Ocean vehicle inc. – Jimmy Lewis Cruise Control 10.6ft review
Jimmy Lewis has been a name synonymous with ocean vehicle shaping (surf, windsurf, kitesurf and more recently SUP) for many a decade. Having created sleds for some of the world’s elite, you can now lay hands on your very own JL kit in the UK.
Staying in theme for this issue, we grabbed Jimmy Lewis’s Cruise Control 10.6ft. Billed as a ‘go anywhere, do anything allrounder’, we were intrigued to see how it stacked up – especially as we’ve been mainly paddling pointy nose sticks over the last few months.
It’s nice to see a freshening up of graphics with JL boards. In this instance Maori tattoo artist, Masao, has spruced things up nicely across the Stun Gin and Cruise Control ranges.
Feeling super light during carrying, the first few strokes from the beach were surprising. The extremely flat deck of the Cruise Control offers a unique feeling and as such the board’s stability is good. With such a flat standing area it’s actually ‘blink and you’ll miss it’ with how composed the ride is. You forget about staying upright even though when you stop and think about it, it’s not the Cruise Control’s primary stability doing the work. The Cruise Control is actually more about secondary stability.
Another noted trait is how well the Cruise Control tracks and glides for a round nosed SUP. It’s actually right up there with many touring boards and while not quite as rapid it does hold its own, proving that sometimes this style of board is worth considering.
Unfortunately during the testing period we didn’t get the chance to try the Jimmy Lewis in any kind of swell – which is a shame as you can tell from inspecting the tail section that it’d be a good performer. Looking more like a longboard, we’ve no doubt you’d be all smiles after a wave session or three.
With emphasis on the surf SUP side of things still firmly in the shortboard camp, it’s a welcome change to come across a board that is both agile on flat water but offering effortless performance in longboard/noserider mode. There’s still a gap in the market when it comes to longboard SUP surfing style so it’s good to discover another choice in this area that will also double as a flat water cruiser.
CONCLUSION
Jimmy Lewis’ Cruise Control 10.6ft was quite revelatory in terms of its flat water performance. Gliding extremely well for a blunt nose, it actually keeps up with a good number of touring pointy nose boards. Whilst not cutting through chop and swell quite as easily (understandable with its round nose), it will more than make up for this when thrown at a few waves.
These days stand up paddle boards, as we mention elsewhere, are incredibly versatile. The Cruise Control is certainly that with perhaps a degree more slant towards wave riding prowess than a full on touring board. If you paddle on flat/moderately bumpy water sometimes, but yearn to slide mellow liquid walls the majority, then this could be the stick for you.
Further info:
www.surfs-sup.co.uk/shop/stand-up-paddleboards/jimmy-lewis-cruise-control/
Tel: 0781 805 5691
Price: £1195
(Orders placed for Cruise Control boards during Aug and Sept are entitled to a £100 discount. Let the guys know you saw the offer in SUP Mag UK).
Leave a Reply