- November 2016 -

An Interview with Max Stewart of Eye Symmetry Surfboards

The world of shaping surfboards is a constantly changing landscape. It is no longer enough to stay in one's place and shape the same old boards anymore. No, these days success as a shaper depends as much on one's ability to expand beyond their immediate geographical surroundings, as it does being able to offer new and innovative designs. Twenty Five year old New South Wales native Max Stewart, the lone craftsman behind of Eye Symmetry Surfboards, is no stranger to the modern hustle of building surfboards.

Over the last few years Max has been traveling the world shaping and testing out his designs in any waves he can find. His aim? Producing functional, high-performance surfboards that smash through the standard of mundane, expressionless boards that many have come to expect from performance boards. We sat down recently with Max to talk about board design and what he's doing lately that has attracted the attention multiple generations of some of surfing's most influential and innovative riders. 

• FeZ: When did you first get into shaping?
  
  Max:  I first started tinkering with shaping when I was about 15 years old…the first board I shaped was a super short twin, I think it was around 4’10” and it came to life from my Dad’s recently snapped longboard. I pulled all the glass off it, rounded the nose and added a deep swallow…basically the classic shaping introduction haha. I tried to laminate it propped up on old paint tins outside with yellow tinted polyester resin…I had no idea what I was doing and it never got finished.

•  FeZ: Who were your inspirations/mentors?
  
  Max:  I entered the industry full time working for Haydenshapes in Sydney, that was a real eye opener in terms of running a business in the surfboard manufacturing industry and I was quickly learning the art of constructing surfboards. I don’t really have any individual mentors but draw inspiration from many individuals. Mike Psillakis from Sydney is an insane hand-shaper that is super under-rated, he plays with specialized rockers and foils a lot and they are always overall balanced and clean. I’ve always liked Mayhem’s shortboard designs – nothing too special but simple with volume forward and clean, easy to surf. Pat Rawson and Dick Brewer have been making really tuned in bigger wave equipment which Tom Carroll has got me into and I draw inspiration from those two when I make guns and rhino chasers.
  
  What really keeps me motivated is pushing my own design concepts and thinking creatively for myself in a forward manner…I believe if you really think constructively and have the right resources around you (facility and means to create boards, talented team riders, etc) you can develop and construct boards that are of a high quality in regards to shape and construction whilst also maintaining a unique flair.
  
  Another large part of my inspiration, especially of late, draws from artists and musicians…the way that they develop and maintain a consistency in their work, deal with the business side of their creative outlet and manage travel commitments (just to name a few examples) I think is really synonymous with surfboard shapers. The surfing world is only so large you know, so to draw inspiration from individuals in different fields of work is super interesting, rewarding and important, at least it is for me!
   
• FeZ: Who are some surfers you’ve worked with that inspire your designs?
  
  Max:  Tom Carroll and Hector Santamaria have been my two ‘go-to’ team guys for some time now. Tom has a really tuned in knowledge of surfboard design and he knows exactly what he likes and what certain tweaks in a board’s design will affect its performance and why. In that sense he has a shaper knowledge of surfboards…which I want to say is so much more accurate than most shapers understanding of their craft as he knows his surfing so well. Its second nature for Tom to feel a board under his feet and quickly understand the way it is behaving and why. Tom has been so important in the development of my shaping over the last three years and I don’t think I would be in the position I am in today without his expertise. During this time spent with Tom I have also been working really closely with Hector, who unlike Tom is a more modern age freak who does just as much of his surfing in the air as on the wave.
  
  Hector is super open minded with his boards and will ride anything I give to him. Hector is the kind of surfer which will push the board to its limits and from there we can find out what we have to improve upon. Hec is super positive and outwardly expressive that sometimes its hard to get critical feedback from him, however we spend so much time in the water together I can tell exactly whats working and whats not for him. With such a close relationship that we have we are able to create ideas and put them to practice with ease, making us kind of a dream team haha!
   

Max and two-time world champ, Tom Carroll. (Photo; Chris Grundy)

• FeZ: What is your main philosophy that goes into shaping/designing your boards?
  
  Max:  My main philosophy from when I started Eye Symmetry was to make boards that look better and perform better than what was the industry standard. I feel like so much published performance surfing is done on white shortboards which really doesn’t have to be the case. Surfboards have seemed to be separated into two syles; from performance (clear shortboards) to retro (coloured twins, alternatives etc) with no in-between…nothing that incorporates the two styles you know.
  
  So with that in mind I like creating ‘high performance’ boards, so surfboards that are really dialed, in terms of rocker and foils especially…which are also really artistic. A lot of my attention also goes into the construction of the boards and the artworks often also serve a role in the strength and mechanical function of the board. All of my boards are made with epoxy resin and currently a nylon re-inforced D size fiberglass which is super strong both in terms of compression and structural strength. 
  
   
• FeZ: What’s the idea behind the octo-rail and how did you come up with the idea?
  
  Max:  The ‘octo-rail’ design idea literally came from my own mind when studying the law of hydrodynamics which states that curved surfaces increase create drag whilst hard edges minimize drag. So I thought about applying this concept to surfing and surfboards in particular…there are three curved planes we are working with; rocker, outline and foil. This concept has been somewhat applied to the foil with the channel bottom, but I thought what if we applied this concept to the rails of the surfboard…a surface that is basically always in contact with the water surface. Why must the rails be a curved surface? By eliminating the curved surface of the rail and replacing it with a series of hard edges we can increase the hold of the board of the wave face thereby increasing speed and drive on the wave face.
  
          
       The Eye Symmetry Octo-Rail (Photo: Chris Grundy)
  
  I first tested this concept in Japan with Tom, Hector and myself in clean point-break style waves and the results were extremely positive…the boards felt like they had an increased amount of drive and hold and really projected into the lip from a committed bottom turn. Since then I have been making so many boards with the concept so I would say it’s a success!
  
   

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