I first met Kit in about 72 or 73 surfing Swamis. What a great guy.
I do recall those first early v bottom boards They either sucked or were mind blowing. Ihad a Rick deep v that really sucked They rode another by a shaper working out the back door of Name logo shop. The Shop did not want to do the V bottoms so a backdoor board was made. It was a nice ride. still not my favorite. in that era my all time favorite was a 8 foot Rick UFO with a greenough style long flex fin.
Mike O'Day: Shaped in Huntington in the '70's for Russel/Brotherhood. Great shaper who was nice enough to let me hang in his shaping bay as he worked on my boards. Kokua, you might remember him...very nice guy.
Jim Phillips - possibly: Plastic Fantastic 6-3 egg, bought in NJ '72. One of my all time favorites.
Robert August: Off the rack H.B. '71, customs in the '90's.
Mike Minchinton: Custom performance l.b. for R.A. label.
Tomb & Reeves: Custom 7' pocket rocket 1970 Fla. Probably glassed by "Cleanlines" Roger B.
Myself and many more customs and off the rack by some elite shapers over the last 46 years...
Howzit Pete, I don't remember Jim at P.F. but maybe before I worked with them. The factory was on 4th st in HB just off PCH and burned down in 70 if my memory serves me right. After that Gary T. the owner of P.F. went partners with Jim Mizell in Aquatic Energy and I stayed with them until they couldn't pay me anymore. Aloha,Kokua
Was referring to Mike O’Day at Russell/Brotherhood…thought I remembered reading a while back that you were tight with them back in the day and were planning to hook up in Newport with some of them in the near future.
Jim Phillips was shaping Plastics for the east cost market out of Rhode Island back then, from one of his old posts on a Plastic thread from way back.
Still have the Plastic and may post it up on a separate thread when time allows…
Howzit pete,Back in those days I only knew Bobby Allen who ran the whole Brotherhood factory for Russel(Bob) and was sent to see about working for them when P.F. was no longer around except for the lams Gary was selling to Bob Highsmith for $10 each to make some moey. But have been really good friends with Russel(Bob) now for about 10 years and we always have a good ine together and I did all the home repaires for him at his Wainiha house and only charged him t-shirts which made him mad because he wanted to give me money but I would tell him I won't take his money. He and his wonderful wife get to Kauai 2 times a year for about 5 -6 weeks each time. I plan on seeing him as soon as I get my business taken care of here in Az and go to Ca for vacation. I am sure Jim knew Wayne Lamd who was the Plastic Collector when the east coast guys tool to long to pay for the boards that were mae for them, plus Wayne was a heck of a shaper himself and black belt. Aloha,Kokua
tony hanna LAURIE HOHENSEE DANNY CHILDS NIPPER WILLIAMS PAUL HUTCHINSON MIDGET FROGGY BURNS JACKSON DENNIS McPHERSON PHIL BYRNE BRAD MAYES STEVE GRIFFITHS ALAN BYRNE GEOFF McCOY KAMBO KIETH PAUL GIL GLOVER DICK VAN STRAALEN MICHAEL PETERSON WARREN CORNISH GEOFF DARBY LANCE MURPHY BOB BROWN D.V.S. ROOSTER.... NIGEL PERROW..........and many of my own over the years............and almost forgot ..RICHARD FUTCHER
Think about this. The list we all have here is most likely just a small percentage of the people that spent years of dedication learning the craft. Thanks guys for all the hard work i couldn't have pulled into that Tube if the board were a slug. Might have really paid dearly for going out on a big day at Blacks if that Caster were not up to the task.
All those memorable days in Mexico wouldn't be the same if the Boards Were not something special.
Just thought of a couple of more guys that made boards for me.
Jeff Grygera and did i already mention Craig Hollingsworth?
In case anyone is interested in what Joey Thomas is doing these days, he’s still shaping boards in Santa Cruz. He got himself a website, and he’s handshaping a 7’6″ – 7’11″ 22″ wide, 18″ nose, 15″ tail 2 3/4″ round pin 4 fin
surfboard. It’s what he calls his, “Senior Citizen Hot Dog Board”. It’s what he rides…
Seems odd to me that most of you list ten or twenty shapers. What? Never found one you like. Four or five is understandable. But twenty or more? Makes me wonder if you have any idea what you want in a surfboard.
Something positive would be if you shaped your own and liked it so much you didn't need or care to rider other people's shapes. Unless it was pure nostalga or for a lark. Guess that's expecting too much? If not that, then howabout finding a few shapers(a mere handfull) that you really like and mining there shapes for all their worth thru the years. It's understandable to have a favorite longboard, shortboard, gun and SUP or even a couple of each by differant shapers, but 20 or 30 differant shapers (many of whom you can't tell apart shape wise) is just silly. Like a woman actually; trying to decide what color mini-blinds she wants in a bedroom.
lots of reasons to ride boards from different shapers…
maybe in HI or similar for an extended trip, and decided to go with a local shaper…
maybe supporting a new young shaper just starting to come on strong…
maybe another shaper is on to something sooner…
maybe just a board ho that enjoys trying different boards from different shapers, as the ‘same’ board ordered from 4 different shapers will each ride differently…
and re shapers themselves - some quit
shaping for periods or just quit period, some just move on to other
locales, some delivered that board well
after the surf trip it was absolutely promised to be ready for, some
might not have made the board you ordered for the second time in a row, some might blame the glassers for the wrong glass job, some
might be away on an extended surf trip when you need a new board, some might have just plumb worn you out with their
complaining about the surfboard business and everyone in it…
