Stab Magazine | The Stab Caddy: Craig Ando's Red Apache Single Fin

Live Now: Cheat Codes With Coco Ho

2873 Views

The Stab Caddy: Craig Ando’s Red Apache Single Fin

Story by Derek Rielly A little over two minutes into Slow Dance and we get a glimpse of this very of-the-mo single fin. At 2:28 the Apache slides into Teahupoo. Twenty seconds later, it’s rolling into Second Reef Pipe. A few seconds later and the magnitude of a bigger Pipe bomb fills the screen. Wipeout! […]

style // Mar 8, 2016
Words by stab
Reading Time: 3 minutes

Story by Derek Rielly

A little over two minutes into Slow Dance and we get a glimpse of this very of-the-mo single fin. At 2:28 the Apache slides into Teahupoo. Twenty seconds later, it’s rolling into Second Reef Pipe. A few seconds later and the magnitude of a bigger Pipe bomb fills the screen. Wipeout! Big trouble! So scary!

Now, this ain’t natural is it. Craig Anderson is the spin-queen who hovers like a bird and spins like a top on lil Hypto Kryptos in four-foot wedges. But here we see the 25-year-old, currently crippled by injury, taking his valium stance to the world’s heaviest cabanas.

What led us here, to the six-six single screw? Craig had been riding a five-ten version (see Lost Atlas) and he’d had a six-six with two trailer fins, but wanted a big straight six. And he wanted this straight six because he wanted to surf bigger waves.

“I see John John and Kelly psyched on being under the lip and taking off in the most critical spot and that freaks me out just looking at that shit,” says Craig. “I’d prefer to sit way out and paddle as fast as I can to get into a wave.”

Craig lives in Newcastle – Merewether if you wanna be specific – and he loves the big north swells that create these long lefts from Bar Beach to Merewether. And Craig figured, these swells, as well as Hawaii, would be a fine fit for a big single.

“It’s like a big, big boat. It looks and it surfs exactly how it looks. It just goes straight,” says Craig. “You can move back if you want to cut down or change the direction of it. For the most part, wherever you want to sit you can be there. It’s really thick so you can position yourself perfectly. It’s easy to get down the face and it goes… straight. It’s fun for barrels, fun to go fast and to do little cut-downs, but I ride it for getting tubed.”

“I see John John and Kelly psyched on being under the lip and taking off in the most critical spot and that freaks me out just looking at that shit. I’d prefer to sit way out and paddle as fast as I can to get into a wave.” – Craig Anderson

Now let’s get specific with its creator, the Australian shaper Hayden Cox, currently working out of a factory in Venice, California.

“I was inspired by Gerry Lopez. Craig wanted to ride single-fins in Hawaii and I ended up designing this six-six. It’s a diamond tail rather than a pin because I’d always had more fun riding diamonds. It has a vee-bottom throughout with a subtle double-concave through the back third of the board. These boards, you want ’em to fit lower in the water, to stay real connected. You let the straight rocker and outline generate the speed.”

Hayden wasn’t real into numbers when he made this board, preferring to drive off instinct. “Sometimes the measurements aren’t quite as important as the aesthetic,” he says. “I don’t always design like that but a board like this I actually find unnatural to shape. I didn’t grow up riding those boards and putting those boards under my arm. The deck lines, the shape of the rail, it’s all very different to what I’m used to shaping. But it’s a fun challenge to turn back the years. And it’s fun playing around without preconceived numbers in your head.”

Says Craig: “It’s a beautiful board with the white-and-yellow lightning bolt pin-lines giving it that ’70s Lightning Bolt feel. I like watching movies of those first and second generation surfers riding Pipe and Waimea on those boards. I have a lot of respect for those guys.”

This Hawaiian season, Craig expects to be off the bench and back into the action. Accordingly, Hayden is building Craig an all-single fin quiver: a replica of the Apache (which is now on display at Hayden Surfboards’ Mona Vale showroom in Sydney), a 7’2″ and a 7’6″. “He’s inspired to test his skills and put himself in some more entertaining situations,” says Hayden.

Photo: Domenic Mosqueira

Craig Anderson, steering at Teahupoo, by Dominic Mosquiera

Comments

Comments are a Stab Premium feature. Gotta join to talk shop.

Already a member? Sign In

Want to join? Sign Up

Advertisement

Most Recent

From ‘Blue Ribbon Cross Country Runner’ to Vogue – How Steph Again Is Back With A Rip Curl Remix

Everything we know about the she-GOATs sponsorship boomerang.

Mar 18, 2024

Stab Interview: Darren Handley On Why You Can’t Buy The Winning Stab In The Dark Model

And his decades-long standoff with Slater.

Mar 17, 2024

Griff Embraces Portugal’s Eternal Time Loop To Vanquish Medina + Ewing, Defay Delays The Inevitable

A redeeming closing act at Supertubos.

Mar 16, 2024

The Secret Behind Lungi Slabb’s Inconceivable Greenmount Funnel

Six broken boards, one leaking forehead, and five days of Superbank mysticism.

Mar 16, 2024

Cheat Codes: 2,000 Hours Worth Of Travel Advice From Coco Ho

Hard-earned wisdom from 989,000 miles in the troposphere.

Mar 15, 2024

Dane Reynolds On The Best + Worst Surfboard He’s Designed, Why The ‘Neckbeard’ Is A Misnomer, And How To Appear Cultured When Sizing Up A New Stick

Plus, an introduction to the newly-minted CI Dumpster Diver 2.

Mar 14, 2024

The Most Cinematic Surf Film Since ‘View From A Blue Moon?’

The best wave of Noah Beschen's life at sinister Chopes and 540s with Tyler, The…

Mar 13, 2024

Watch: ‘Vacation 2’ Presented By Monster Energy

Stab Highway Europe winners visit House of Somos, Costa Rica.

Mar 13, 2024

DHD Wins Stab In The Dark With Kolohe Andino

Plus, which Orwellian Premium members best prophesied our Stab In The Dark winners?

Mar 12, 2024

The Shortest Day At Supertubos

Early bird gets the skunk.

Mar 12, 2024

Watch: Kelly Slater Bails On Onshore Portugal, Gets Supertubed at Kirra Instead

“No ski. No runarounds. No snaps.”

Mar 12, 2024

Rumor: 8x World Champion Stephanie Gilmore To Leave Roxy For Another Legacy Surf Brand

The woman who Kelly Slater called 'God's gift to surfing' ignites a bidding war.

Mar 12, 2024

The Longest Day At Supertubos

Much to love, little to hate.

Mar 12, 2024

Joel Parkinson, Jay Davies, And Mark Zuckerberg Jog Into A Jingoistic Surf Biathlon…

An American's POV of the Australian Boardriders Battle.

Mar 11, 2024

No SuperToobs Today, But We’ll Never Turn Down A Rippable Wedge

Any port in a storm.

Mar 10, 2024

The Serendipitous Tale Of A Barnacle-Encrusted 10’0” That Survived 300 Days + 700kms On The East Australia Current

Paddy Power’s big wave gun was lost at Wedding Cake Island, Sydney and collected (by…

Mar 10, 2024

Was Fiji Last Week As Special As The Thundercloud Swell Of 2012?

“I’ve never seen so many people get so many good ones,” said 2023 SSOTY Nathan…

Mar 9, 2024

SEOTY: Hughie Vaughan Discovered A New Wave In Indonesia — But He Doesn’t Know Where It Is

Watch 'Nibbler' — the 17-year-old's bite-sized 2024 Stab Edit of The Year entry.

Mar 9, 2024
Advertisement