Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Stu Kenson Paddle Boards: The Zapper

BeachSurf Photos Click Here!

Want to see the board that's captured my attention for the last two weeks?
Check out these photos. This is Stu Kenson's latest creation: The Zapper.

I was able to get a first hand look at this one in my buddy Trent's garage. Trent's stoked on it. Unfortunately, he took a nasty hit from a stingray right to the joint of his big toe and the complications from the subsequent infection have kept him off the board for a month. One look in his eyes though and you can tell he's dying to ride this thing- shoot, so am I!

Trent ordered this one up specifically for carving fat, high tide sections. The guy's regular ride is a little Kenson potato chip fish- so you can see the world he's coming from. Trent's no cruiser, he's not into the point and shoot, post up like a hood ornament groove. He doesn't want to noseride.

Trent's got that Archie speed demon thing going on. He's more into pumping down the line and violent redirection. After working through the learning curve on more traditionally shaped stand up boards Trent got together with Stu and talked about where he wanted to go with his next board. The product is the Zapper.

If you think the thing looks like something Cheyne Horan was riding in the early '80's you're right on track- anybody remember the Laser Zap? True to the original design, the Zapper's built to be driven off the tail.

Stu put this one together with the wide point well back from his normal stand up shape. In addition, the foil on this board puts the volume back toward the wide point, lowering the swing weight and also opening up the sweet spot.

The result is a board that whips around very quickly while remaining an extremely paddleable platform.

Stu's going to have to send one of these down to the beach for "testing" purposes because the Zapper's definitely caught the attention of everyone paddling down here!

Don't forget check the Beach Surf Link for beach life and surf photos!

Looking for stand up paddle surf lessons in San Diego? Contact us at paddlesurfbaja@gmail.com or (619) 213-6622. We can also set up stand up paddle board rentals with drop off and delivery. Click here for more information.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

john that board is the 4 1 08 what gives what size give us scoop.captneg9

Anonymous said...

That zap is cool but it needs a box for a Cheyne Horan/Ben Lexcen Star Fin.

John Ashley said...

Hey Chris K!

You must've owned one of those to dredge up the Ben L. star fin reference- cool stuff Chris!

John Ashley said...

Hey neg9:

10' by 29.5" by 4.25" by... I don't know what else but I do know that if it's down on the beach your straight edge and ruler will figure it out!

Anonymous said...

I used to have a couple but now I have one left. Use it on a couple different boards. Whistles like a jet on the runway if the angle isn't set just right.