Did anyone see surfings the greatest shapers of all time?

General Discussion
1

I never buy surfing or surfer mags, but this title caught my eye in the book store. After reading through it they had many great shapers, but boy did they leave out some pretty important ones. I am convinced now more than ever that magazines do not even want to pretend to deal in truth nor are they really concerned with giving credit where it is due. What do some of you think?

I would not take anyone in the list out of it, but then there are some shapers that if I could not include them in the list, I would not do the article.

2

I didn’t read the article, but for sure, lots of guys got left out.

Typical of mags, and whims and predjudices of writers, and their general lack of knowledge about most subjects they write about.

Take any newspaper, except maybe NY Times, and the writers are just some guys and gals assigned to do a project, make it interesting, mildly controversial, and sell it.

The guys living the history are never the writers, and the writers never lived the life.

3

I took an advertising class once, and learned a very valuable lesson: It is perfectly legal to claim to be “number one,” “the best” and "first choice,’ among other phrases. If you use a phrase such as “We sell more Toyotas than any other dealer in the county” then it has to be accurate to be legal. However, opinion statements don’t have any legal standing.

Therefore, any surfing magazine can publish its list of “best” surfers, shapers, wax rubbers, sand sifters, and stingray catchers it wants and it hold no more water than an Easter basket (okay, lame analogy).

My point? Best is always subjective. I mean, how could anyone NOT think that French vanilla ice cream with chocolate syrup is better, anyday, than strawberry ice cream that doesn’t even taste like strawberries? It’s all subjective.

Plus, they are most likely profiling surfers who are the most successful competitively, and shaper who are most financially successful.

With that in mind, I will say that many of the most successful shapers, financially, have skill to back that up. Rusty, Merrick, Doc, JC, DT, and more are amazing shapers who get results.

They are really exceptional shapers and very effective. That’s the magic word: effective. Good, great, best? Those are just subjective adjectives. But effective is a word that can be backed up with evidence.

I often want to think that there are lots of local surfers who are just as good as the top pros, but I am probably just kidding myself. Whenever I go to San Onofre and see an amazing display of longboarding, it’s a pro. When I go to Trestles and Swamis and see one surfer absulutely dominating the lineup and outperforming everyone else, it’s a pro.

One time I saw Taylor Knox paddle out at Tamarack (as I was leaving the water). I thought to myself, “I am going to stick around a few minutes and see this guy surf in person.”

I lost him in the sun (it was low and there was a lot of glare) as he was paddling out, but I kept my hand to my forehead and looked for him anyway. Each time a regular footer took off on a right I wondered if it was Knox, and each time someone ripped I wasn’t sure.

THEN I saw something unmistakeable. Knox took off on a right and abosolutely blew the thing up. I couldn’t believe I even wondered for a second if those other guys were him. There was no comparison. Everyone else ripped, but this guy was beyond human. It was the fastest I ever saw anyone surf at Tamarack. There wasn’t a section he couldn’t get past. He litterally floated over, went around, or just found barrels through every section he saw. The guy was getting tubed in places nobody could fit.

Maybe it’s that way with shaping too. I wouldn’t know.

But I do own a mass produced board by Rusty, the first off-the-rack board I owned in twenty years. Normally I don’t buy off the rack, but I did that time (about six months ago) and it is, by far, the fastest, loosest, most responsive shortboard I ever owned. I am so in love with this board I might just by another for backup in case this thing breaks. The quality isn’t any better than anyone else, and God knows the price is higher than everyone else (465 compared to 300), but it was worth it. The BEST (there’s that word) board I every owned, period!

At least it’s not a Surftech. It’s close, but at least it’s not a Surftech. I’d rather quit surfing than ride a Surftech. Well, maybe not, but I’d rather boogie board than ride a Surftech.

Oh, by the way, I hope that article had Rod Sorenson, Craig Hollingsworth, Jim Phillips, and Gary Linden. Those guys all made boards for me and each one KICKS ASS!

4

Hey Fairmont, Think about what you just said. Personally I would rather stand up on a surftech than lay down on a meat tray, any day.

5

A professional

A person that is paid for said services.

There are tons of crappy pros in our world.

I know lots of non-pro builders and riders that can go the distance.

Anyone can be a pro…very few become the professor.

PRO? another adjective,with no measurable boundaries.

Remember this as you take ,your kids,your mom,dad,yourself to your favorite health clinic.

…half of the doctors that graduated ,graduated on the bottom of their class.Of the bottom half…most squeezed by on a marginal grade .Herb

6

Depends on the demographics the mag is appealing to. I once saw a “shaper’s evolutionary tree” printed in SURFER magazine circa early 1980s. They traced who was influenced by whom and put it in a graphic tree format. I thought that was pretty good and I’ve kept that in the back of my mind to do something similar someday.

7

What a ripoff. I don’t even think they mentioned swaylock’s…

8

I was kind of kidding about the Surftech thing. I don’t know exactly why I have so much against them. After all, I drive a Honda Civic and a Toyota Sienna, so what am I complaining about?

But, seriously, each time I am walking to or from a session and I see a Surftech under the arm of the surfer walking my way, I have a very difficult time looking the guy in the eye. And I am very friendly. If the waves are good I like to tell someone about it, say, “Hey, it’s great out there…have fun.” I always try to say something positive to surfers coming the other way, and if I am on my way to surf, I’ll say, “How was it? Have fun?” I like greeting others. I like to be friendly, and I don’t dislike people with Surftechs. It’s just that I feel sorry for them, like they were suckered by some slick talking guy at the surfshop, and I have a hard time facing them because I feel as if they can read my mind. I look at their board from twenty feet away and think, “Oh, man, he got screwed.” That’s why I have a hard time making eye contact.

Yes, I guess I am an arrogant fool. Can’t argue that.

I recently learned that I have a superiority complex, and I’m trying to get rid of it. After all, I have a beer belly, my hair is beginning to thin, I surf like a donkey if the waves are less than perfect, and like a horse if they are perfect. But, since I am both English and Irish, I’ll keep some of that stubborn pride.

:slight_smile:

9

I saw the greatest shapers of all time at plaskett creek last september and they wern’t Claimed by a surf rag hype sheet that was justified by surpurfulous ads for mood rings and car rugs…they were swaylocks greatest and smallest together in a basket with a sandollar and a smile…If you ask for more what would you get, ambrose…all time? the shapers before 1900 were anonymous…all time is a common distortion…ALL TIMERS DISEASE…when the surf’s all time you forget about work .blatently leaving out 15 centuries of surfboard shaping is an excercise out of the self agrandizers handbook… thanks Diff…

10

Yes, I remember the shapers family tree, I liked the half dozen people I had taught to shape that were mentioned in the piece, but somehow I didn’t exist. Magazine editors that wore diapers when we were riding waves

11

Fairmont,

It’s good to have an ego,if you don’t you’re dead,or profoundly compromised.

and there’s a great Irish rap song that was used in the movie,“Daredevil” called “Top of the Morning”. Aveego at it lad ! Herb

12

It’s just a bad idea to have an article titled “Best Shapers of All Time” or something similar. It’s like naming a school after somebody. There are always five or six dead people for whom they want to name a school after, and when it’s narrowed down to one, there are four pissed off families.

That article was a bad idea. There are a million good shapers.

I bet many of the shapers mentioned have advertising contracts with that magazine, just like the companies for who the surfers in all the pictures ride. It’s painfully obvious.

I am so sick of bullshit that I can’t stand it. I am totally at my wit’s end. It isn’t just surfing and the media, it’s everything. Saddam’s generals are all being given authority again in Iraq. Damnit! That is just typical, and totally predictable, but here we go. That’s the kind of B.S. I’m talking about.

Years ago Surfer Magazine showed a “Drop of the Decade” photo of Shane Dorian. Granted, it was a great drop, but why the extreme “Drop of the Decade” title? It’s B.S.

I’m tired of B.S., and that “Best Shapers” article is just more B.S., like Cape St. Francis. It’s all B.S.

We really shouldn’t pay attention to it.

The most scripted, fictional shows on T.V. these days are labeled as “reality” T.V.

I cant take it anymore.

The tequilla in me is causing me to rant. Forgive me for going political. I won’t do it again.

I’m just THAT sick of bullshit in this society of ours.

I swear. It won’t take much more to get me to move the hell out of here and go to France, Australia (although they are buying into Bush’s bullshit), or New Zealand.

I just want to surf and live in peace. Is that too much to ask.

Hell, yes it is. Let’s all go to war!!!

Oh, and Jim Phillips rocks. Best shaper I know of. Great guy, nice guy, and enjoyable to talk to. He may not have the best taste in beer (Bud Ice), but at least he drinks beer. :slight_smile:

God bless the beer. God drinks beer (or, at least, wine).

13

Yes! GOD BLESS BEER!!!

14

I just grated the carrot of the millinium into a bowl of brown rice and milk for my son too bad you guys missed itit was awestriking tasted the carrots …god eats carrots too god bless grated carrots…ambrose…yes god bless carrots and all our tolerant wives

15

Hey Fairmont, I like Bud Ice! and I drink tequila straight out of the bottle, no lemon, no salt. As the Mexicans say about me, “Jaime es muy tranqillo”