LIVE Chat: Jaeger and Mark Stone
Live Chat with Jaeger and Mark Stone – 6.30pm 10th July (UK time).
Jaeger Stone
Name: Jaeger Stone
Sail number: KA 120
Country: Australia
Residence: Western Australia – Perth when I’m at Uni and Geraldton when I’m not.
Disciplines: Wave
Results: 1st Elite Waves Lancelin Ocean Classic 2012, 3rd PWA Tenerife 2011, 9th PWA Pozo 2011, 1st Elite Waves Lancelin Ocean Classic 2011, 1st Australian Wavesailing Titles 2011
Sponsors: Stone Surf Designs, Severne Sails, Flying Objects, Cockburn Joinery, Kinetic IT
Current favourite equipment set up: 4.3 Severne S-1 and 65L SSD keel quad.
Current favourite windsurfing spot: Anywhere that’s windy in W.A.
My last windsurfing session was: A few weeks ago in Mauritius.
My windsurfing hero is: Ben Severne
My perfect day on the water would be at the Spot in Geraldton the conditions would be 25 knots with decent swell and I would be with Dad, my brother Hendy and some of the other local boys.
Three things people don’t know about Jaeger:
If I’m not windsurfing or surfing I’m a book worm and spend most of my time studying, or if I’m on holidays, I dig holes and mix cement for a job.
When I first got my licence I drove up the side of a sand dune at the beach and rolled my car on its side because I was too busy looking at the waves out of my side window.
When I’m tired, nervous or bored I always put little knots in my hair and pull them out.
Mark Stone
Name: Mark Stone
Country: Australia
Residence: Geraldton, W.A.
Disciplines: Waves
Sponsors: Flying Objects, Severne
Company: Stone Surf Designs
Role: Head Designer and Floor Sweeper
Current favourite equipment set up: 72L Keel quad, 4.5 Severne S-1
Current favourite windsurfing spot: Anywhere it’s fun.
My last windsurfing session was: in onshore winds last week in town.
My windsurfing hero is: Anyone learning.
My perfect day on the water would be at .Spot X…… the conditions would be super smooth…….. and I would be with ……. Hendrix , Jaeger and close friends.
Three things people don’t know about Mark: Geologist, great Dad jokes, and like scary movies.
Live chat will open at 6.30pm tonight, please post your questions below….
Thanks ip.
Just putting two small fins in front of a single fin was controversial a few years ago. Putting these keelquads out there is a great way to scare everyone off totally l thought originally. But they are self generating now so it is a tribute to the quote “Proof is in the pudding”. Not sure about shipping. Need help there for sure. But at present there is plenty of work here, and l cannot neglect my surfboard customers. l enjoy the switch from building sailboard to surfboards on a regular basis and it is a good balance for me.
Hi Mark, love the fact you have always gone your own way with your design philosophy. Respect as its always easier to follow the herd. I would love to pick up one of your boards but the shipping is always an issue, have you thought about a European agent/shop who could pool order and you do a shipment every 6 months or something similar?
Cheers Mark
Are the shapes most applicable to the clean cross off fast wave conditions or equally at home in more ordinary conditions as well?
Do you sell many outside of WA?
Big range with these boards, good at both .We have a little spot south of Coronation Beach that was traditionally considered too onshore. The keel quads have no issues getting up the wave face with speed so opens up new playgrounds for us. .Extreme down the line is fine too, Jaeger just got back from sailing “One Eye” in Mauritius and was thumbs up. This board design won the Lancelin Wave Comp too , if you want to use that as a measuring stick .
Been sending increasing numbers over east.
Thanks Northy. l am allergic to epoxy so ignorant me thought l could do it with my traditional materials. It worked out just fine and has given me a unique product. Still all vacuum bagged, divinicell, wood veneers, carbon like most sailboards. Type in ‘Jaeger Stones 60L Keel Quad’ on Vimeo to watch a clip showing it all being put together.
Mark – your boards look awesome imo – the best in the biz. But i understand they are made / constructed differently from most boards…can you elaborate
What! Times up?
Right guys, that’s it! No more questions please. Any that have not been answered will be at a later date. Thank you very much Jaeger and Mark!
Hey both – any plans for a ozzy wave circuit – to show case off your amazing conditions you reckon? Apologies if this has been asked below…just joining!
Hey Northy, I think there has been a little bit of talk about setting up an Australian tour similar to the American Windsurfing Tour. Would be really cool if that happened but I’m guessing it would take a lot of dedication and hard work. Perhaps some single events at some popular locations could be a lot easier to organise.
Who do you think will win the tour this year? Where would you think you could finish if you were competing?
Hi Simon, I would probably say Philip because the conditions on the World Tour are all very similar at each location and suit him perfectly. I’d like to think I could get some good results, especially at events like Tenerife and perhaps finish top 10 but I’ll have to train hard this season and see what happens next year.
Mark – perhaps a silly question, but we keep hearing the top guys saying they are trying to get a more surfy performance and feel from their boards and make them more like a surf board. What happens if you just put a sail on a surf board?!! I assume it doesnt work, but why not? Thanks!
Hi James.
Too much curve under the front foot, pushes water. You need about two foot of flat in a board to skim or plane.Normal surfboards do not have this. In my racks l have sailboards next to surfboards and it is amazing how close they are now in profile. It’s fantastic.
10 minutes left for the chat guys. Get your questions in now, any that Jaeger and Mark cannot answer now hopefully they will do at a later time.
Hi Mark – with production boards getting more and more expensive and selling less and less, where do you see windsurfing ending up in a few years time? Do you think the smaller more custom orientated brands like yourself will be able to produce higher quality boards at a cheaper price?
It will all still be here in a few years. Customs are certainly gaining a bit of ground around all of Oz now, so hopefully it will keep the production companies on their toes. l am certainly thinking of ways to improve the look of my boards all the time, but it does take more time generally. Competition is good as everyone has to lift their game .
Why aren’t you doing the pwa this year? There has been a few reasons out three but I’m not sure of the real story?
The main reason I’m not doing it this year is due to budget. The PWA also asked for my Dad to pay a fee for me to use his boards which is too hard for him to afford at the moment as he spends most of his money supporting my brother and I at Uni.
Jaeger, what’s your favourite size gear to be on for down the line sailing and could you give some tips for getting aerials please? Thanks!
Down the line I like to be using my 4.3 or 4.7 and middle sized board because then I have enough power to move around but the conditions are generally still really smooth when I’m using those sizes. A good way to learn aerials is to practice jumping on the way in. That way you get the feel for it and when you’re comfortable you just have to do the same thing on the wave. When you’re on the wave, it will be easiest to learn by doing a shallow bottom turn with a lot of speed. Look for a wave with a section coming towards you and just try projecting yourself forward and doing a little jump.
Jaeger – whats the longest hold down you have had and how do you deal with a big one?
Not sure on the longest hold down, but nothing major yet. Have had a few big wipeouts in Margaret River with one bad popping to mind where I landed on my boom and corked my arm, had my t-shirt pulled over my head and my pants pulled to my ankles. When I think it is a bad one or a big wave I just try to let the wave push me as much as it wants until it passes and then swim up when I feel it’s done. Most important thing is not stressing out which can be hard sometimes.
Mark, what boards are you using now? And what future designs are you working on?
Been focused on quads for the last three years, but it all came together for me with the keel quad design and the incredible feedback l have been getting. At the moment l have some very short 7 foot keel quad boards and all is good so far. It is our off season for wind, so experimentation is slow at the moment, but production high from what l learnt by the end of last season. l do have a diamond tail surfboard that l am loving at the moment, which l see as a reverse swallow. Definitely a bit of inspiration there. Also l am seeing the quad fin set up more as a drivey twin, the two fins should be looked at as one unit. Spread apart works but get things more complicated, but moving them together as a team is better maybe.Maybe even aligning them to go into one box. l will hack into an old board and see what happens.
That’s such a good answer jaeger cos so many of moves u see on wave now seem really unnatural and forced, u need to maintain the flow of the wave and not just throw in some stupid freestyle move
Where is your favourite place to sail? Is it still gero or do you like to travel more?
I love travelling to sail new spots but it is still hard to beat Geraldton, Gnaraloo, Margaret’s and Esperance in W.A.
Jaeger I saw u sail once in margaret river, over mast high heavy stuff. What’s the heaviest day you have ever sailed?
Had a few days at Margaret River and Gnaraloo that have been pretty heavy, but I think the heaviest day may have been in Samoa with Scotty a few years ago. It was our first day there, the wind was light and it was around mast high so we thought we’d check it out. The waves were pretty solid when we got out there, the tide was super low and the amount of water movement was amazing. I went down on my last wave and destroyed my rig on the reef before starting to get sucked out so bailed on my rig and paddled my little heart out to stay inside the channel. Was pretty sketchy but fun.
Do you ever get scared going for moves? Must have been a bit different sailing in Pozo last year?
When I was first learning doubles I was scared and then after I broke my foot doing doubles I was also scared of doing them again for a while. The way windsurfing is progressing but you can’t really afford to be a chicken for long though and just have to put fears aside. Pozo is very different but some aspects like the strong wind are similar to home, although Geraldton doesn’t get as windy. Last year before Pozo I hadn’t sailed for 3 months prior so it was pretty full on and I tore my hands apart but I love sailing the strong winds and seeing how high I can go.
I heard you hurt you knee before? What did you do? Is it better now?
Yeah, I actually hurt my foot and did the Lis Franc injury which is the same injury Robby Swift has done to both of his feet. It was a few days before Xmas 3 years ago now. I was just starting to get more confident and consistent with doubles and unfortunately I flat landed one and took all the load through my back foot. It took a long time and I still experienced pain after about 2 years but it’s all good now and back to normal.
Do you have a girlfriend ?!
Ha ha depends who is asking.
Your riding is amazing! What wave moves are you working on now?
Hi Philip, I have been trying to think really hard about some new wave moves that I can try and learn in the upcoming season. There has been quite a few new jumps over the last few years but not so many actual wave moves. At the end of last season I started experimenting with switch foot wavesailing because there are a few moves I think that could come out of that, but we’ll have to wait and see whether I can produce anything that still maintains some flow and style and doesn’t look too forced.
Jaeger, any plans to spend more time in stuck lifts with Scotty in Tenerife?!
Ha ha would love to spend more time in Tenerife with him but ideally not in a lift. Not my favourite place…especially the small ones.
Hi Jason/Mark,
being so far out in W.A, and working on quite unique shapes, you are probably as far removed fromm the ‘production’ board scene as possible.
Was just wondering your opinion on current board shapes/trends?
Also, on a similar note – your thoughts on the wave tour as it stand at the moment?
l thought we were in the centre of the universe. Current trends are fantastic, lots of choice for lots of styles and conditions. We are very lucky to be in such good waves so l can focus on that easily and specialise a bit more.
The wave tour is orientated towards the mass market l guess.
That’s cool, thanks for that. Would you ever consider doing th American windsurf tour events? Seems they are in some pretty cool spots and real down the line conditions…..
Yeah, I would definitely consider the AWT. Have been talking with Severne about potentially going to one later in the year in Peru. They seem to be doing really well and are held in some great conditions.
What sails do you use? Are you also involved with the development for Severne?
Hey Tim, I use the S-1sails. Yeah, I do help test the sails and give feedback on them. The Severne loft is located in Perth so Ben and the rest of the design team come up to Geraldton all the time in Summer with the latest sails to be tested.
Hey Mark, do you try any of the production boards from other brands when you are developing your shapes or do you just focus on your own thing?
Hey Evan, l like to try everything and if l like it, it is out with my measuring stick to see what is going on, (actually even if l do not like it too). You learn heaps by doing this and means l can pick up different paths to follow, and can save me a lot of working experiment time.
I hear you’re busy with uni now, whats your plans for when you have finished studying? Will you do the tour?
Yeah, I have one and a half years to go. When I finish the plan for me has always been to give the tour a proper shot and do all the events but I’ll just have to wait and see what happens and whether it all falls in to place.
Thanks for coming on here – Are you planning on doing any of the PWA comps this year?
I was planning to do both Pozo and Tenerife but it just didn’t work out this year with budgets. At the moment I don’t think I’ll be doing any of the remaining comps.
Also I saw u compete at Tenerife last year, u were ripping! Shame you couldn’t make it over this year, always fun to watch you! Any trips away planned soon?
Thanks. I just came back from Mauritius about 2 weeks ago which was really cool to check out and was pretty awesome sailing. I start Uni again next week so no trips for the next few months but we will see after that. By the time I finish Uni it’s normally going off in W.A so I normally like to stay here over Summer.
What’s a keel quad jaeger?! I’m a bit slow
Hey Minty, it’s inspired from a keel surfboard which is basically a big swallow tail board. The fins are set up very close to the rails and the back foot is set further back. Almost like riding two boards next to each other and the straight outline on the rail helps maintain more speed through the turns.
With many modern waveboards being so good on a wave now – what are you trying to achieve with these designs that you can’t already get with a thruster or Quad?
Yeah, boards have come a very long way and I’m very happy with my thrusters but have never really found a pintail quad I enjoyed to ride as much as the thruster until the keel quad. We’re trying to achieve a board that is progressive on the wave along the lines of surfing but we have also found that they are super sailing efficient.
Hi Dave, at the moment I’m focusing on keel quads. Have been riding the same thruster shapes for about 3 or 4 years.
Hi guys! Jaeger what boards are you riding now? Quads or thrusters or what?
The chat will go live at 18:30 – get your questions ready!