If you are interested in surfboard design and would like to be around people that are then the place to be yesterday was at the Surfing Heritage Foundation. If you weren’t there then, to use a line from Endless Summer…. ‘you really missed it’.
Yesterday, Saturday June 7th was the Surfboard design workshop hosted by Bill Thrailkill and the Surfing Heritage Foundation. With guest, shaper Jim Phillips, and attendance by 50 or more surfing enthusiasts. I was one of the enthusiasts and had a really great time.
To sit and listen to dialog and discussions about surfboard dynamics and be around a bunch of guys that are stoked to learn and understand design aspects is inspirational.
As well, it was great to meet some of the guys from the Swaylocks forum that I have interacted with online. And to be in a room with hundreds of surfboards from redwood planks to the modern short board all beautifully displayed and identified, that makes the atmosphere so perfect and is worth the price of admission.
This was the second work shop, the first one was February 07 and was really great. This year with more in attendance the dialog was fantastic and the stuff Jim Phillips shared was as good as gold. I’m sure everyone went away full to the saturation point… I know I did.
Included in the event was a raffle. With the price of admission you received a raffle ticket and could purchase as many as you wanted. There was a bunch of stuff in the raffle, several blanks, even machined shaped, fins, and building supplies. It was fun watching as the guys would receive their winnings.
What a great time…
D.R.
At the event last year I won a blank which I shaped into a Stubbie Quad and gave to the event this year to be included in the raffle. With lamination donated by
.
Me, the Stubbie Quad and raffle winner Tyler. 
3 comments:
I'm really envious of you guys having events like that. Those were 50 very lucky guys and one VERY lucky raffle winner to walk away with one of your shapes. Hopefully we'll have a workshop like that here in Hawaii someday. Maybe the Swaylocks guys will do another one on Kauai (could'nt make it for that one)...Aloha
Derek
Howzit Derek? Hope all is well.
Yeah! we had a great time.... including Beer and Pizza. I think there was a little get together in Haleiwa a couple years ago.
D.R.
I actually did get to go to the Haleiwa get together. Too bad the waves were a little too out of control that day. It would have been fun trading boards with the other guys. Hope business is going good for you. Been kinda motivated to finally shape a board after this guy I met asked me to show him what I know about shaping. I've been letting a friend of mine who I rent a house to where my shaping room is at, use my room and he always seems to have something going on in there, which keeps me from shaping. He makes me laugh though. His methods are quite unorthodox, he lays a board down ontop of the blank, then traces it to get his outline. Needless to say, they come out rather crude, but I give him credit for getting in there and mowing the foam. The guy he gets his blanks from has been giving him reject computer shapes (still have the ridges) further clogging up my tiny room.
Your last entry reminded me of a session I had at Pakala in the late 70s. Although it was'nt big, it was head high, clean, glassy and just me. I had what was the perfect board at the time, a 5'10" T&C twin fin. By the time someone else showed up, my arms were like spaghetti and the wind had come up. The icing on the cake was having my then wife filming it for posterity. Yeah it's days like that, that keep you going till the next one comes along. Peace,
Derek
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