I came across a box of old magazines and picked one of them up for a look.

It happened to be a Long Board magazine Fall 1993 issue. I’m not sure how long the magazine was in print… like from what year started to last year published. I always thought it was a really nice and well done magazine… and thought it was sad when it shut down.

Anyway, there was an article in that issue titled “Nose Riding Models….An-All Time Collection”. The opening page of the article had comments from big time surfboard guys. One was Dick Brewer where he mentioned the Peck Penetrator as one of the “excellent nose riders."

That got me thinking about the time I met up with John Peck at a surf meet when he wanted to introduce me to Dick Brewer....this, back in the 60's. When we were walking around the beach and found him and a couple other big time guys in surfing I got cold feet and ducked out never to be introduced. Me the shy guy…. Funny how some 30 years later I meet Dick Brewer while living on Kauai and end up shaping boards for him for a couple years.

I can’t remember ever talking to him about shaping the Penetrator back then. Not that we sat around and talked story. For the most part I’d either get blanks delivered to my shaping bay in Lihue or go out to his place on the north side and burn through a stack of blanks there. It was, get my work done and run… I think I left my circular saw at his place the last time I was there, darn it. I really like that saw, it cut a lot of outlines for me.

There was a picture of a Penetrator in the article, one of the dozen boards in the
”Collection.” The dimensions were listed as 9’4, 17.5 nose, 23.25 wide, 14.5 tail, and 3.5 thick.

So how does that play out in today’s reissues?  9’4, 17.5 nose 22 .75 or 23 wide 14.5 to 15 tail and 3 thick.  Not really much different.  Dick Brewer was quoted in the article saying “ The state of the art of nose rider design in the 60’s is still 100% valid today.

I’ve always said… If it works  don’t fix it.

D.R.

I put what I know about nose riding into this board… The Tip Tool