Q+A | Walks on Water Model
We received a whole bundle of great questions from you all, in response to our email last week. Connor asked about the Walks on Water model; so here it goes.
The Walks on Water model was created at the request of Mr. Andy Nieblas. It is essentially a beefed up Lumberjack. It's wider, thicker and has fuller, softer rails. The biggest thing you will feel will be the beefy truly 50-50 rails, they make the board softer in the water, and it's harder to bury a rail, even in slower waves. This gives the rider more stability for noseriding, but also allows Andy to lay really hard into turns.
Full rails are awesome because they are soft and forgiving, and extra stable. The opposite would be a super thin knifey rail, like a displacement hull, which is great at tracking and racing along the face of a steeper faced wave.
The Lumberjack rail is pretty much a medium rail (most would refer to it as 50-50, but the apex is slightly down from center) While we are on the subject, I think there is a little confusion about the term 50-50 rail. A true 50-50 rail has an apex that is dead center, it doesn't actually define the thickness of the rail at all. You could have a big fat 50-50 rail, or a thin, pinched 50-50 rail. Most of our longboards have a rail that is more accurately described as 60-40, because the apex is slightly down from center. Same thing applies, we can beef up or slim down the foil of the rail depending on the size of the surfer and the type of wave they are surfing.
Rail notes aside, the WoW model is a forgiving, stable noserider that packs a ton of volume. Because of the girth, active footwork is a must to maneuver this board.