I believe Surfding (Mike Ward) had/has a surfboard digitizing (3D scanning) business. His business was/is American Surf Industries.
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Ghostshaper - did the file include fins and fin placement?? No rails, no bottom contours, if no fins then he might as well just send a template and tell you which blank he was using, lol.
Wow, I haven’t seen the post from Greg’s daughter before.
I was lucky to get to know him through my brother. We were early supporters when he went on his own. I have several boards made by Greg for me and a couple of his old personal boards that he sold to my brother.
I started making boards again just about the time we became friends and his knowledge has helped me learn so much about bottoms and rails. I wish I knew a bit more about his fins, they are all created specifically for each board. I’ve since done the opposite, make a board for a specific fin.
RIP Greg!
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Hi Huck and GG fans/friends,
I just saw that this thread has been revived since I last posted.
His sending me the file was an attempt to create more interest in his twins/twinzers in my neck of the woods (socal). I offered to let other interested people ride my board.
I paid him full price for a set of g10 fins.
We conversed a lot regarding fin placement and what to tell the glass shop to “trick” them into getting the placement right (I was leaving for Oahu in a couple of weeks and didn’t have the time to glass it myself.
His rails are exactly how I like them: thin, round, w a sharp beveled edge (very similar to Maurice Cole’s).
My grandparents and extended family lived on Oahu, so I had the pleasure of meeting GG and borrowing one of his boards. He was very different in person than his online persona and would’ve rather talk on the phone than converse via email.
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Greg was an interesting guy. I don’t think I had a conversation in person that didn’t go an hour. He enjoyed talking about things all kinds of things. Lots of people were saying he was a grumpy old guy, but I didn’t see that. He was dealing with his first wife’s terminal cancer and losing his shaping job at T&C. He went through a really tough time, but came out of it well. It was a shock to hear about his passing.
Similarly, I was quite surprised when I met Bill Thrailkill. I thought he was going to be very outspoken, but he wasn’t. Such a nice guy and so full of knowledge of the early days when the surfing industry took off.
Both Greg and Bill have passed some knowledge on to me and I am eternally grateful for their friendship. Just wish Greg was still here, he was planning on making boards on Oahu several times a year, and I figured I could get new fins or boards whenever he did come over. RIP Greg!
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I always admired his originality and his shapes seemed very functional and well loved by those who rode them. I know virtually nothing about his design philosophy for boards and fins, but I hope that his vision can continue and his ideas will be explored and developed along the lines he established, much like Allan Byrne’s channel bottoms, whose work inspired GG. There is a huge mainstream of surfboard designs that are very similar, and Greg’s boards were outside that box. I like to see that tradition continued, expecially here among the DIY backyard and garage shapers that have the freedom to pursue different designs without corporate pressures or constraints.
As far as fins go, look at what Robin Mair is doing with Hanalei Fins. I met Robin about a decade ago at his home in Hanalei and he was showed us some of the things he was working on. He was hand shaping fins and they were very good. I have several sets made for the ProBox system, but I haven’t moved to the newer Gearbox. His fin shapes might look strange, but they work.
Robin also makes very nice guns for big Hanalei.
Found this through the surfer form on GG
He’s riding a GG twin in the video!
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nice find! interesting to see how a GG responds to different parts of the wave face.
Griffin’s boards definitely work(ed) well.
But (as in this video) much of what you see, to quote Mako224, is “the bowman not the arrow.”
i’ve never seen a GG in action. You can really see where the horizontal straight along the staged rocker builds and releases pressure in different areas of the pocket. Wonder what the rocker numbers are on this model, anyone know a typical GG tail rocker number?
Hello to all. I recently acquired another GG and was hoping to get some info. I had always wanted to have him make me one of his Hovercrafts and finally came across one near the size I was looking for. The fin set up is his Tri fin with Twinzer option. So stoked to find it. Unfortunately it did not come with the canards. I know it is probably a longshot finding some and someone willing to let them go. Does anyone have any suggestions as to something similar, sizes, etc.?
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Actually I remember seeing pictures of his boards when he was in Hawaii and they were mostly “non fish” shapes. His secret sauce was in his fins. I myself personally am not a multi fin person, so I never bought into five and six fin designs. I had respect for him and his designs, but I am sure that I got under his skin a few times. I remember a back and forth about Santa Cruz between he and myself. Ghettto rat mentioned to me that he believed Griffin felt slighted due to the lack of respect his designs got. I think he struggled a bit and was more than a little resentful that he didn’t get wider recognition by surfing in general. I think this thread deserves to continue and be a focal point for discussion. He certainly was unique. I never understood why he moved to Florida.
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Greg was an acquired taste. A misunderstood genius and a bit of madman. He had a rough time when he was working for T&C, his first wife was dying from brain cancer and Pang made a deal to be the one shaper for T&C. Gregg lost his job, medical insurance and his wife was very sick.
I think he was known more for his long boards here. When he went on his own, he was able to make boards he wanted to make versus what the industry wanted. The 5 fin design and the 3 inline across the board were things he was able to pursue, and I can say they work for me.
Greg married a lady that allowed him to do whatever he wanted with making surfboards. After she retired, they decided to move to Florida. Unfortunately, just as he was setting up the details to come back here and work several times a year, he died in a motorcycle crash. The last time my brother and I saw him, he talked about his new motorcycle and how fast it was.
RIP Gegg.
I think Chris P was making G10 fins based on Gregg’s designs.
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