The newest trend in shapes spotted in the lineup at Fifth St. Cincinnati.
New stash on the way
Well these babies are now in the capable hands of the craftsmen at Channin, up on the hill in Encinitas. On the list are a 9’11” Pig made from a 1954 Velzy/Jacobs template, generously provided by “the genius”, a 9’1″ EDB for a friend in San Francisco, a 7’3 1/2″ hull, a 6’8″ arc tail downrailer, and a 7’7″ Cali fun gun for the same client who ordered the pig. there will be a variety of bells and whistles including but not limited to resin tints, resin panels and comp bands, wooden fins by Willy/Bahne and more. They will all be on view at this years Sacred Craft show, Oct. 10th and 11th.
Hope to see you there.
wave wagon
Spotted at Tourmaline
Booth C9
Just signed up with Scott Bass for the 2009 Sacred Craft Surfboard Expo. The first two years were awesome and I’m really looking forward to this year. I hope to have a fair representation of the models I’ve been developing over the last several years. Hope to see you there.
Mitch’s is the sh*#
Ordered blanks from Mitch’s North today. Just wanted to thank Mitch, Loraine and all the boys there for supporting all the small time shapers out there. They have, for many years, supplied everything needed for people to remain relatively self sufficient and build boards.
Now think about that for a second. Name another activity that relies on specialized equipment, one that has been commercialized, and then see if you can find a way to create that equipment yourself. Have you ever seen a homemade tennis racket? Homemade golf clubs? Maybe a homemade canoe, but you will pay several times as much. Now here is Mitch and a few other suppliers that enable individuals to create their own boards at comparable prices.
I’d like to thank Mitch’s, Mitch’s North, and all of the other suppliers that make this possible.
coming soon!
Still shaping here in Kentucky, only it’s bread dough. Tattooing and messing around have been good lately but I’ll be back up on “the hill” soon to do a few boards. See you all in the line up.
Eric’s Hillbilly Bonzer
I made this board for Eric Swesey. He wanted a hullish bonzer and here it is. Eric is a great illustrator. Check him out here.
My beloved 7’11”
I shaped this board in ’04 along with a batch of three others. The color struck me so I kept it for myself (product developement and all). It soon became a favorite. I surfed the largest waves of my life on it. The most fun, however, were the days at Tourmaline when it was about waist high, and I’d sit with IRS Dave and Larry and pick off waves that most people thought you needed a long board for. So glidey. I caught SanO this past June and the day was just about perfect. Overhead on the outside with a nice south push at low tide. Sittin’ with a bunch of guys bitchin’ about there ten footers not being long enough. I had a great time on my 7’11”. It ain’t the size of your stick, it’s the amount of trim you get with it. Get it?
the “thumb”
Having been a student of board design for a while now, I am pretty stoked that a lot of barriers are coming down. With Joe Bauguess’ mini Simmons boards and Tom and Joe Wegener’s alaias etc. breaking down all pre-conceived notions of what makes a board work, it seems a door has been opened that hopefully will never be closed again.
I first saw one of Joe Bauguess’ mini Simmons at the 2007 Sacred Craft Show at the Swift Movement booth. I had to ask the guy there if it actually worked. Of course I had heard of Bob Simmons and his text book on naval architecture by Lindsay Lord. I was intrigued to say the least. As the next sacred craft show approached I decided to give the concept a try.
This is a Lidsay Lord planing hull and this concept was the basis for Bob Simmons’ keel fin designs. It’s no stretch to see the similarities. I also honed in on a photo of a Bob Simmons twin that looks like it was taken at Windansea. The belly is there, as is the deep single concave through the tail, and the keels of course. The concept of displacing water and then redirecting it back under the board into the concave and sweeping it back through the keels for control was a little hard to wrap my brain around at first, but now seems perfectly natural. This is a really organic shape.
My desire was to do a board along these lines without really being a replica. I took an old egg template and chopped it to 6’7″ because it just looked right. The wide point moved back to form nice hips and the tail ended up just over 16″ wide. I really loved the flow of the belly-single concave bottom plan and felt pinched soft rails would be comfortable. This is the result.
I absolutely love this board and everyone who tries it seems to have a good time almost immeditely. I showed a smaller one at the 2008 Sacred Craft Show and who showed up but Joe Bauguess. I had heard from an aquaintence that he was a bit upset with people stealing his new idea. When he introduced himself I said “Oh shit! Are you here to beat me up?” He was actually quite pleasant and we discussed the design for a while. He even was kind enough to stop down that evening to Surfindian in PB where I was having a show with Sam Cody (my boards, his art).
Joe is a master craftsman and a real gentleman.
I have since made several of what I call the HPH aka”the thumb”, named after Bob Simmons’ insistence that his boards were “hydrodynamic planing hulls” and my friends’ endearing nickname. I have a feeling that these boards will start showing up everywhere soon. A lot of people are doing versions and it’s a testament to the fundamental design that they work so well.They are just so fun that everyone will want one in their quiver. And we should thank Joe Bauguess and RK for the inspiration.
a beautiful lesson in humility
I was surfing Swami’s with my friend Riiko last week. As we walked down the steps to the beach we passed a city worker who was power washing the stairs. He stopped spraying to let us pass and I thanked him for letting us get by. But Riiko, as she walked by, said to him “Thank you for your hard work.”. I must say it was an example of a mind set that we have lost touch with in our culture. Namely, the appreciation of labor and a necessary job, performed well. To me it was a thing of beauty and a lesson I will not soon forget. Thank you Riiko and thank you to all the people who work hard to keep our public places working for us.
