Santa Cruz Board Builders Guild: 2012

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Best in Show

We built this one for Marc Andreini... It won best in show in the longboard division at The Boardroom International Surfboard Show!

Saturday, October 6, 2012

Best In Show

This board we built for Meyerhoffer Surfboard's won best in show in The Boardroom International Surfboard Show!

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

How to make a (really) cool surfboard

or.. THE MAKING OF "OLD YELLER"by D.Lee - September 2012

** I was kind of anxious for something new to ride at the end of this summer. I wanted a "desert island" board,,, one that I could literally ride almost anywhere. I also wanted to take a step in a smaller direction. Primarily a long-boarder, I ride a 9'6 when into logging and I have a high performance 9' for places like indicators where you want to make the sections. Speeds off the bottom where good but I needed more maneuverability on top, cutting back, etc.

I thought to myself... I need a really cool surfboard. I need to get with the right people and make this happen.

So what did I do??

I called this guy:

Yeah... Travis Reynolds. All smiles, always freakin' tan... Travis is one of the hottest up and coming shapers out of Santa Cruz and a good buddy. We talk shapes and sizes and Travis gets to cutting a blank.

Travis is immediately on the shape. We decide to make a 7'10 step deck cruise missile with a glassed in single flex fin... something Wayne Lynch would have been proud of. The board is a full 3" thick and a generous 23" wide... I wasn't kidding when I said cruise missile.

I'm looking at the shape and thinking "this is going really well so far... but how can we take it to the next level here...???" Then I have the idea to get someone as cool as Travis to dress up the board with some "hip to be square" scribble art.

So I get in touch with this guy:

And sure enough ol' TMOE shows up in the shaping room with a charcoal pencil and goes to town.
With words like "slide your brains out" and Kook Out!" I am getting hyped.
Surf like M.P. or A. Toast..... no problem. (thanks thomas)

The shape is done, the artwork happening... now we need it to go to the highest level of glassers available in Santa Cruz to do all the finish work. I need a real professional to take care of this fancy sled...
So naturally, I go to the Santa Cruz Board Builders Guild and talk to this guy:

Doug Fletcher... master surfboard glasser... seen it all, glassed it all. Those who know Doug? They know. Doug sprays off the excess charcoal crumbs to start the glassing process. "he always goes heavy with the charcoal pencil" says Doug.

We talk about colors:
I wanted it to be Yellow, like the shades I wore in that day.

Funny how the tint looks green but it is really yellow... only a true experienced glasser knows. I was like "I don't want green" Doug was like "really??"

The color is finished and Doug gets to working on it:

Volan cloth work, wide laps, deck patch.... this board has the works and is properly weighted to slide right into the curls. 3-2-1 LAUNCH!

Doug getting the top done:

Doug takes time and precision in the details involved in making this board really come to life.

Most people don't think about the glassing process of making a surfboard and that it is really in that process where most of the "wow" factor happens. How many boards do you think Doug goes through in a year? Crazy numbers folks.

Here's a shot of the fin before it got glassed in:

Now the board is pretty much done... it needs a good polishing and since we had all the players in on this one we needed to finalize it by having the SCBBG head dude Dave A. finish it off.

Here's Dave cleaning up the last steps:

PSSSSSSSSSSSSSS----PSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

A few sprays later and she's all clean and ready to attack the first NW swells.

Just look at how pretty she is waiting for me to pick her up (awwww)

and here she is complete:
(her senior portrait if you will)

So if you see a super killer yellow cruise missile with a glassed in fin, deck patches, insane TMOE scribbles and a shape that will make you want to fly up and kiss the lip.... yeah that's me and ol' yeller....
see you out there!

-Darren Lee / September 2012

A HUGE thanks to:
Travis Reynolds, Dave Aronovici, Doug Fletcher, Thomas Campbell, SCBBG and the Haut shop.
--- 4 life! ---

Monday, August 27, 2012

Reproducing 50 Years of Surfing.

Doug Fletcher got a Velzy "pop-out" as a 13th birthday present, August 13, 1962.

Time flies right. Doug realized that this year would be his 50th anniversary of surfing and decided to re-make his first board.

First thing was to find someone to reproduce that shape, who better then Marc Andreini?

These boards all had the same fin and were solid colors to hide any flaws in the production process, they were sold in department and sporting goods stores for around $70.

The fin was remade with redwood and pine and fitted to perfection.

Check that thing out! Incredible work.

Once it was all finished Doug took the board down to Newport Beach on August 12th of this year... 50 years to the day it had all started for him. He shared some great times with old friends and his son.