ze BLOG: Raynorsurf

I've been riding DDR's more than any other board for the last 6+ months, so when the waves get good, i tend to think i should jump on a more "standard" shortboard, and usually end up wishing i had just surfed the DDR anyways.

the idea came back in August at the US Open, while working for Quiksilver. i had to stare at one of Julian Wilson's boards for a solid week- a short, fishier round tail shaped by Luke Short (LSD surfboards). i talked to julian a lot about the board- where he would want to use it, what conditions it worked best in, how it felt, etc. Julian put me in touch with Luke, we emailed back and forth, and i ended up riding one of the boards luke made.

The Missing Link is a mutation of Julian's/Luke's boards- a little more tail rocker, and a deep single to slight double concave, giving the board maximum lift for weaker waves, but lots of release and drive off the tail. as a round tail it feels really smooth and still holds, but the boards wider outline creates an ULTRA versatile surfboard. this is the board for those who want a little more board than a DDR or fish, but still less board than your "typically" dimensioned surfboard.

Pike's "boombox" nugget

October 07, 2010

pike finally gave in... FINALLY. this is the "nugget." its a board i've worked on and ridden since i was 16 years old. the template came from an old single fin i made when i was whittling foam at the haut surfboard factory in santa cruz, and soon evolved to a thruster that works in just about anything. comparable to the Santa Cruz Pumpkin Seed (by comparable i mean- VERY comparable), which has been dubbed the "swiss army knife" of surfboards.

Tim Vidmar's 5'0" DDR

August 21, 2010

Tim sent me a few photos of his freshly painted, freshly cured 5'0" (yes...that's 5 foot 0 inches... made special for a 125 pounder.) I should have charged him for the extra hour it took to rig up some racks in the shaping room that were small enough to shape this thing up.

Special Delivery

August 12, 2010

...On the way back to LA from the deliveries in San Diego from the most recent batch.

Only a few left to place in the hands of a few happy people. The little Honda we borrowed all summer was a champ (thanks Budge)... at one point, we fit 18 boards in this car at one time.

latest batch...

August 02, 2010

to everyone waiting... the hour is near. just "popped in" to the glass shop, looks like we're only about a week out. be expecting a phone call sometime late next week.

back at it...

July 21, 2010

Its been a couple of heavy days...
8 boards on Monday, 6 boards on Tuesday, and 10-15 foot Wedge on Wednesday...
needless to say, i have an unpleasant combo of foam dust and sand in EVERY orifice.
Check back soon... MORE TO COME