STONE SURF DESIGNS

What makes Stone Surf Designs unique?

The PWA are extremely proud to announce Stone Surf Designs (SSD) as our latest platinum sponsor, as Jaeger Stone (SSD / Severne) readies himself to return to the PWA World Tour for the first time since 2011. Jaeger’s father, Mark Stone, is the man behind the shaping and with 30 years of surfboard board design experience he is making some of the most innovative shapes in the world. 

After becoming a platinum sponsor of the PWA we couldn’t wait to find out more about SSD, so without further ado it’s over to Jaeger to tell us more about SSD:

PWA: Firstly, can you tell us a bit more about SSD? When the brand originated and the philosophy behind the brand?

JS: “Stone Surfboards has been shaping custom surfboards for 30 years in Geraldton, Western Australia. 13 years ago, 1 year before I started windsurfing Stone Surfboards began shaping sailboards. My Dad (Mark) works by himself and likes to keep a relatively low profile. He doesn't advertise at all and his workload now mainly consists of building boards for previous customers, looking at their old boards and seeing what they would like to improve or adjust. The way he likes to work is to listen to what the customer wants and then to discuss everything he knows to hopefully help in designing the right style of board.”

PWA: SSD boards appear to be much shorter and much closer to a surf board design than any other brand, when did you first try out this idea and what was the reasoning behind it?

JS: “Basically the sailboards are surfboards with just a bit flatter rocker between the feet. When we started windsurfing nearly all boards were single fins and for a lot of people there was a focus on down the line aerials and a slidey top turn. Mark felt more comfortable on the thruster design from the beginning as it made more sense and he felt that he could use his surf style which was more natural to him. Initially other major brands were not too receptive to his ideas but time is the best judge. When you have a 30 year surfboard design background (apprenticeship) it will of course influence your thoughts on other designs. The waveboard designs by all manufacturers are fantastic now and this is reflected in the waveriding that is much more exciting to watch.”

PWA: Can you tell us a bit more about the Smooth Ride Technology? 

JS: “Mark is allergic to epoxy so as he likes to be a problem solver he developed a new way of doing things in board construction. The result is a smoother, less tinny ride by pure luck. What hits the bottom of the board does not resonate through the deck, leaving the ride smoother and helping out your joints a bit.”

PWA: What is the production process for SSD and what construction are your boards available in?

JS: “The process is the same for all boards with wood/carbon decks and divinycell bottoms. Boards are all customised to each person and what they want. There is a short video on Vimeo that Gunfire Images created in 2012 (https://vimeo.com/42875787). It follows Dad through the process of building one of my high wind keel quads.” 

PWA: Do you have a line of boards or is it purely customs? 

SSD: “Purely customs. Often whatever we are riding at the moment influences the customers, however customers can order whatever they like and sometimes it is a blend of a couple of shapes.”

PWA: Are SSD available worldwide and how can a customer get their hands on one? 

JS: “Stone Surfboards are only available throughout Australia at the moment as it is too difficult for Mark to send boards overseas. Mark's happy doing it this way as he has enough work locally and is happy building 1-2 boards a week giving him enough time to surf, windsurf or go fishing. He doesn't have any aspirations to become bigger and feels he has the perfect balance now.”

PWA: Thanks Jaeger, we are proud to have SSD onboard and we can’t wait to see you back on the PWA World Tour.

If you’d like to know more about SSD be sure to check out their website here.