Of late there has been interest in a more parallel type of planshape. An extreme example of this can be seen with Daniel Thompsons square nose Firewire where the planshape is very straight and is punctuated at the nose end with a chiselled off nose. The chisel thing caught everyone’s attention but was probably not necessary. I think they have since rounded it off, but it certainly got tongues wagging. Indeed the parallel thing is not new as the Malibu designs back yonder were very parallel and would just keep on trimming through white water because once on rail they had no plan shape friction.

Perhaps their shear length added to this as well but nonetheless it is true that too much planshape curve through the middle has a board continually in turn mode, and it is difficult to set the rail into a meaningful trim. Additionally more parallel plans tend to hold to the face better and do not need too larger fins to hold them to the face.   The Stinger is primarily a small wave performance fish but it can handle size due to its 4 fin design and its parallel plan from the flyer to forward of centre. It is not the full length of the planshape, but it is parallel in the most important part. During testing we could feel the board just take off once on rail due to minimum resistance in the back half of the planshape.

The flyer is placed about 16” up from the tail (hence the name Stinger) to allow the leading edge of the front fins to sit comfortably just behind. The sudden planshape release occurs right in front of the front fins creating a well-defined pivoting point to lever the board left or right minimizing the negative rail cling that comes with a straighter planshape. Primarily a quad design, the Stinger is mindful of being too clingy – after all quads cling sometimes too well, and the straighter plan shape could add to this and tip it into the negative realm. With the Stinger I have set the rear trailors a lot more in from the rail to encourage more pivot to counter this. The bottom curve is relatively flat up front, but supported with the proven Bourton Cathedral hull running into a central concave and the last third has a dominating vee adding even more release.

The deck is rolled down to a softish rail north of the flyer. The soft rail is an essential due to the flatness of the rocker. A very distinct hard bighting edge runs from the flyer back to the end of the swallow. The result has been a board that is super quick off the mark, releases in a nano second and with unbelievable hold in bigger waves. If we are all heading in the direction of smaller boards in heavier waves then this model is heading in the right direction, moreover it is still a great small wave board.

MODEL DIMENSIONS

5.6 x 20 ½ x 2 7/16  = 30.72 lts
5.8 x 20 ¾ x 2 ½  = 32.62  lts
5.10 x 21 x 2 9/16  =  34.61 lts
6.0 x 21 ¼ x 2.5/8   =  36.71 lts
6.2 x 21 ½ x 2 5/8   = 38.39 lts
6.4 x 21 ¾ x 2 11/16   = 40.67  lts
6.6 x 22 x 2 ¾   = 42.83  lts

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Hi Muzz,
I just needed to thank you for my new STINGER.

I agonised over this board for a long time.  Going shorter was a scary prospect for an old bloke trying to avoid the drift to longer and longer boards.  A drift that make surfing easier but less exciting & less challenging.

You said from the outset that the STINGER would really do the job.
WOW                    After only 3 surfs in very average beach breaks I am amazed!

The stinger paddles like a dream, (better than my bigger board) as you said it would.  But what was unexpected was the stability at take-off.  The cathedral hull gives tremendous lift under the chest, instead of trying to get lift from pushing against nose rocker.

The acceleration & drive, even in small waves is everything you said it would be. Makes small waves easy but the few head high waves I have had so far tell me that the Stinger is going to handle any size I am likely to be surfing on local beachies.  I can imagine how the hot surfers would carve it up on a shorter version of the Stinger.

I will keep my Silver Bullet for when it gets serious. Tell any old guys out there looking for inspiration that you have the right board for them!

Thanks for reigniting my surf stoke!

Regards,

Jeff Lambert

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Hey Muzz,
How are you? Hope all is good!

Finally getting round to giving you a bit of feedback on my 6`2 Stinger.

Well what can i say! Bloody mighty impressed once again mate! I thought things couldnt get much better than my last board, the custom Aussie Pinger, but the Stinger does everything you advised it would, so impressed and as you said the Pinger is a real good little brother to accompany him!

Have had it in everything from small to head and a half and found it to be amazingly fast and sturdy on the larger stuff but nimble enough to be still real good fun and maneuverable in small waves. What i have found is how the shape and being polyester handles any chop or stiff off shore so nicely. I am a avid believer and fan of the larger fins in the rear. Have moved them around not to find any combo near as good as the larger fins in the rear.

The first time i now have two go to boards, i have the Stinger for mid to large surf and the Pinger for small clean waves.
As i always say Muzz i don’t know where a bloke goes from here, but by gees i am already looking forward to my next new board from you!!

Cheers Justin J (Tas)

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Hey Muzz

I cant say much else other than I swear by it. This is a fast moving, line drawing,  paddling,  fun machine.
From the moment I first stepped onto it , it took off down the line and I could feel in an instant the extra speed given by the rail lines. But more to the point, this has everything in a board right now that I want. I can use it to out paddle grommets coming up the inside and also surf it with more success in performance that the run of the mill Fish type setup.  Theres no limits.

Definitely it gets a lot of looks and people come up and check it out. This is because the first thing that meets the eye, is it just looks fast.. And it goes how it looks…
Ive surfed across a heap of conditions and it handles small beachies to 6 foot Kuta and Ulus with ease.  Over the years I ridden near all incarnations of your models and designs.. This  years newer tweeked version looks like it has all the right ingredients to be a crowd pleaser and it  wouldn’t surprise me at all if this was to become one of your major selling models.

Why ??? Because it goes so frikken good !!!!!

Dean Lock