So there is a market for unique, handcrafted boards?
Absolutely. In any industry if you want something of unique quality you're going to pay for it. Get a custom tailored suit, you're going to pay for it - the handmade element is valuable. There are customers both here and around the world are just into quality and unique craftsmanship. Classic cars, shoes, guitars: surfboards are the same thing.
When starting a shaping business you face a decision: 'Will I be a production guy, working as a ghost or for another label? Or will I go for volume?' How did you arrive at the decision to exclusively shape surfboards by hand?
To be honest, that's how I learned. I saw that Skip was able to work and surf when he liked, doing just one board a day. That's a really good model. There are times when it's going to be tight money-wise, but it's not about hunting for greater numbers and greater profit. If that's why you're shaping you're doing it for the wrong reasons. Skip would do one or two boards a day, put out this masterfully crafted board and then go surf. [Hand shaping] is also tradition and it's authentic to how surfing culture has existed since its inception. It connects me back to guys cutting redwood and balsa by hand at Waikiki and even here at the shack at Windansea. That's important to me now. When I started I just handshaped because that's what I knew - it felt good. It's definitely become more important to me now, for several reasons.
What about a shaper who has paid his dues, shaped thousands of boards, and has things really figured out? Should the machine be a part of their tool set?
I'm not against the machine 100%. If you get a board that works (and put it on a computer file) it gives shaping consistency. What I think is important is that it is disclosed. You want to know that the board with a handshaped label on it is legitimately handshaped. In today's world, with production shaping being done primarily oversees, people need to know, 'my shaper shaped my board based on what I wanted and our conversations.' With one board a day I can do that well. Some shapers like machines because they can churn them out. That's not for me.
Are handshaped boards really that much less consistent?
Consistency is definitely an issue with handshaping. But it's not like we're hacks. I'm really young and have a long road ahead to get to the number of boards that some of the shapers have built. I'm just fortunate to be able to start off a bit more tuned in because of [my relationship] with Skip. I guess when I'm shaping a board for a repeat customer I envision that the new shape will be even better than the last one. I think when you're a young shaper you are in the period of most drastic growth and change in your shaping. You look at your first board and then your 500th board and are just amazed. Nowadays there's guys who'll do a hundred boards, get one or two keepers, put it on a machine, churn them out and call themselves shapers. Guys like Skip or Terry Martin, they never had that, they went through the long process. To me, that quick and easy reproducibility isn't why we're building surfboards.
As far as the consistency issue again, I tell people to be open-minded. I think people kind of know that when they order a board from me it will be different simply because the design thread I'm working with is unique - there's artistry involved. We develop our own styles of shaping for a reason. When people ask me to copy a board I have to tell them, 'I'd be happy to make my version of the board and work with you on it but I'm not going to copy a board.' You know that's something I love about handshaping; each board is an original, not a copy of an original
Do you think that there is a future in handshaped surfboards beyond this decade and into the foreseeable future?
Yes, but it's a narrow target we're aiming at. Still, shapers who can build boards that work and develop their own identity can survive. And people are aware of handshaping; it's relished because it's rare. The good thing is that the kids nowadays know it's more acceptable to ride all kinds of different stuff. Groms want to go out and ride boards that work and that might fuel a new generation of handshapers. I didn't even know what a stubby was when I was 14 but these kids are all about it. For us young handshapers, it's a great thing.
No comments:
Post a Comment