouble catching it. My thoughts immediately turned to the next board in the Stewart range – a 10'0" Hydro Hull with an almighty 86 litres of foam.
Already I'm planning a Cold War style artillery build up of boards. Who knows where it may lead? It may culminate in Mutually Assured Destruction but god knows I'll get a shit tonne of waves in the process.
Curious? Check the website.
Comments
That's a game you're gonna find hard to win now Stu. Ever heard of a SUP?
I brought a Stewart Hydro Hull off ebay about a year ago ,to put on the wall , an 8 footer, approx 25 years old shaped by the legendary Frank Latta. I actually brought it cause it looked cool with its original stickers ( Stewart, Frank Latta , Hydro Hull and the Scull with sunnies )
I made the mistake tho of giving it one more surf after finally getting the green moss off her and I loved it , so much fun . I'm not a mal rider normally and my standard board is a 6'3 Al merrick or 6'1 Simon , but when Bells was just a tad small ( 4 ft and clean as ) and I had this in the car, I thought I might as well give her a go ..40 waves in a session later I was hooked...what an amazing board ...that was about 500 waves ago and it now needs a full resto but I have to say , fun wise ..this has been my favourite surf year ever!!
...and cyberhusky...
if I ever say the same thing about a sup session ..feel free to put me out of my misery.
Nicely written review Stu. I would have liked to see a bit more on the performance and particularly the value of the board rail-to-rail and carving vs being a longboard for walking and styling on, that is, drop knee turns, cross stepping, hanging ten, etc. My feeling is the setup is more to be ridden with carving turns than 'traditionally' surfed. It will have more float and catch more waves as a given.
One of the reasons to surf functional longboards that are NOT the latest hipster '67 throwback are that they make small surf like large surf - you can hammer your rail turns where you would be otherwise hop hop hopping off the fins on a 6'1". Could you bury the rail to the nose on a turn? How hard could you push it in little waves? The back end of such boards is much like a modern shortboard: multiple fins, hard edges on the underside of the rear rails - all designed for release and basically these boards can be regarded as "big shortboards". Does the bevel quicken the turn? It should be creating release and 'turbulating' the water. What was the 'glide' and momentum of the board like?
As for duckdiving. Don't try. An old shaper shared the wisdom that under about shoulder high, back in the day they sat on the board, facing the shore and pulled it up as the wave crashed on their back. This worked and allowed a quick pivot and then back on the board paddling out. There's always the 'eskimo roll' to try as well!
This kind of board also make certain spots where you wouldn't have paddled out, a veritable 'go'. Is there a local spot you could have taken it out, like a favourite reef/point when small, that you could have tested it on? What would the reflections be on this?
I agree with Zsurfnut about mid range volume boards at small Bells, they crank the fun factor up several notches. And the wave count.
"You can be to your feet and cruising before the tracker and mid-length mob have started stroking. You can rise above hipster contempt and simply leave 'em in your wake."
There's also an article in this Stu - the 'Hipsters that Stole Longboarding'...
Ha ha velocityjohnno.
Damn these young fit guys with fashion sense and cool haircuts.
Longboarding was much better when it was the preserve of balding middle-aged ex-footy players with beer guts and chips on their shoulders.
Oh wait...thats's right...they all bought SUPs.
Stewart's boards are for Old Man's(SanO) and upper/lower Trestles. Malibu type waves where crowds are a factor. Where aren't crowds a factor?
I'm waiting with bated breath for the two-stage, inflatable, travel-friendly/wave friendly surfboard.
Well at least a two-stage board. Think of the potential. Think of loose stage 1's in the lineup?
It's either that or suitcase sized jet-ski.
And a place to surf'em where life guards or Coast guard doesn't patrol heavily.
Any ideas Stu?
Screw these half measures I'm going Olo.
http://www.honolulusurfmuseum.com/board.html?pid=302