I’ve been reading the book “Surfboards” by Guy Motil. Loaded with interesting reading about surfboard history, it’s full of pictures of surfboards from redwood planks to modern day pro boards and everything in between.

The last chapter, Contemporary Surfboards, gets into what the writer calls the alternative surfboard or alt boards. With a quotes… one from Duncan Campbell “ I think the alternative board movement is good because it focuses on technique; surfboard design isn’t just pro-driven anymore.” And shaper Scott Raymond Henry “We went through design evolution so quickly the first time around… every three or four months we were onto something new” With Gary Linden adding “ Nowadays shapers get a chance ot reevaluate the old designs and see what’s valid from a futuristic point of view; when things are progressing rapidly you tend to forget what basic design elements work”

I can relate to those comments, as well, that particular chapter of the book. Though I’ve shaped plenty of tri fin short boards, or Thrusters, and even shaped boards for a top 5 ISP competitor, I personally have only had one standard Thruster type board, which I liked very much BTW. And it hasn’t been until now that I’ve got a name for all the boards I’ve built for myself over the last 3+ decades…. Alternative.

The very first tri fin I made for myself was different, it was egg shaped, I got laughed at, but now a tri fin egg shape is real common. I had been surfing a 6’3 single fin hull for about a dozen years until 1982 when I made that first tri fin for myself. It seemed natural to make one egg shaped because I’d been riding an egg shaped board for so long. I change the foil and rail line of course but it still was not the run of the mill look. The board worked great and I moved on to yet other boards that weren’t run of the mill.

Now that the alt board thing is around doing something different is even more fun than in times past. I get nice comments about my perimeter stringer stubbie quad every time I take it to the beach. One of the guys that rode the 5’11 stubbie quad I’ve got being passed around right now said “this board is hilarious”. He was riding it really well, so I think has comment was a compliment.

I like being different.

D.R.