What’s In An Asym?

Ed note: Stab Premium members see below for how to win a trip for 2 to Kandui Resort during Goofy-Season — plus 4 surfboards to bring along (2 each, yours to ride and keep).

In 2023, William Aliotti arrived in Indonesia with “the weirdest surfboard you could find on the island of Karangmajat” — home of surfing’s Disneyland, Kandui Resort.

He proceeded to do “some of the best surfing seen to date” at fun-sized Hideways (the local Macaronis proxy). To everyone’s surprise, William then took the 5’8 out to Kandui Left and packed the bomb of the day amidst a field of apex predators — Pipe Master Barron Mamiya included.

After spending nearly two decades obsessing over the mythic lefthander, Justis St John — a tube-savvy goof himself and Kandui Resort co-owner — knew he was witnessing something special.

Naturally, he asked William about the wave riding apparatus connected to his feet during those sessions. The taciturn screwfoot didn’t offer much beyond describing it as an “asym.”

The interaction left Justis scratching his salt-hardened scalp, so he proceeded to interrogate everyone on the island about any information possibly being withheld regarding asyms. His efforts bore no fruit — not a single person could remotely explain how they work or what they’re meant to achieve.

On a personal quest to uncover the potential of such a board during prime swell season and SE trade winds — aka Goofy Season — Justis decided to reach out to Ryan Lovelace, William’s shaper and reigning EAST with Dave Rastovich champion, to design a three-board quiver for his upcoming annual trip to the island — and finally figure out the lopsided craft once and for all.

A byproduct of their 2024 sojourn was a film about this quiver which, despite amassing only six fins, handled the full range of what the Indian Ocean had to offer. Coincidentally, the combination of breaking down the designs and showing how they actually behave in the water might’ve resulted in the most comprehensive audiovisual piece on asymmetrical twin fins currently living on the internet.

For the curious and uninitiated, Lovelace boils down the asymmetrical surfboard, originally designed by Carl Ekstrom, to a few key characteristics: the toe-side rail is longer for speed generation, whereas the heel-side rail is shorter to control that speed. The toe-side rail is thinner and less boxy, while the heel-side rail is rounder, again for speed control.

But it doesn’t stop there. Rocker may vary from one half of the blank to the other. According to Lovelace, the toe-side is flatter, allowing the board to go faster and feel more skatier, while the heel-side has more curve for speed control.

“Every square inch of the asym is designed around creating speed and controlling it.”

As for fin placement (on a twinnie), the toe-side fin box sits farther back and closer to the tail than the heel-side, which is positioned just a little forward. The principle remains the same — one side creates speed, the other side controls it.

As planned, William arrived at Kandui with three asymmetrical Lovelace surfboards. Taking center stage was the SateLite (5’8 x 18 3/16 x 2 7/16 x 26L), a board prototyped by Ryan and tested by Will across an earlier globe-spanning tour, mostly on hollow lefts — Namibia, Chile, the Canaries, and Kandui.

In his luggage were two more boards: a smaller, more reactive version of the SateLite dubbed the Zambal (5’6 x 18 3/4 x 2 1/4 x 24L), a step-down designed for waves in the 3 to 6 foot range — ideal for those days in-between swells in the Ments. Finally, a hack-nosed iteration of the SateLite named Shovel (5’6 x 18 7/8 x 2 3/16 x 25L), built for powerful, overhead surf — a shortened step-up with a straighter outline that prefers being driven toward the light at the end of hollow aquatic burrows.

The SateLite, being the first asymmetrical board Ryan and Will ever collaborated on, aimed to bridge the gap between Will’s previous penchant for riding fishes and the desire for something that combined the flow of a fish with the versatility of a contemporary shortboard — a daily driver within this idiosyncratic trio.

Ryan does a great job of going through the theoretical minutiae and intricacies of each of these boards, while William doesn’t lag behind in putting them to practical use.

The principles are reiterated, akin to a dedicated professor ensuring his students leave with his teachings firmly set in their minds — the toe-side engineered for speed, the heel-side for control.

Ryan further discusses the age-old compromise one has to make with symmetrical shortboards. Sometimes fast, but less maneuverable, sometimes responsive, but hard to get it going. He claims that, “With asyms, you don’t have to compromise anymore. You can basically make that board that felt really good in the pocket, and combine it with the board that felt really good on the shoulder.”

A common misconception and frequently asked question about asymmetricals is whether they’re only made to surf in one direction — right or left. Ryan clarifies that these boards are primarily designed with a surfer’s stance in mind, ensuring all benefits are felt whether they’re being surfed on their forehand or backhand. The goal, ultimately, is that they feel and perform equally well under the pressure of your heel or the sensitivity of your toes.

Using the Shovel as a case in point, Lovelace debunks another twin fin misconception — that they can’t hold or perform in heavier, hollower conditions. And in this case, it’s a fair assumption. The Shovel comes in at just 5’6, same as the Zambal, Aliotti’s step-down in his Kandui quiver.

Usually, that longer board leaning against the wall behind your quiver is the one you dust off when the buoys start rocking at longer intervals. But this one’s different — it could easily sit next to your groveler. Still, its outline was kept straight and extended, with a chopped nose that allows for an unusually straight front half. “I can get a more axe-like outline, like a 5’10 or a 6’0. We have a balance in the outline — like an actual step-up, but with the compactness of a much smaller board,” Lovelace says.

The video above strikes a rare balance — diving deep enough into design theory to engage the surfer who cares about the finer details, while not losing the everyday viewer in technical jargon. You hear what these boards are meant to do straight from Ryan, while William, on cue, proves they can do it.

If you’ve got 40 minutes in your day — honestly, congrats — this is a valuable way to spend it.

Kandui Resort x Lovelace Premium Giveaway

We’re giving two Stab Premium members the chance to have an experience similar to William’s. Most major expenses are covered, including:

• A 10-day trip for two to Kandui Resort during Goofy-Season (Jul – Oct)
• Roundtrip transfer from the mainland (Padang) to Kandui Resort — you’ll need to cover all airfare and logistics between your home and Padang
• Four surfboards for the trip (two per person — yours to ride and keep)
• Photo and video documentation of your trip

To enter, fill out this brief questionnaire and include your email so we can cross-reference our Premium subscriber list. Only Stab Premium members will be considered for this giveaway.