Custom Especial v.2

Cheyne & his custom 8'er with 3/8" tight-grain cedar stringer and a rather warm yellow tint, approved!

Cheyne sent me a text the other day:

"Duuuuuuuuuuuddddeeeeeeee gonna be honest kinda got a bad first impression on the vbowls riding it too much like a hull...Let me tell you just had one of the best surfs I've had in a long time.... Thing holds a mean cutback!"

At least once a week someone calls me or emails me after getting a good session in on a new v.Bowls; I've heard the term, "changed my life" more times in the past two months than I can believe..

v.Bowls Nation!

Big Water

7'4" Gun for Chadd Konig, the second in the pair I just shaped/glassed for some big-wave battles. Stooooking!

Chadd Konig's 8'2"

8'2" x 20" x 2 3/4" Gun. This is my first foray into big-wave gun territory and I'm pretty enthused on the subject! Its a humbling thing to be asked to build, considering where and what these boards are intended for. I took a lot of time and consideration in preparing to shape this one, where other times I'm more chomping at the bit, I paced myself on this one and allowed for the board to settle in as I was going through the motions.

I got pretty giddy when Chadd asked me to make him an 8'2" gun for double to triple overhead waves; namely a few local ones but to be used wherever and whenever necessary (mr.Konig spends much of his time searching out much bigger waves than the rest of us. And, equally as interesting, spends a large percentage of his time getting into all sorts of activism work in foreign lands as well as local ones...pretty good gig). He had basic dimensions for me to work from at my discretion and gave me a broken board of his that he really liked, I asked him to write down any input or preferences in design/shape on a scrap of paper for me...Later I looked at it and it read, "Have freedom in your creations."

I was deep in the shop all day yesterday and didn't have a chance to get around my phone; When I checked in on it I had 4 missed calls from him. On the drive home, #5 came in and I thought I ought to spend a minute and see what was so exciting...I answered and got an enthusiastic "YEEEEEEAH BUDDY!" on the other end. "I haven't ridden them all but I reckon this is the best surfboard you've ever made!" I was floored and 10 hours in the shop faded into my memory.

Italian Flavor

Thomas Cravarezza + 5'6 quad Piggyback in Italy.

Thomas has gotten a few sessions in since I sent him over that lovely little board and there's a short video that should be up soon of him ripping up some little Italian waves, yew :)

Custom Especial

When Rodrigo ordered his 8' v.Bowls, I asked the time-old question, "What are you thinking on colors?" to which he effortlessly replied, "Of course, its all in your power...whatever you feel like."

I admit I took a bit of a risk on this one, but when it was all put together as one surfy-craft, I fell in love.

After spending some back home in Washington a few months ago I couldn't keep myself from using the four most basic Northwest-Native-American-art colors on a board, and Rodrigo said the magic words..

The translucent white pigment deck over the dark abstract rails looks so insane in person. You can just barely see the abstract details through it's milky complexion (zoom in on the detail shot of the deck above).

I'm pretty proud of this one, it could have gone horribly wrong and went so far the opposite way that Rodrigo was shaking when he picked it up :)

Very Happy Medium

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!

7'10"

@ Tally's

photos: Kew

Halona

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!!!!

Thumbs

nugget :)

South Sw3ll

mr.Nick Cook enjoying the fruits of my labor during that pesky little south last week as shot by b.Lieberman.

Lookin' for Love

I had a few issues abroad with my camera so the photo-flow has been oh-so-slow, but I finally got the ones I really wanted...A bit of detail on the board that Clovis Donizetti shreds in the video I posted two days ago. It's a mix of my two favorite versions from home, a little front end more rocker than my original, still a thin foil but almost 3" thick in the middle. Lots of hard edge and a top secret ultra mellow bottom mixture of belly flats and panels...Mmmm.

The ultravibe-deck jobber was something I've been thinking about for a few weeks now, I did a four color abstract over my favorite cloth inlay and bingo bango; It looks ridiculous and I will most definitely be doing more of them...

I'm a proud papa!

Losing Your Focus

(photo: a.Swanson)

Opportunity emerges through the blurred edges of your vision, the turning of your head, a shift of vision; Rarely does it come at you straight between the eyes.

Lose some focus, and let your life pour through the fringes.

While We're...

...At it, here's Kew's new 5'3 t.rev, also heading for a remote corner of the India Ocean in the next handful of days...Good luck campers, may the tube god's be with you...

(Tank the cat, shortly after sniffing and deeming worthy, pissed all over the tail of the board, claiming it for his own. We were humbled and I was beyond honored. Thanks Tank.)

post-bottom-color-jobber, pre-deck-lamination, at the White Owl shop with Gregg Tally and m.Kew:

photo: Beamer Wilkins

the ThrougHull

100% hand shaped, laminated, hotcoated, finboxed, sanded and polished by RL for Trevor Gordon and his upcoming trip to the Indian Ocean:

This one's 6'7"; A widepoint-centered hull with pinched rails, some forgiving [fatter] tail foil-age and a continuous, mellow rocker. She's shaped and built for controlled, ultra-trimmed-out-tube-riding and warping gaffs in crystal blue water at a rather special little [or not, we hope] wave somewhere in the Indian Ocean as well as having full capabilities here and around Southern California's fine reef and beachbreaks this summer.

Purpose built and 100% custom for a close friend. Couldn't be better.