Another Channeled Asym

Photos lifted from the very excellent Board Collector blog. It's an early 80's Allan Byrne shape, his trademark channels on a beautiful looking asym- tidy stuff indeed.

"When testing a new board.....

...I like to push it as hard as I can off the bottom to see where it will give and spin out" Classic- Kidman mug designed and made by Gerry Wedd courtesy of Paul Whibley. Scholars and Gentlemen, the pair of them. There was a great thundercloud photo of Paul's in the box too, so I'm extra stoked. It's made up for missing the one decent day of surf before the rain set in.

Half Men

Those spoons in the last post got me thinking about kneeboards, and here's more. Those boys are just killing it, really lovely surfing. LA Residents/visitors: go check this out.

It's in a very small and cool East LA gallery/retail space which is well worth your time to visit should you be in this fine city.

Michael Mackie

A few from Ulladulla: another shot of Mackie's hybrid board- there's a lot of design finesse gone into this one, the bottom has a bit of MacTavish hull style in the nose and a decent concave running into V to set up some trim, and rails are pinched down in the nose and tail. Mick is very happy with it and seems keen to put it into some solid surf. Tidy little fish, and a couple of nice looking spoons made by one Neil Cameron of Byron Bay, who is one of those low key Aussie legends- he charges on McCoys and kneeboards and apparently shapes very well indeed.

Stephanie Gilmore /Andrew Kidman

This arrived in my mailbox, and it is very, very good. Built around frame grabs from the 'Spirit Of Akasha' project, the book documents a 70's style single fin built by Dave Parmenter and put under the incredibly talented feet of World Champ Ms. Gilmore. It's a good concept- one of the best surfers in the world on a type of board she has little experience of, and it's documented in a fantastic speed blur style that still lets you see not only how well she rides but the evident joy Steph has in riding it. Kidman is working away self producing this stuff because it means his vision of how it should be isn't compromised, and that's a rare thing nowadays. You can only get this book here and it's worth it on many levels.

More Wooden Surfboards

Twinfins too. The top one is a stunner of a classic twinnie, 6' and built from balsa by Pat at Currumbin Woodworks who's boards I keep seeing and they keep looking amazing. Bottom two are a Ninelights ModTwin with a tri option- awesome. I have one of the twin versions and it's a flat out brilliant board. Mr. Beck is doing a couple of boards for friends of mine currently, so I will pay him a visit with camera in hand very soon.

Guns

What you have there are a few for the serious stuff. First couple are by Mackie: an 8'2" for Garth Dickinson and a serious looking carbon hybrid single. Then a stunner of EPS/wood skinned brute made for Carlos Burle made by a guy in Cornwall named Mark Thomas. I'm a fan of these wood/foam composites as you may well know, and the Mr. Thomas' Glass Tiger boards look very pretty indeed. The asym finally got wet, and I couldn't be happier. The surf was pretty dumpy and crappy basically, but I got a taste of a few corners and I can feel how good this board is going to ride when it actually gets on a halfway decent wave. Well pleased with it, and there's hopefully going to be the time ahead where I'll be able to give it a good run.

Happy New Year To Me

5'11"/6'. Ekstrom bamboo fins. Mad thanks to Hank Warner, RK and Carl. Now if the weather and waves would cooperate, I'll have a ride report. Please note the 'lawn' in the Skip Frye post a week or so back as compared to it in this one. It's been raining.

Paul's Single Fin

Working with hand made surfboards and the shapers who hand make them certainly has no financial reward, but that's what day jobs are for. It does however mean you get to know some pretty classic characters. Cases in point: Andrew Kidman, who shaped this stunner for Paul Whibley, gem of a bloke from South Australia. Glassed by Simon Jones I believe and sporting some serious channels (the board that is, not Paul), this is wall hanger quality that will get put into the waves it needs. Impressive, as is Paul's photography which he posts in on Tumblr along with other good stuff. That wave shot comes from there and has been my desktop image for a while. And if you're in L.A. and need something to do Boxing Day night, try this.

Single Fin

Had some fun on my Horan single (Spitfire fin in the box rather than the winged keel although that may go back in) and have been admiring some singles. First two are serious Mackie blades, then two from Kidman- a version of his Splice (a sort of Parmenter/Lynch mix) and Wibz' channeled single, similar to the Parmenter built single Stephanie Gilmore rides in Kidman's new book 'Single'. A couple of Sage Joske classics, and a Horan styled big fella single built by Hank Warner. This one's for sale at Revolution and is a mad good deal for someone. Every one of these boards is a one off, a riff on a previous shape, a progression, a tuned out custom, a little pushing of the edges. This is how design advances- hands on.

Michael Peterson

Some amazing footage, MP just killing it at WinkiPop in 1977. Single fins, they're the business.

Skip Frye

The San Diego sojourn was made in order to collect this, Andrew Kidman's new Frye fish. Absolutely stunning, and with one of the finest glass jobs I've ever seen- the board (in the colours of the Essendon Bombers) is polished to a mirror-like finish. Crazy pinched rails and just feels nice under the arms. In his local waves, Kidman's going to kill it on this thing. None of us may be able to get our hands on a brand new Frye, but in keeping with the half arsed Xmas gift theme I've been working, you can now get a copy of Litmus again should you not have one.

It of course has the fantastic footage of Derek Hynd on his fish at J-Bay, definitely a contributing factor to the revival of the whole twin fin deal, and the rest of the movie is not too shabby either. It really has become a classic now, and deservedly so. $20 including shipping, email info @ foamandfunction.com to buy or inquire.

Carl Ekstrom

Made a run down to San Diego yesterday in my guise as errand boy to the Australians. Mission was accomplished (more on that next post) as well as getting to eat shellfish with RK and paying a visit to the shrine of style that is the Ekstrom residence. He has a few blanks and is doing a bit of shaping so if you're quick you could be in (I think I am). If not, you can get a classic Ekstrom shirt from Hydrodynamica. $22 plus shipping. They have a few of the Tyler Warren Hydro design too.

And Again Kidman

Nice indeed. The book of this is on sale on his site currently, and only available directly from Andrew. Like his last release, 'Lost In The Ether', 'Single' is limited to 1000 copies and will be amazing. Coastalwatch interview here.