Chris and his Speedster....

Last December I built NorCal surfer, Chris, this 9-6 Nova Speedster for Ocean Beach in San Francisco. Chris found his way down south during the last swell, and sent me this photo

Chris wrote, "Love this Board!! This was at T street on 10-5-2014. I rode this on double OH at San O earlier in the week when the locals were pulling out their guns.Thanks so much for a killer board."

Need a longboard to ride "steep and deep"? Feeling a "need for speed"? The Nova Speedster has what you're looking for. Contact me now, winter is just around the corner...

Introducing the V-Pig...

In 1966 Nat Young won the World Surfing Championship on a 9-2 longboard, which was almost a foot shorter than the other competitors. Surfers around the world took notice, and immediately began to shorten their equipment. In 1968, an Australian shaper names Bob McTavish added an extreme V-tail to his already shortened (8'10") board, and was able to greatly reduce the radius of his turns. This shortened turning radius led to more across-trimline surfing and eventually to the vertical surfing style we see today. This board is an exploration of those early design features, and is inspired by other modern examples of this shape, such as the Gene Cooper's V-2, Ryan Lovelace's V-Bowls and Steve Boehne's Aussie '68. When my customer, Kirt, saw a couple of these, he immediately recognized the potential and just had to have one.

The main goal of this design was to build a small-wave noserider, that turns on a dime, feels lively under foot, but still offers good noseriding. Starting with the basic wide-point behind center Pig outline, I shrunk the length to 8-10 and added some width in the tail and nose. The rails are slightly pinched, 50/50 with just a touch of down rail in the last 6". I started the extreme V  about 39" from the tail and maintained it all the way out the tail. This V adds almost an inch of rocker at the rail, and is the key to quick, flowing turns. A 2/3-length concave on the bottom enhances noseriding.

And here is the V-Pig in the eager hands of its owner (and co-conspirator) Kirt.

This is a good shot showing the extreme "V"

All V-Bottoms need a thin, flexy fin. Kirt chose a True Ames Velzy Classic

Purple Nova...

This 9-4 Nova 2+1 is nearing completion.

I've been pretty occupied with belly boards over the past month. Here are a couple of recent builds.

Follow this link if your interested in the story behind these incredibly fun shapes.













I've been working on a new longboard design that I call the "V-Pig". This is a pig-shaped, single-fin LB, with exaggerated tail-V. Ordered typically 12" shorter than your standard log, its a great change-up from your daily driver. Pig shapes have the wide point several inches behind center, which makes them very easy to turn. Add to that almost 3/4" of tail-v and you have a responsive log, that will go anywhere on the wave and offer noserides as well,

Pick-up day for Nick...

Here's Nick with his new custom 9-4 Nova...

Couple of new additions...

Here are a couple of boards near completion. The first is a 43" T-Belly G2 waiting to have its gloss coat sanded.

Next is a 9-4 Nova for Nick which is waiting for a light sanding and some polishing.

Summer crunch is in full swing, with delivery times pushed out to 5 weeks. Still time to get that summer board before Labor Day.  Call today!

A new Widget for the shop...

The Widget is a great shape for those wanting to drop down in board size, or as a first shortboard. It features a full outline to maximize planing surface, with a double-bump tail to enhance turning.

6'10"  15-1/2" x 22" x 16-5/8"  2-3/4" 46L

The bottom varies according to length and personal preference, with the longer shapes having a flat-to-V bottom, and the shorter shapes having a single-to-double concave, with slight tail-V.

A 5-fin configuration is standard, allowing the surfer to chose between quad, tri- or twin-fin set-ups. Size ranges from 7-8 to 6-8, with most Widgets falling in the 7-2 to 6-10 range.

Using EPS/epoxy construction to maximize float, every Widget is custom fit to the intended rider's size. The end result is a board that will take your surfing to new levels, regardless of your size or age.

Available as a demo by appointment, you owe it to yourself to take this Widget for a test drive.

Summer salvation...

I'm calling this 10-0 Classic the "White Knight" because it's white and its going to save me from the summer-time dragons. Made of 2-lb EPS with a solid 4oz+4oz+4oz S-glass deck and 4oz+4oz S-cloth bottom, this board is light (only 17.5lbs!!) and strong.

This 10'0" Classic is 18" x 23-1/4" x 15-1/2"  3-1/4" 83.4L Blank was sealed with epoxy and micro-balloons, and then laminated with a whisper of white resin tint, giving the board a slightly opaque look. The board also sports the new "Thomas Patrick" logo on the rails, with little pointy pinline gizmos just to spice things up. 

Finally, I added my old, trusty red TA Velzy Noserider Fin. 

Took it out this weekend at Mondo's which is the acid test for small-wave, summertime LBs. Had no trouble paddling into weak, waist-high peelers, or making slalom turns through the surf-class foamies.  If, like me, you're tired of loosing set waves to SUPers on barges and groms on 9-6 logs, order up a 10-0 to 10-6 White Knight and slay those summer-time dragons.. 

A couple of Mini-Widgets join the loaner pool...

I try to keep at least one sample of every shape I do in stock, as a loaner. I realize that people like to "try before they buy", and this is especially true with alternative shapes like my Mini-Widget. So, here's a couple of "demos" for you to try if you're looking for an alternative to your shortboard.

The tall one is 5-10 x 23"-x2-3/4" 40.5L and was built for the bigger surfer up to 190lbs. The shorter one is 5-6 x 22-3/8" x 2-3/8" 30.4L and would be a good fit for someone less than 170lbs. Both boards are FCS 5-fin set-ups, with quad fins. Both boards are PE/PU construction, with 4oz E-cloth on the bottom and one 4oz E-cloth + 7.5oz Volan deck patch. Weight with fins is 9lbs and 8lb4oz respectively. You're invited to check one out for a couple of days. Call or email me for more info on loaners.

A Classic for Eddie...

Eddie from Santa Barbara picked up his new 9-6 Classic today.

Board's a beauty with light-grey resin tint bottom and rails, poppy-gold resin-tint tail-dip, and two-tone, black/orange deck pinline. Double, 1/8" Cedar stringers adds a real "classic" touch.

Eddie can't wait to recover from that broken-ankle....

Kingfish finds a new rider...

This Thomas patrick 7-8 Kingfish has been passed around some. I even owned it for a while. But now, it has a new owner...

Smile on his face tells the whole story. Surfboards have a way of "finding" their rightful owner...