Tested: Stuart Surfboard, FX-04 by Sheldon Simkus

The Tracks Surfboard review or "Ride Guide" as we call it, is our annual inquisition into some of the best and most interesting surfboards of 2020.

The formula Is pretty simple: we take a group of amazing surfers, this ye’r it was Liam O'Brien, Mitch Crews and Sheldon Simkus, give them each a healthy stack of boards to test and send them out in the best waves we can find. But fear not, for whilst the concept is simple, it is taken very seriously. Meticulous care is applied from the tests’ beginning to end. From the embryonic stages of planning and organisation to the physical testing of the equipment, every measure is employed to make sure that the boards are given the best chance possible to perform.

This year the "surfboard test" went down on the east coast of Australia. Fortunately, we had a very cooperative forecast that enabled us to score waves all up and down the coast. Our first few days were spent at North Stradbroke Island thanks to ‘Stradbroke Island Beach Hotel’ where we made avail of the many coves and corners on offer to run the boards through their paces in small yet punchy beach break conditions. A kick in south swell then saw the Gold Coast light up, where spots like D’bah and various other beach breaks offered some high- performance walls, really enabling the boards to display their full potential. On the tail end of this swell, some less inspiring beach break conditions challenged the boards, teasing out their true capabilities in marginal surf. In spite of the many speed bumps along the way the 2020 Ride Guide ended up being a highly successful board test. We were served up the full gamut of surf which thus enabled the boards the best chance possible to perform. These conditions were also representative of typical east coast surf, which gave an accurate indication of how these boards really went. Dive into the following board reviews and find out what your next sled might look like.

Shout out to our travel partners Isuzu Ute and Stradbroke Island Hotel.

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