PCProgress

Old Forgotten Thrill

2012-01-27T09:29:00.000-08:00

Part of a series of photos taken while flying into Santa Barbara at new year's time. The plane took off in San Francisco just at sunset and we landed about 10 minutes after dark...The entire trip was one long sunset that had my undivided attention.

m.Mesa

2012-01-26T09:02:00.000-08:00

Some recent polaroids from visits to the shop. Greenhouse shot by one of the raddest people I've ever had the pleasure of spending copious amounts of time with, Kabir Cardenas.

Thru

2012-01-25T09:03:00.000-08:00

photo | Jeremy Koreski

Ultra Viiiiiiiiiiibez

2012-01-24T09:01:00.000-08:00

ms.L Ross. Thank you for sending this along.

So much.

Escape

2012-01-23T09:14:00.000-08:00

got out of town for a few days last weekend with 'da boyz and our girls.

Here's some random shots from the weekend :)

Dippin'

2012-01-21T10:39:00.000-08:00

Kyle Albers + v.Bowls, sent along by mr.Kew.

Kyle has the best karate hands in the business, though I've heard his dad has a mean pair also.

#3

2012-01-20T09:09:00.000-08:00

One funkafied project for an esteemed colleague, Ryan Burch.

I feel like my brain is being torn in 3 by totally different designs/genres right now...more ideas blasting around my head than I know what to do with so I bought a pile of blanks today to start getting deeper.

Experiments

2012-01-19T07:26:00.000-08:00

Pretty darn cool and an interesting build; reminded me a lot of the kevlar/paulownia hull I did a while back but upside down!

Very Happy Medium

2012-01-18T09:12:00.000-08:00

photos courtesy of Jeff Johnson

Jeff Johnson and I got a little fire lit under our butts yesterday afternoon and whipped out a new 7'2 for him. Lately I've been wanting to shape a more pinned out version of my 7'4 pocket pleaser, and he was looking for something along the lines of what mr.Alex Knost is riding these days. We had a little chat about the plus' and minus' of each design and the intentions/realities behind them and decided to get mowing. I used 4 extremely different templates to find the curves we were after, then gave it a funkadelic foil and bottom shape much like my current v.Bowls'. A lot of the current boards have three very distinct areas of the template curve and that's the thorn in my paw with them, so I smoothed it into a more flowing arc but left just enough hips and straights to get the speed and turning that we were after.

I have some reservations about the current theory that's being put to use in these types of designs right now; everyone seems very anti-concave and I think that's pretty ridiculous...it's great to be 'oldschool' but why totally ignore the benefits of 40+ years of trial and error if its going to give your board a more responsive feel? To me its the difference between stop-and-start surfing (within these types of designs) and powerful, connected lines. I'm not talking an entirely concave bottom, just hints in specific areas to transform the design into a modern vehicle.

All confused ranting aside, I'm really stoked on how Jeff's board came out and even more excited to see it glide!

Drilled

2012-01-17T20:40:00.000-08:00

Be Explosive

2012-01-17T09:06:00.000-08:00

Found trevor and a mini-monster tube from last week all up on ESPN.com, sweet shot!

I do remember this wave...and I do remember counting 5 shacks. And video does exist :)

:: Lack of recent bloggage due to removal from civilization...Will resume promptly ::

Finless Function

2012-01-13T09:14:00.000-08:00

Silence is golden...

..but I'm about to explode.

zippy framegrab via mr.Michael Kew!

TG fo' REEEEEEEEE

2012-01-12T09:50:00.000-08:00

..then he was all FWAP under the lip and made the wave. It was radical.

36 Hours

2012-01-11T09:10:00.000-08:00

5'6 Piggyback for Thomas Cravarezza in Italy.

This one is 2" shorter in length and about 1" wider in the tail than Trevor's original version, with two extra fins hitching a ride also:

Heeeeere piggypiggypigy..

DraggleMe

2012-01-10T09:02:00.000-08:00

One mr.Johnny McCann ripping his squash-taily 5'7" t.Rev last week, yew!

Rabbit's Foot

2012-01-09T09:11:00.000-08:00

Somewhere in the neighborhood of 4'10 and rips 'da pit. I seen it wit' my own two eyez.

My finless design ideas just got re-routed pretty severely and we're on to much greener pastures! Two very talented surfriders were blowing my mind last night on this thing. Pulling the closest thing to a cutback I've seen yet, accelerating back into the whitewater. I'm sure with a couple of slight modifications and a bit more riding we'll get it there and solve that nasty little problem.

The rule book that was thrown out the window just got booted off the lawn it landed on.

Surf Check

2012-01-08T09:04:00.000-08:00

76'67

2012-01-07T09:01:00.000-08:00

Stringeress SilkyLove...One smooth operatOr...

Recently...

2012-01-06T09:10:00.000-08:00

Deja Vu

2012-01-05T09:03:00.000-08:00

By the time we got to woodstock, we were half a million strong.

Tangerine Dream

2012-01-03T09:03:00.000-08:00

With a bit of inspiration from Ryan Burch's outrageous work, Kew and I dreamed up this 5'2"understated asym:

Intuition and Reassurance

2012-01-01T09:01:00.000-08:00

Around the New Year I usually write a little bit about the past and coming months; I was curious last night what I had written last year so I dug it up and read through. It was reassuring [as I read] to feel that I've stuck to my path and done justice to the hopes that I had set for myself in 2011. In fact, the last year has tested me a thousand times beyond what I had ever thought possible, and I'm proud that I've held up my end of the bargain.

Leaving Point Concept behind was a big deal to me. It was a choice based on honesty to myself and my chosen path as much as it was a choice to boil down the important parts of my 'job'... To make sure that I'm keeping myself true to my passions and curiosities so as to stay inspired and on an honest path and not one run by glossy marketing schemes, machine shapes and t-shirt lines. I may be naive, but I'm living for honesty right now over monetary profit.

I asked myself to trust in people's goodness and give them the benefit of the doubt as long as I hold up my end of the bargain; take out what I put in and trust that others will do the same. I have most definitely been shown that this kind of action is not always reciprocated, and has revealed some true ugliness in the past year; but it's also brought me the most surreal of opportunities and friends. Its like an automatic sifter of good and bad...You learn about yourself and about other people, then make an informed decision on what to do with the information from there. And thats exactly what I wanted to do when I started building surfboards for other people: Learn. About friends, surfing, myself, and about my path in life through surfboards.

As 2012 starts, I'm poised in front of as many new opportunities as ever. I am humbled and grateful to everyone who continues laying down the challenges in front of me, and flattered that somehow week after week I just have to keep building honest, good surfboards and everything will work out. I'm more than happy to do that. I want to be transparent, and I want what is inside of that to be honest and grateful. Thank you for supporting my ambitions, publicly or silently, I truly appreciate what my life has become.

So with all of that said and my slate clean, I want to share a short edit that I put together of some clips taken by mr.Kew. I've been holding this one in my back pocket for a couple of months for some reason, waiting for the right time to let it go...This feels as good of time as any. Trevor draws some beautifully clean and effortless lines on his v.bowls; Full-screen it and turn up the volume a little; it'll increase your mellow.

Brian Jungen

2011-12-31T09:04:00.000-08:00

mr.Nick Cook turned me on to some work by an artist named Brian Jungen:

Lets Not Be Irresponsible

2011-12-30T09:13:00.000-08:00

Intuition

2011-12-29T09:04:00.000-08:00

getting the next video all ready...couldn't help but pause on this one.

Once more, mr.Trevor Gordon.

SB Stub for Cenen

2011-12-28T09:03:00.000-08:00

A couple months back I complimented a fellow in the Rincon parking lot on the White Owl sticker that graced his car's rear window. He intoroduced himself as Cenen and told me he'd checked out my blog off and on for quite a while and was stoked on my work...I was flattered.

Then it got better.

He told me he was the handler of a trio of templates saved from the Wilderness house's demolition. He said he had hung on to them for a few years and thought I should take a look at them, and if I was interested; Take them off his hands and make use of them.

Cenen and I met up a couple of days later and we unfolded the tattered tar paper on the ground next to his car.

What came undone (carefully and with bated breath) were two outrageous pintail guns and one unmistakably late-60's Santa Barbara Stubby. The Stubby originated here in Santa Barbara within the Wilderness crew (George Greenough, Michael Cundith, Richie West, Danny Hazard and the likes) and was refined swell by swell through the years. Finding this original 6'7" was beyond what I had silently hoped for. Right up my ally.

I lusted after the template for a number of weeks before I decided to make a rendition of it. Then just days after I made the first version, my phone was brought to life by a friend of Cenen's who told me that he had two blanks that he'd hung on to for a while and wanted me to shape a pair of boards for the two of them.

I used my best 60's skills and came up with this 7'1" version of the template for Cenen; Complete with a resin abstract done just the way the dudes used to back in the day (a lost art it seems, but one Mr.Gregg Tally is keeping the tradition alive and was more than happy to pass the knowledge and craft down to me)...and voila:

I'm so glad to have this project under my belt and I'm honored to hold an original piece of Santa Barbara history. Its insane how often things this unreal happen in this community of ours; it feels like the more I open myself to opportunity the faster they are poured on me.

Thank you Cenen, for the opportunity to further my knowledge and continue to play for a living!

Powers Of

2011-12-27T08:48:00.000-08:00

Herbie.

I've been representing all week with this little ode-to-howl that I drew last week all over a shirt that I made for myself...one proud papa, one justified Herbert. I figure he blasts posi-vibes all over my life on a daily basis, so why not take the time to draw exactly that and put it on a shirt that I'll now likely wear until its tattered to bits.

Now I'm screwed 'cause everyone who knows Herbs wants a piece of his t-shirt debut also. As if I wasn't already a one-man sweatshop ;)

Kickstart'em!!!

2011-12-26T12:43:00.000-08:00

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/korduroytv/korduroytv-2012-shows

Korduroy does more for small guys like me than anyone I could think to name, it has grown right in front of our eyes from day one and continues to thrive as an independent...thing..

I've seen the new korduroy.tv site and whats involved is mindblowing, what will come from it's next iteration will be a beautiful mix of everything we've come to rely on them for, infused with posi-surf steroids and tons of resources for guys like me to make a bigger impact, and at the same time help k.tv thrive. I can't wait.

I'm brewing my own Kickstarter campaign in the next few weeks and am so stoked the Cyrus and the crew at Korduroy are on the ball with this project and are bettering what is already so amazing!

Korduroy is an outstanding resource for all of us so if you've got even $5 click on the link and do it to it, you'll even get some stuff in return. If they don't reach their goal, they don't get any moolah, so pay it forward, friends :)

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/korduroytv/korduroytv-2012-shows

Nope

2011-12-23T13:43:00.001-08:00

Options and Settings

2011-12-23T09:38:00.000-08:00

Greenhouse Mysteries

2011-12-22T09:13:00.000-08:00

Brandon DiPierri cruise through the shop zone last week just before a dawn session down at the point. He shot these of Herbie and I with a v.Bowls that I put my Pocket Please foil and bottom shape into...dig!

Heart

2011-12-21T08:51:00.000-08:00

"i feel like a baseball. the skins been carefully pried off and there's a thread and i'm gonna pull it and i'm gonna end up a pile of string on the floor. but then maybe i'll be knit into something more useful, like a sweater. or perhaps something beautiful, like a hand embroidered masterpiece of a deer and two fawn drinking cold clear water out of a creek. but you never know."

read this...fantastic stuff:

http://www.marinelayerproductions.com/

Surfing Backwards

2011-12-20T09:01:00.000-08:00

Johnny McCann in santa barbara county, notice how he's going left...weird, huh?

Trippin'

2011-12-17T09:18:00.000-08:00

8' v.Bowls

The Pocket Pleaser in Words

2011-12-16T08:50:00.000-08:00

nose < ----- > tail

This seems a good of time as any to give everyone a rundown on the Pocket Pleaser, I don't have a sketchbook page up on the website for it yet but I'll get one there shortly.

First off, the fabric on this was a total score from an antique store way up in Chico over thanksgiving...I saved enough for one more special project, I'm totally obsessed with the pattern which I'm guessing from the colors and feel of the material is from the early 70's.

And more importantly........

After riding my 8' v.bowls for the past 5-6 months and with winter coming on, it became increasingly clear to me that with wide flat tail of my original shape wasn't going to handle real juice that well and isn't confidence inspiring when it starts pumping, so I went to the brainstorm lab and made a few alterations on the original theme to keep the same feather-weight-freight-train-with-a-powerful-buttery-cutback-feel.

What I did in as simple of terms as I can explain is to give the nose rocker a little more lift and belly (more belly = more down the line pull when its good). From there I left the tail rocker the same but moved the vee back a few inches then added a pretty heavy spiral vee about 1 1/2 ft. ahead of the fin, running through the tail and then going dead flat in the last 3" of the tail. The rocker bend in the tail meeting up with that flat spot in the end creates a really positive last few inches of the board and gives you TONS of speed through the cutbacks...acceleration through the turn = good thing.

So keeping those curves in mind, add a long s-deck to the top with the volume all placed over the wide-point of the board (behind center), this concentrates all of the board's powers into a small area right between your feet. By moving that point forward and back I can alter where the board is going to react most from; the placement on these boards is to keep you on the back end of the board where most of us tend to sit, but to be very friendly when trimming forward on the board (where that frontal belly comes in reeeeeal nicely). I don't foil out my boards for no reason, they are foiled to concentrate the volume in a specific area so as to accentuate the best bits of the shape and give a more positive and connected feel.

The rails are high to low like a hull's foil, the deck just necessitates the flow of that change; where the turn down happens and at what angle. there is a lot of hard edge in the tail, I love hard edge and the Pocket Pleaser's is pretty specific and tucks hard. I'm hoping that this is illustrating exactly how important each individual curve is to the whole of the board, there is no curve that can exist the way I want it without the others - - my shapes are becoming more space-shippy over the past few years as a result of this. The Pocket Pleaser's curves are so sensual its ridiculous, there is a lot going on even in a 7'4" package, this is a performance board and not a longboard substitute, the v.Bowls takes care of that well and easily; the Pleaser is (as mr.John Lyon put it) the Super-Sport version.

v.Bowls in Words

2011-12-15T08:44:00.000-08:00

Jon K. wrote me an email yesterday asking me about some details on the v.Bowls after watching this:

He wanted to know whether or not it's a hull and mentioned that it "got his soul fire burning" ( .awesome. ). I sat down this morning before breakfast and spilled my guts about my favorite board and thought I would share the details:

Hey Jon!

I have this internal battle over whether or not the v.bowls is a hull... I guess it's just a matter of how much of a purist you are. here's the skinny:

The foil is essentiall a backwards hull...the widepoint is 5-6" behind center, as it the apex of the rocker and the thickest point, having those things lined up is why hulls have the magical center that drives like nobodies business; that point that is like a loaded bouncy-ball under your feet, ahead of center. The bottom is a slight roll in the first half of the board, going into a flat panel vee through the fin then flat off the tail; the flat is what gives it projection and lift (recently i've transitioned to a slight vee to double concave to flat and holy CRAP it goes fast). The rails are thin but not pinched or difficult, they're regular 60/40 down rails in the center, the nose rails are turned up and and the tail is turned down.

So in essence, it's as if you've taken the middle part of a hull, the bouncy center bits, and chopped off the tail end by 2 ft or so then added a long, flat narrow nose on it (you can see this well in the photo of my 7'4 I've attached, it's got a little extra rocker but it accentuates the theory/curves I'm trying to descirbe). So you're drawing the same lines as a hull, with WAY more positivity off the back foot and no spinning out, therefore you can put that speed that a hull gives you and USE it instead of skillfully redirect it back to the pocket. It goes in shit waves AND it paddles like a longboard (the flat rocker and long nose) on top of all that...I can't find a longboard or a hull that doesn't make me wish I was on my v.bowls on any given day up to overhead waves.

I'm gonna guess after reading through that now you've sensed that I flipping love me some v.bowls and you'd be right..im completely taken.

-Ryan

I've said it to a few people lately, and I'll always be the first to say there's nothing new these days, but I'll be damned if I've ever seen these curves put together into a package like this. It's sparked a wee revolution around santa barbara over the past few months within my circle of friends and regular customers; I don't like claiming much, but I'll claim this design to my grave.

It is hands down the best I've ever shaped and I believe in it with all of my heart.

Phat P1gz

2011-12-14T08:47:00.000-08:00

5'8" x 19 7/8ish x 2 1/2ish...Trevor and I have been wanting to make a high performance twin for a while now after we built the Fush, so here she is! Trevor dubbed it the Piggybacker.

I like flowing curves so I didn't make any extreme wings or bumps in the outline, a subtle pull that that does what you are after [to me] is much more challenging but offers a drastically smoother line on the wave:

T has been doing bunches of paintings lately inspired by tribal/native american art, super cool stuff, I now own a shirt that he painted with two dudes roasting one kine pig on a fire. win.

9'5 RnR

2011-12-13T09:09:00.000-08:00

Spencer's 9'5" noserider, based on a Rick Noserider owned by Mr.Andrew Buck. I made a few changes in rocker and fin template for this one ... and hows that 1 1/2" balsa stringer?!?!!?

The Ranch

2011-12-12T09:02:00.000-08:00

^ from Brandon DiPierri of the 7'10 v.Bowls I shaped/glassed for him friday night.

My new 7'4" Pocket Pleaser..More details on the design/theory when I get a change to sit and type for a while!

Kabir sent me this one of his daughter getting a little first-hand knowledge :)

The ranch walls have a bit of time warn into them to say the least...

Why I Love Glassing My Boards

2011-12-10T09:12:00.000-08:00

ex.1) 8'6 Evening Star:

Gloss/polished deck, sanded gloss bottom for ultimate speed feeling:

Burch'd

2011-12-09T09:05:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago Ryan Burch cruised through SB and spent the day wandering in and around my shop zone. We glassed a couple boards, ate some unreal food, explored some gaviota coastline, talked about our OSHA approved powertool techniques and geeked out on some seriously cool boards that he brought by on his way up north...now you can geek out too.

If you haven't been paying attention to Mr.Burch's work, start now.

Covular Evenings

2011-12-08T09:25:00.000-08:00

One kine 16 yr old Spencer Gordon on the 9'5" nose-rider I just finished for him!

Need to find the card reader for my camera then I'll have the deets on the board...she's a smooth one!

Frame-grab courtesy of Mr.Kew

7'Four Me!

2011-12-06T09:07:00.000-08:00

My new board in progress.............uuuh.h.....huh...yeah. I'm stoked.

Get Down

2011-12-06T09:03:00.000-08:00

Travers Adler

Coverboy McGordon

2011-12-05T09:04:00.000-08:00

Morgan and Trevor snagged the cover of this month's Tracks magazine, and I couldn't help but notice that funky fresh surf-sled he's on!

It's official.

I'm f*ing amping after Slide, the Surfer's Journal and then THIS showed up?!?!!! WTF!?!?!!?!??

Win for the dude who makes boards out of a one room shed!

GO B4NANuHZz!!!!!!!!!!!1!!!!!!!!!1!!!!111!!!!1!1!1!!1

Oh Boy Oh HerBerTo

2011-12-02T09:13:00.000-08:00

If you've ever come to see me and Herbie at the shop, you know the drill.

Power tools = music to his ears. Planer, router, anything that goes REEEEEEEeee3333333333rrrrrrrrRRRRRRrrrrrrrr and Herbs is on it with impeccable howling precision and unmatched tone. What a G.

PiggyBack

2011-12-01T09:05:00.000-08:00

New 5'9 for mr.Gordon. A mixmatching of templates for this one, dubbed the PiggyBacker. Shortboardy to the max for ultimate shred, 2 1/2" thick and about 19 7/8" wide, interesting dimensions for me to work with for a change! Majorly simple and flowing bottom contour, I'm intrigued.

High performance twinny for the winny!

Frame Grab Grab Bag #2

2011-11-30T09:03:00.000-08:00

a frame grab that Kew sent me last week of trevor and the 6'7. I didn't look at it too closely until I actually LOOKED at it...super cool.

Herbie DOoo0o0o0oooo00oooooo

2011-11-28T22:10:00.000-08:00

Ninja

2011-11-28T08:30:00.000-08:00

Kyle Lightner shot this back in 2008, good times...gooooooood times.

I've always loved this shot, it was somewhere around 30 degrees in the shop that morning and was glassing the board that I cannibalized out of my first shape ever. Kind of a bummer that I killed it. But I'm glad I don't have that possession in my hands and that its out in the world with a good friend that I don't have contact with, but randomly run into once a year or so on his travels through California.

Values

2011-11-26T09:36:00.000-08:00

From a few weeks ago...makes me happy. I shot it in the mountains at sunset overlooking Gaviota, Santa Barbara and Ventura from the very tippity top of Gibraltar...no editing necessary; Vibes eminating naturally.

Special Order

2011-11-25T09:10:00.000-08:00

Take 'er For a Lap

2011-11-23T10:17:00.000-08:00

Connor Lyon

Cleaning Day

2011-11-22T09:03:00.000-08:00

.....Thanks goes to Fiberglass Hawaii for feeding my insatiable appetite for resin....I seem to go through about 1 of these a week, now. Work in the new shop is going swimmingly after the first week, catching up on my orders pretty quickly now! One 11' glider, two SB Stubs, a 9'5 noserider with a 1.5" balsa stringer and about 12 ding repairs, in one room...yeehaw!

And yes, if you couldn't help yourself and did the math, that means I clean once every 2 months...heh.

Surfer's Journal

2011-11-21T09:05:00.000-08:00

Go snag a copy of the new Surfer's Journal...Trevor's reppin' and rippin' on the ThrougHull in India with Craig Anderson, Chad Konig and company, written by Michael Kew and documented by Alan Van Gysen:

...Shark's view of the Fush...

On the througHull.

Above shot by Kew, below by Van Gysen

Having the opportunity to consistently have a surfer like Trevor ride and report on my work is surreal, but having him as a close friend is the icing on the cake. So here's to you and congratulations Mr.Gordon on all you've achieved in your past few years...I have no idea what you're capable of and I can't wait to find out, and thank you for piloting my vehicles into the pages of the best surf magazine in existence!

YYYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!

Pages

2011-11-18T20:36:00.000-08:00

A couple of pages from the Slide mag. interview.

Warning, large files...

Highline Cross-Step

2011-11-18T09:04:00.000-08:00

...My most favorite of midlength maneuvers.

I get all giddy for 'em.. Far too rare these days!

performed by the one and only Travers Adler.

photographed by Keith Novosel.

Trevor and the ThrougHull

2011-11-17T09:13:00.000-08:00

A small edit I did with some Michael Kew footage of Trevor Gordon grooving around on the througHull! Trevor lays down some beautiful cutbacks in this one (in this video it's ridden as a singlefin, by the way).

I highly suggest watching them a few times over to actually get something out of this short clip (if you're searching for higher understanding of surfboard/surfer application). You'll be able to tell what makes this board so different from a normal 'hull'. It's still got all kinds of down the line speed but that cutback is unmistakably more user friendly while at the same time projecting through the second half of the cutback where more traditional hulls just don't cut it:

:::::

photo: Keith Novosel

...Had enough videos yet? If not I've got a good pile by now in my vimeo uploads of all kinds of surf goodness:

http://vimeo.com/ryanlovelace

LetterBox

2011-11-16T09:11:00.000-08:00

I got this epic email yesterday and really wanted to share it...this is how you spread stoke to someone saturated with it daily!!

Hi Ryan my name is Max. I am 15 years old and stoked on your boards. With winter right around the corner and a quiver without one of your sweet boards I am in a pickle. I have some money saved up in my piggie bank and I need to know how many more lawns I need to mow to be able to shred on an 8' V. Bowls this winter. Basically I was wondering how much an 8' V. bowls is going to cost me and how long it will take you to finish it.

thanks for reading this, Max.

P.S. Keep up the awesome blog it really gets me through my second period computer graphics class.

What a G.

Projects!

2011-11-16T07:12:00.000-08:00

One big fat stringer for Spencer Gordon...yeehaw!

SbTown

2011-11-15T09:03:00.000-08:00

Lookin' good.

Looookin' gooooood...

Shot these the other evening while at the top of the mountains with Nicole. Santa Barbara looking as majestic and point-riddled as ever...Fall time is here, and I couldn't be happier.

Beginnings

2011-11-11T09:04:00.000-08:00

Lights, check. Racks, check.

...Tomorrow I get electricity and my many months of shoplessness ends.

Photo by Brandon DiPierri, one I'll be holding onto for a long time. thank you!

For Thursd33...

2011-11-10T09:21:00.000-08:00

A pretty smokin' 6'1 WRP Quad for Gabriele in Italy!

Hats Off

2011-11-09T09:47:00.000-08:00

Carl in France sent me a couple of shots of a througHull that I shaped for him while I was in Biarritz; Nico did a beautiful job with the deck inlay. I brought a small amount of the fabric that I've been using here at home and Nico went to work with it! Check out the top photo in full size...no pinlines and none necessary. unreal.

PriZm

2011-11-08T08:15:00.000-08:00

some more photos sent over by mr.Kew from an arvo at Tally's.

Endless thanks for Gregg's hospitality and patience with Herbie and I!!!

Colorstack

2011-11-07T09:03:00.000-08:00

Delivery time from Michael Kew

2011-11-05T22:14:00.000-07:00

2011-11-04T09:07:00.000-07:00

Updates!

2011-11-03T10:38:00.000-07:00

I've put a few things up on the website lately, one new section and some updates to the homepage; give it a looksee!

www. r l o v e l a c e .com

Good Day!

2011-11-02T08:51:00.000-07:00

I'm gonna go work on my bottom turn because Travers Adler's makes us all look real, real bad [on his first over chest-high surf with the 7'9 v.Bowls I lent him...FML].

Will Adler shot this particular one, and it's been anting my desktop for months now. Seriously, this is what I consider the most beautiful surfer setup/photog capture I've seen in recent memory. I'm absolutely floored every time I look at it.

Thank you good brothers, for making me a proud man!

Smatter

2011-11-01T09:22:00.000-07:00

A quick pile of new boards for ya'll!

Some of this week's batch, these puppies are heading to Japan tomorrow:

5'2 channel bottom velosim

6'6 v.Bowls

8' v.bowls dot

STOLEN SLED!

2011-10-31T21:48:00.000-07:00

Some kook stole Kyle Albers' Pizzabox, the most shreddin'ist board he's made yet and thats a real crappy thing to do. If you see someone shredding this super unique board, bring Kyle some justice, please:

http://ahullnewworld.blogspot.com/2011/10/stolen.html

Weekday Bouree

2011-10-31T09:58:00.000-07:00

enjoy :)

The footage was shot by Michael Kew on a recent weekday, the boys putting it down and having a ball in the early-season that we wait months for every year.

I'm truly blessed to be able to provide my best friends with the equipment necessary to have a really. good. time. in the water; this video is fun stuff and is what I love so much about the small community that we've built around friendship and surfing.

Contained is about 70% v.Bowls, 5% Silky Love, 10% Triplane Single and 15% Squashed t.Rev.

The song is Bouree by Jethro Tull, and if you really wanna see them get into it, check out this gem:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5_hZV9U4aA

Moving Day

2011-10-29T09:09:00.000-07:00

Trevor and I tackled my new shaping diggs yesterday, I couldn't be much happier with its 'ness'...it feels like a larger boatyard, which as some of you know was very special to me over the past few years.

For the past few months as I sort out my life it's been a storage space for my shop and life supplies as well as a few of the property owner's boxes...we found some pretty interesting stuff:

I made a model B-17 with my brother and my dad when I was super young, it was the first group project that I truly remember and the airplane hung in my brother and my bedroom well into high school. One of the few remaining bombers left in operation flew over our house here and there as it left from Boeing Field up and over the city and eventually right over our house, it was always a neck-craned and silence-stricken moment when it would buzz the house...finding this was a kick:

Trevor dug this one out of a box a few minutes later:

By the end of the day we organized everything and packed it back into the room ready for building day today...

I'm. very. excited.

What Happens When...

2011-10-28T09:09:00.000-07:00

...You take a v.Bowls and chop it to 7'4" x 21" x 2 7/8", pull the tail in close to 2" and put the most cosmic wide-point-back curves you can muster into the deck?

Something like an ultra-shreddy spaceship of a surfboard:

Then what if Gregg Tally taught you how to do the REAL old-school acid-abstracts?

I'm beyond myself with this style of abstract, the limits of it are so intriguing and unfathomable to me right now. A whole new can of worms has been opened for me and my obsession with colors and textures.

Trip out. This board lives at Wetsand Surfshop for now, I'm sure it won't sit for long so if you're curious to lose yourself into the depth of this board's deck, go check it out:

Seriously...zoom in, the details are a total mindf*ck.

Slide Magazine

2011-10-27T09:14:00.000-07:00

Yeeeeeeeeeeeew!!!

So stoked....10 whole pages of photos and a big fat (uncensored...heh...) interview about the state of 'things'. Snag one when you see one, film-maker Steve Cleveland also has a sweet interview in there that I had a good time reading, worth the search.

ShnoXx

2011-10-26T09:13:00.000-07:00

5'5 Velosim | 8' v.Bowls | 6'7 SB Stub

The Sb Stub is an original Greenough/Cundith template salvaged from the Wilderness house during demolition.

v.Bowls for president.

All of these boards are now up for grabs at Wetsand Surfshop, as well as a showstopper of a 7'4 v.Bowls that I'll share when I upload the photos tomorrow!

7'10"

2011-10-25T09:02:00.000-07:00

Sabrosa

2011-10-24T08:57:00.000-07:00

Shape | Schralp

Used Ones for Sale!

2011-10-23T08:42:00.000-07:00

Okay kiddos and kidettes, I've got a couple of boards I wouldn't mind parting ways with and all of 'em are in reeeeeeal nice condition...cool, huh?

The list is as such:

6'7 triplane singlefin (70's style narrow tail). Full blue tint with cutlaps, she's a real perdy one that lends a lot of confidence in larger surf. Asking $450 obo

clovis donizetti + 6'7:

6'5 ghulliah, a more pulled in hull template that shines at reefbreaks and beachies, 2+1 fin setup (all box fins, no glassons), with a cosmic paper inlay on the deck. $450 obo:

and a 9'2 k&k professional, this is my personal board at the moment and I'm not DIEING to sell it.. but if someone wants to take ownership I'm not opposed, as it would shed light in my quiver corner for a few projects I have in mind. No pressure dents, looks and feels brand new, $700 obo:

email ryankentlovelace @ gmail .com

@ Tally's

2011-10-21T09:03:00.000-07:00

through an off the cuff compliment on a White Owl sticker spotted in the rincon parkinglot, I came into the possession of what best old-guy-guesses are calling a '66-'67 greenough/cundith template for what is a beeeeeaaaautiful 6'7" stub/hull that was rescued from the Wilderness house as it was being torn down...stoked!

and there's more on that one later......

photos: Kew

Halona

2011-10-20T09:03:00.000-07:00

Halona Coleman doin' it way up in Oregon on the modified 5'5 t.Rev. I thinned out the overall foil and added a little more rocker at both ends on this one. Halona is the man, and I can't believe he surfs a foiled out 5'5". If I hadn't been shaping him boards for years now I wouldn't believe he could shred something that size. 5'10 and 185 lbs + a 5mm wetsuit that's 15 lbs wet...Halona is keeping it real. We miss ya buddy!!!!

surf | craft

2011-10-19T09:04:00.000-07:00

Water Lines

2011-10-18T10:07:00.001-07:00

Kew has been sending me LOADS of video so far this fall, he's gone bananas filming lately so frame-grabs are plentiful, above is Trevor accelerating back into the pocket on the througHull, I had to chose from 6 different grabs of the same textbook turn; Trevor has got this board DOWN and rides it like an extension of his superhuman feet. Call me stoked.

I often find myself looking at the water trails in pictures and video more than the surfer, it tells me what my boards are doing and how it's interacting with each section of the wave and how it reacts to each surfer's stance/style. Below is Connor on the 7'9 v.Bowls that I lent to Travers, all of the boards that show up are pretty much communal when they hit the sand so everyone usually gets good waves on most every board...Here's CJ Soloman locked in and working on his double arm stall..

Lastly, Kew sent me this one of myself locked into a little pocket, not much for water trails and research but man...that was a fun one :)

Clovis and Trevor

2011-10-17T09:22:00.000-07:00

Clovis Donizetti from way over in Biarritz (France) graced Santa Barbara with his presence just after my trip over there not that long ago. We found him a fun left to work with, and I lent him my Siddhartha-covered v.Bowls after watching him shred one to bits in France. Trevor snagged the same board and found some rights the next day...Two really unique styles that are 100% the product of the waves they surf regularly. I really dug watching them back to back on the same board in totally different kinds of waves so I threw together this clip to share!

Tips for Life

2011-10-15T21:51:00.000-07:00

My favorite horchata recipe:

One of Those Days

2011-10-14T09:02:00.000-07:00

Spencer Lyon finless flying on a radical little 4'11 that Connor shaped.

I Feel Goooooood

2011-10-13T09:13:00.000-07:00

9'2 K&K Professional

10" flexer felt gooooood on my sunset session last night.

There's very little that makes me happier than good vibes in the ocean on and around boards that I built specifically for people...

this'd be an 8' v.Bowls for Will who I ran into in the water, on

their maiden voyage together and having a blast.

A fine foil indeed, Will is 16 and has a few of my boards now, I'm guessing this one will

end up being in toe most of the time this winter after their first surf!

8' v.Bowls for Mike...the fabric was found in an antique store and labeled 60's KLM, guessing an airline fabric? All's I know is Mike called me when I got out of the water last night and was raving about his multiple tubes and shred levels being through the roof...I was starting to feel good by the time he started describing his double-arm-stall tuberides over the phone.

7'4 v.Bowls for Jesse who reported a pair of noodle arms after catching so many waves in the late afternoon. Jesse is used to smaller boards and wanted something to battle the crowds with and groove and flow through sections with a bit more ease, her first reports proved quite positive :)

A smooth operator...7'4 is a really clean and round size for this template, I'm finding:

So my evening was pretty flippin great, hearing all my new v.Bowlers ranting and raving after a little swell filled in our favorite waves on the low tide. I can't help but feel pretty proud of my creations today, especially after taking them all the way down to Sacred Craft and making people wait just a liiiiiittle bit longer for 'em.

Thanks for making my week Will, Jesse and Mike!

E* for Tally

2011-10-12T09:11:00.000-07:00

Gregg Tally [of White Owl Surfboards] asked me to build him an Evening Star while I inhabit his shop/during the sorting of my new space...so I did:

8'6" x 22" x 3"

I've been really into circular deck patches lately, especially on a few boards in particular...This one didn't quite dodge my obsession...

The triple stringer blank is from US Blanks, which came out oh-so-sweet. And I couldn't help but polish her all the way out after getting all burnt-tangerine with the resin...I'm proud to have made this for Gregg. It's been a humbling experience being able to fling my resin and foam dust around his shop and I'm more than happy to have shaped and glassed this board start to finish, so here's to 100% hand built products:

Craft'ed

2011-10-11T08:48:00.000-07:00

Sacred Craft just came and went again. What a weekend!

The roar of conversation in that building every year is close to deafening, and this year was no different; what I'm sure is BILLIONS of people coming in and out all day long, talking story and old times, shapes and design ideas plus art and everything else that shows up. It's truly another universe in there for two very full days.

Saturday morning I shaped a 7'6 v.Bowls variation out of EPS, the toe side is a double ender template (the nose of v.Bowls flipped at center) and foiled down to a decently bladed hull rail/bottom shape (not the normal v.Bowls foil).

The heel side's nose is pulled in about 1" and the widepoint is pushed back to it's normal zone behind center, with a slightly rolled bottom to spiral vee off the rounded-pin tail. The rails are thin and turned down, especially at the tail, which is semi boxy and poised to release like nobodies business...What I'm aiming for is an outrageous projection off the toe side and a high performance v.Bowls heel side to transition that power/speed onto for controlled, heavy cutbacks.

photo | kew

The boards got a really warm reception and the 6'10 finless that I shaped for Pat took the cake for more felt up board in the stack, followed closely by my 9'2 k&k professional. I'll be snagging photos of all the boards shortly as Herbie and I recover from the weekend!

As My Mom Used to Say...

2011-10-07T09:17:00.000-07:00

Ready

spaghetti.

See you guys at Sacred Craft!

yeeeeeeeeHEW

t.Gord

2011-10-06T09:03:00.000-07:00

5'3" t|Rev with namesake Trevor Gordon in command mode.

Froth and Moth

2011-10-05T09:03:00.000-07:00

One fine and funky wave of Johnny McCann and his 5'7 t.rev...I particularly like the little sling shot back into frame at the end of the wave.

His version of the t.Rev is a rounded squash that has a bit more snap to it, having a longer rail line and all. The normal template (super round) carves and flows in a short radius but lacks some of the release of a more angular tail shape; tomorrow's video will be an example of the round version's shred.

and one big fat thank-you to mr.Michael McCrary for lending me a hand with my board racks for the show this weekend, what a boss!

Oliver Parker

2011-10-04T09:20:00.000-07:00

Sacred Craft-Clip week continues!

Oliver Park-ing it on this wave, and he's not coming off if he has anything to say about it.

Riding a borrowed board (my birthday v.bowls w/Siddartha inlayed)

All of these clips are part of a loop I'm editing for the Sacred Craft show this weekend in Del Mar, so far I've got 20 minutes of footage with more left to sort... :)

I'll be shaping saturday morning at 10am, so be there and watch me draw first blood for the weekend's live-shaping festivities!

Smooooooo

2011-10-03T09:06:00.000-07:00

I'm gonna do my best to post one sweet wave a day 'till sacred craft in Del Mar on Saturday; this would be monday's installment:

I have a 20 minute loop of sweet unadulterated shred and good times for the show, Michael Kew's filming from the past two weeks has filled out the clips I've been hanging onto for a while quite nicely, so a big thanks to him for sending them along.

If you happen to arrive at Sacred Craft saturday morning around 10 am, you may just find me shaping away and spreading some foam dust for the fine patrons (thats the spanish pronunciation, not english) of the show. So come stop by, the new PCProg header is actually a wee-preview of two of the boards I've been working on for the show...YEEEEEW!!

7'10"

2011-10-01T09:18:00.000-07:00

7'10 v.Bowls for tea.revor:

7'10" v.Bowls + tea.revor:

South Winds

2011-09-30T09:04:00.000-07:00

Trevor Gordon throwing the 6'7 into overdrive

v.Balls

2011-09-29T09:25:00.000-07:00

One Track Mind

2011-09-28T09:06:00.000-07:00

Mr.Chadd Konig | 6'4" winged roundpin | photos: Chris Burkard

2011-09-25T23:16:00.000-07:00

Chrome Yellow | Lime Green | Brown | Dark Red

a pretty warm mustard yellow for my new 9'2 k&k