When did you start shaping? Did you start Channel Islands in 1969?
Yes but I was shaping before then. Probably the first boards were a little longer, single fins.
Did Shaun Tomson’s boards influence your designs?
Yes it came from his boards and we just did our own style here in Santa Barbara. I made a few for Shaun early on.
What happened with the thruster era? Did you stick to the thrusters for a while and just continue perfecting them at the time.
When we were doing single fins we had side biters which were 3 fins but with 2 smaller ones and a larger one in the center. Then Simon’s came out and they were more the same size all around. His were quite different.
The thrusters became a staple. Before the thruster came a long I was messing around with a lot of 4 fins after twinfins. Twinfins were loose and we put a third fin on, a small one and then we started doing my version of a 4 fin and then the thruster began to dominate everything especially in larger surf where you could push a little harder.
Tom Currens fishs did you play any role in that? I think I read somewhere that he baught it in a pawn shop.
Yeah that sounds like Tom. He still does that where he comes into the factory and finds a board that looks good to him and goes and surfs it.
Kelly Slater’s board that he won at Trestles in early nineties started a frenzy with narrow board design. What was the thinking behind that?
We just wanted to get a board that was more sensitive and a little quicker and we just felt that there was too much volume and foam in the boards and as he started growing we really didn’t change his dimensions for a while. Then we went further with it and started thinning them out. We just thought that the boards at the time were chunky in the rail and a little fuller and so we just wanted some low volume boards. He just wanted to take surfing in another direction and surf faster, quicker and tighter and the low volume accommodated that.
Now Kelly is changing the thoughts on board sizes what are you doing there?
Yes we are playing around with a lot of smaller stuff. We realized that when you tow-in you can use a really small board in big waves so we are trying to minimize volume and reconfigure the shape. The shorter board allows you to tighter arcs on the wave but you have to accommodate the idea of paddling into a wave reasonably which is just a matter of reconfiguring outlines and rocker an so forth.
You have a wide range of pro surfers riding your boards, is there any common thread amongst their boards or do you try figure out what each one wants?
Well that is what I always try to do and I keep pretty extensive records on the guys boards and try to turn the boards into what the individual’s needs are. Everyone is different even though they maybe riding a board that is similar looking there are a lot of variations in it and that accommodate their surfing.
What has been the significant changes in board design over the years for you?
For me it would be Kelly and my work early on minimal volume boards was pretty significant and I think it changed things quite a bit.
Fins- what role do they play in your designs?
Yes more and more so. As the fin systems have come along we have played around with them quite a bit and so there is still a lot more influence in that direction. I’ve always on my personal boards played around with the fins too and seen what response I get from changing upright positions, toes and tilts. There are a lot of guys who don’t want to fiddle with their fins and just want to go surfing but there are guys who are changing their fin systems to their personal surfing and that makes a big difference in the boards. There is a big influence there.
Kelly’s boards, are they only ride-able by him or can the common surfer use them?
No that is the way that I have always done my boards. The boards for the pros I try to adapt to other models of boards that I do and give that out to the general public and there maybe some variations as far as volumes go but rockers and outlines and contours I try to move out into the general public so that they can get a feel for what those guys are riding.
Resins and clothes, have changed over the years at all?
Yes there have been some small changes. There are some different foams and stringers. We use a lot of Suncure resin in our factory because if Kelly comes along we can make him a board and he can be surfing it the next morning. We incorporate that too into our stock boards. There are some different ways of laying the clothe on the bias that help the breaking of a board. Probably in the whole industry boards are being built the same as they were 30 years ago.
Thank you Al for your time and honesty.
Wade A Common Thread, Surfing AL Merrick, Channel Islands Surfboards, Kelly Slater, photography, Shaun Tomson, Spider Murphy, surf photography, surfboards, Surfing
Yes this is the Bum dance. Don’t try this at home these are trained professionals!
The bus fair to school is only about R2-00 but even this is a lot everyday so the kids catch the bus to school and then walk home. I am not sure if that bus ever had a white folk in it before but I got some pretty cool reactions when I stepped onto it. There was no need for aircon because the holes in the windows let in the very, very,cold, fresh air. I did not think we would make it to school on those roads and they have to be seen to be believed. And just when you thought those funny noises coming from all over the bus were giving you the creeps, you notice that the mountain ends into an abyss just a few inchs to the side of the “just waiting to fall apart” bus.
