Keels

Next best thing to a new surfboard is some new fins, and via Chris in Hawaii I've scored a pair of keels from Chubbies to try. Interesting keels indeed, obviously quite upright and large- 5" base, 7" height and apparently nearly 1/2" thick! Beautifully foiled with an inside concave and a little like the Spitfire fin I like so well. Less rake should equal some pivoty turns, and I'm interested to see how the thickness affects the feel. The flextail in the picture has been ridden mostly with those modified cutaway keels (a fin template I'd highly recommend to anyone) and they are my baseline so to speak, I had tried it with some standard keels but the Rasta cutaways were noticeably more snappy. The Richard Palmer leaf keels are great, the first pair Mackie sent were too small for my well fed (I prefer 'manly' as an adjective) frame and slid out beautifully, but this pair is the business- definitely loose but never totally letting go (admittedly I never used them in anything over belly to chest high), and with a fantastic springy geel in turns. When keel and tail worked together it was as fun as turning a surfboard gets (and although it may be a sad comment on my life, turning a surfboard is some serious fun to me). Naturally it's gone flat now I have the Chubbies, but a ride report will follow. His site is here and worth checking out- the quad sets look like the business too- maybe a set of Chubbies on the rear, standard quads on the front....

Cornwall Says Hello

Brilliant, especially John Isaacs and his rides. Bellyboards are mad fun, I've had a few good ones on mine of late although perhaps a little less user friendly for the 5 year olds and the ladies in their mid eighties if the waves are chest to head high and closing out. You do however get the shot-out-of-a-cannon feeling pretty nicely in those conditions, and the little narrow bellyboard holds a line very nicely I must say.

Running Low

Some product that's getting close to gone. The lovely lightweight hoodies are $35 each, there's a few each of grey, black and brown with the Simmons ones and only a couple left of the OG Swift Movement tattoo lettering ones, grey only. Sizes are L and XL only at this point, although we have a few Simmons ones in ladies sizes. Film wise you have the Byron collection there- Mick Waters' festival acclaimed 'Little Black Wheels' and his debut 'Believe', both $25 and Johnny Abegg's completely mad and brilliant "___", packaged in a fanzine for $30. Shipping is included in all prices and you can order or inquire but simply emailing us at info @ foamandfunction.com. I've posted these before, but wasting time watching videos is one of the great joys of the internet, so here you go again as a reminder- first Cookie and his cigs from "___":



and here's a far more sensible and well mannered promo from Mick:

Stub

Andy's 6'2" Mackie single to be more exact. He's well pleased, said he went to pick it up and wound up having a surf with Mick then back to the house for a skate on the driveway which has a conveniently located concrete 1/4 pipe. That's how a surfboard transaction should work.

An Oldie But A Goodie

Yes, I've been slack with posts the last couple of weeks but I swear that will change- there's some fun stuff afoot and sheds all over the world are abuzz with new projects. In the meantime I've actually gotten some stuff done, like pulling this board out of the back of the stack and cleaning it up. It's a 6'8" Wayne Lynch design shaped by Terry Goldsmith and it's probably 15 years old. It was the first new board I bought in the States after a run of loaners and beaters (the board this replaced was a thrashed Jeff Ho single that had been snapped a couple of times before I got it, and a couple of snaps later it just wasn't coming back and it was donated to an art project. I really should have kept that one) and it was an attempt to find something that would work in walled LA waves. Boards have come and gone but I never got rid of this one, and figured it might be fun to drag out for a ride or two in what was just a run of swell, but not until it had some serious wax rehab (I'm glad Lynch doesn't read this, he'd no doubt be horrified at such shabby treatment) and although work and the weather thwarted me, it'll get a go out in the very near future.

Compsand

Yeah, more wood skinned craft. I like the concept and the look, and from my experience with Mr. Beck's boards I think it totally delivers performance wise. As I wait for a window in the weather that will let me in the water, I've been window shopping a few nice rides. The 5 finners look magic; the top one (I love those diamond tails) is from Josh Dowling in sunny Australia and the double bump via Jeff at Nine Lights, who also made the weirdness that he's calling the FossHull.

The Mackies In Stock And For Sale

Excuse the ghetto backyard/photo skills, but here is, left to right, what's siting waiting for an owner at present:
6' EPS sidecut HP fish ($800)- Lightweight, super fast and totally responsive, definitely not an old school small wave fish, this is an Aston-Martin DB-9 of surfboards.
6'3" round tail singlefin stub ($850)- Very hully with knifey rails and an s-deck profile, basically a refined point wave rocket.
5'9" diamond tail 2+1 stub ($725)- Don't let the fancy orange tint fool you, this board is the goods. I've talked people out of buying it twice because I want to keep it but as is often pointed out to me, I'm meant to be selling Mick's boards for him, not hoarding them so it's for sale this time- honestly.

All the boards come with fins- hex keels for the sidecut, seriously foiled flexfin for the round tail and a nice Mackie foiled centre plus sidebites with the diamond tail.

There is of course the custom option too, 4-6 week turnaround usually and Mick can build you whatever size, shape or fin setup you want, handshaped and high quality. There's a very exciting custom currently under way for a deserving bloke in Hawaii whose quiver is essentially a museum quality collection of modern performance board design, but you'll see more of that as it comes along. If you'd like to inquire about any of these boards or a custom, or just tell me something interesting, info @ foamandfunction.com is the place to do it.

Hydro Show 2

A few more from the Hydro show. The projection was an edit from RT's 'Temporal Collections...' project, featuring Ryan & Lucas riding the boards it was being projected on. It's an awesome looking film so far. The shirt is new and the Hydrodynamica folk will gladly sell you one here, only $22 plus shipping. They didn't seem to have a whole lot of them so I'd say get on it.

Among The Heathens

Here's a brief respite from the world of upmarket museum sponsored art shows. Young Mackie took the family on vacation to a semi-civilised Pacific isle, and appeased the natives by knocking out a few very fine surfboards. Bit of a busman's holiday but I imagine his family are well used to that and there's now 4 excellent boards in some lucky foreign hands.

Hydro Show 1

Top Down:
Daniel Thomson & Carl Ekstrom talk design. Carl was well impressed by Daniel's newer boards.
Some old Simmons wood.
Carl's models.
The good old days.
Daniel's board that was blowing a few minds.

It was well worth the drive south, if only to hang out and talk surfboards with Daniel Thomoson and RT in fancier surroundings than usual. Incredible looking show, 'museum quality' as they say. From the original Simmons through Ekstrom and Mirandon experiments in the 60s to Lis and Frye and experimental 70s madness to where Burch and Tomo and the like are taking surfboards now, it was an intelligently curated meander down one of surfing's myriad design pathways. Show's up for a couple of months, so if you can get to San Diego in that time, go check it out. The entrance is at 325 15th St, San Diego CA 92101 and it's open Tues-Sat 10-4.

Hydrodynamica- Remember The Future

As you've hopefully seen, this weekend is the opening of the Hydro show that's tied into the Getty 'Pacific Standard Time' shows. The theme here is obviously surfboard design, especially that of Bob Simmons, as a continuum of post war Californian design as a whole. RK has assembled a pretty serious array of boards and if you cabn't make the opening, the show is totally worth checking out at some time during it's run. I'll definitely take some pictures, and of course the above shots come from Andrew Kidman's brilliant Ether book.

Loft 9 Gallery
1340 16th St
San Diego CA 92101

Y Niwl

Personally, I really don't like surf music that much. Or at all really. Ventures etc bore the hell out of me and I can't even be bothered with the Beach Boys, even the vaguely psych ones you're meant to like. There are exceptions of course, Dick Dale, Davie Allan (more biker rock though I suppose), Agent Orange- all have moments of great fun. The modern garage rock boom produced some great surf-ish stuff from weird places like Japan, and now this- North Wales' finest surf combo, Y Niwl. Appaently they are killer live too. Sourced from the mighty Sideburn magazine blog, another of the sites that made me start doing this, so complain to them if you must. In case it isn't obvious, the surf and weather aren't co-operating so I'm wasting free time the internet and a couple of stacks of records.

Boards of 2011, Mick Mackie Edition

Ulladulla's own gets a special post because he delivers some absolutely epic surfcraft and keeps flowing photos that make me want to drain the bank account in order to have an unrivaled quiver. I like them well enough that I not only ride them 2 out of 3 sessions, but I try to help him sell a few. Making your beach experience better is our aim. From the top down:

21st Century Flextail- possibly the boards I covet most, simple as that.

Stinger swallowtail- OK, there's a lot of reasons why stingers were not a lasting surfboard design, but this thing looks like it'd be a screamer on a clean point wave,

Pintail- I have no info, just this picture so in my head this is a 6'6" or so single fin, beaked nose and just the step up you need when it gets over head high.

No dims or info on this one either but another fantastic looking board. I'm hoping there's a tri or quad set up underneath this and it's 6'.

Stub- The traditional single fin hull adherents will hate me for this, but I prefer the modernized version. This one is EPS and with a quad or 2+1 setup, I believe it would be what they term a 'goer'.

Twin Keel Sidecut- A design Mick has worked with and honed for over a decade. Twin or quad, it's a fish taken a step or two beyond what you can usually get from a fish. As much as I enjoy a classic twinnie, these boards have basically replaced traditional fish for me.

Each to their own and freedom for all, but no machine or popout is going to be able to bring you the creative flow that someone like Mackie has going on. It's the likes of him and all the other hand crafting innovators that keep the surfboard fresh, and I for one am incredibly thankful for that.

Serious down the line speed

Awesome, Christmas day comet photos from Tomo. What a great start to the year for those of you lucky enough to see them. In some sort of clumsy aquatic comet type link, check out the Mat Tube Challenge that's been inaugurated over here at the massively stoked Ramsnake's blog. Rubber riders should get on this one- I think I'll try for some shots on the bellyboard and enter, then cry surfcraft racism when I don't win. Or maybe just get the mat out there......

AND AN UPDATE: No mat? No worries! Tomo has a special going here. Get on it, and send me a few good tube photos too.

Burningflags.com

Mike Muir and Jim Muir pose for a Thrasher promotion we did, circa 1983


One of my early surf photos, shot at what was then probably the biggest surf contest in the North-East at Seaside Heights NJ- I got my first surf shot published from this same day, in Surfer magazines 20th Anniversary issue. Kevin Casey is the rider, circa 1978


Darryl 'Buffy' Robinson (RIP) of The Fat Boys in Venice holding my board circa 1984


Black Flag outside their office/home SST in Redondo Beach CA- their strongest lineup in my opinion. Circa 1984


The Beastie Boys, with Sean Penn and David Lee Roth at Madonna's first ever gold record party. This was in Los Angeles the day before or after they opened for Madonna on the 'Like A Virgin' tour, 1985.

In the beginning there was GEF. Really- my friend Craig and I wound up putting out books because we felt Glen's book need to be available, and now all these years down the line we're all still at it. Glen has just launched his official site, Burningflags.com and it's been worth the wait, filled with all sorts of bits and pieces of much interest. It's an incredible look at subcultures that meant a lot to me anyway, and all from the perspective of someone who was not only there but deeply involved and documenting it all wisely. Glen shared the above shots from the site, captions are his and don't forget we have his books available should you need something epic for the book shelf. Contact info @ foamandfunction.com and we'll set you up.