William "Stretch" Riedel

Born in Malibu, CA, he was taught to build boards by his father Mike Riedel, a shaper for Velzy Jacobs Surfboards in the 1960’s. His multitude of craftsmanship and wave riding skills eventually landed him in Santa Cruz where a life changing windsurfing accident in 1988 left him with partial paralysis. His enthusiasm for progressive wave riding continues daily with technological advancement, team feedback and a passion for building the best board possible.

Santa Cruz, CA

Located blocks from the beach in mid-town Santa Cruz, our factory is prime location for scheming-up unique and alternative construction techniques. We build each individual board under the same roof in the largest dedicated EPS/EPOXY surfboard factory in Northern California. Combine that with a team of unbelievably talented riders, progressive designs and premium California coastline and you get some of the best wave riding imaginable.

  • Design Philosophy

    Stretch details his design principle and other nuances to dive deeper. Understanding design principles can enhance your experience.

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  • Bernoulli's Principle

    This physics principle formulated by Daniel Bernoulli states that an increase in the speed of a fluid produces a decrease in pressure. Stretch elaborates on how this relates to surfboard design.

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  • Newton's Third

    For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. That's what Newton's Third Law of Physics says. Stretch explains how this affects a surfboard on a wave and how design can harness this power.

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Imitation

Imitation is not what Stretch does. He follows his own path and pays attention to the foam. Whatever they ride, he wants to make a board for them. And block out everything else. Everybody should have their own path. PS Don't get a flyer.

Rocker

All Stretch's boards were historically built from one of two rockers, either 3-stage or parabolic. All the new boards are built from a spherical rocker. Using a section of a sphere as the rocker. Use the entire waterline of the board all the way to the nose.

Fins

Because of the way boards pivots. With tri-fins, low pressure zones around the fin become greater, stabilizing the fins. Quad all four fins rotate around a central point. that is directly in between the four fins... speed does not give quads directional stability. Faster you go, it's the same stability.

Construction

Everything but the foam is unique to Stretch construction.