Three to get ready...

Here are the three mini-Simmons shapes I did a few weeks back, drying on the racks after hot-coating.

The board in the foreground is a notch tail. the middle board is a diamond tail and the board in the background is a square tail. The popularity of these boards has spread up the coast from San Diego, and is now catching on in Ventura county. The M-S is a great shape for the slopey waves at the point, especially during those high-tide sessions. Shaped under the "R. Lucke" label, two of the boards above have already sold. We just received a shipment of four more blanks. Orders yours today!

New Nova...

Here's the round pin-tail Nova 2+1 I've been dying to ride. This round pin is a little spike-y, making it a good choice for bigger/better waves.

This boards dimensions are 9'6" 18" x 23" x 14-1/4" 3" thick. Tucked rail, 1/2-length nose concave and tail V make this board an outstanding performer. Ice Green resin tint, bottom and rails, with a dark green pin line and clear deck inlay. Gloss and polish finish.

I chose the True Ames Parrish Cutaway 7.25" center fin with the TA 3.7" side bites. True Ames now offers their side bites in a 3.25" depth as well as the standard 3.7" depth. The smaller SB allows you to use a larger center fin.

This board retails for $680 + tx without fins or $767 + tx with fins. The board is also available for demo. Contact me to arrange a test drive.

That's why we call it a custom...

Buying a custom surfboard is an unique opportunity to own a handcrafted, functional object that has been shaped and decorated to the owner's specification. Case in point is Ben's 9-0 Nova...

Ben was looking to replace a favored Takayama LB that was recently stolen. After much discussion via email, we settled on this outline and my standard Nova rocker, minus just a tad in the nose. Ben chose a Shamrock green, resin tint with brown competition stripes. He also wanted an anchor graphic on the deck and a ship propellor on the bottom representing his chosen vocation. Ben sent me the images, I printed them out to the dimension he specified and Ray did the rest (I haven't been able to stump Ray yet!). End result is a beautiful, one-of-a-kind surfboard. Are you ready to order your custom?

One in the oven....

For those of you wondering what happened to the 9-6 that customer Rick didn't want, here it is in the UV oven following hot-coat.

Ray often uses resin that is catalyzed by ultra-violet radiation. He built this nifty oven with UV bulbs, top and bottom, for this purpose. Place board in oven, close the hatch, turn on lights, and "presto" 20 min later you have one hardened glass job. This board should be ready to ride when I get back from Oregon on Saturday.

More mini's...

I just finished another mini-Simmons (MS) shape with a little different tail design. The typical MS tailblock is quite wide, which helps to get this short shape up and planing, but makes it a little difficult to turn. The idea behind the “notch tail” is to lessen the resistance to water flow in the tail as the board rolls over on the rail for turning. Same basic idea as swallow tails and fish tails. For those interested, the dims on this shape are 5’8” 19-3/4” x 22-3/4” x 19-3/4”  2-3/4".  Fin set up is twin Futures boxes for traditional keels, mod keels or standard twins.

We have a couple of these mini-Simmons shapes as demos at the shop. Contact me if you’d like to take one for a test drive.  

Third time's the charm....

This is Rick with his new 9-6 Nova. We spent weeks talking about this shape in the parking lot at C St and in the lineup. Most experienced surfers know how they want their board to look and feel, and Rick is no exception. The challenge for surfer and shaper is getting that vision communicated. In Rick's case it took us three attempts to translate Rick's vision into a reality. The other two boards were solid shapes, but just not what Rick had in mind. The second shape was close, but needed some small tweaks in thickness and nose rocker. With Rick in the shaping bay, we went over each dimension multiple times, adjusted tail-v and re-shaped the tail from mini-square to round-pin. Satisfied with the shaped blank, we put it in Ray's capable hands and here is the result.

I expect my customers to be heavily involved in the creation of their new shape. It takes time, effort, patience and, most of all, mutual trust in the process.

Back to work....

Holiday season was busy with visiting relatives and good waves. Now its back to building boards. Here's a 9-6 Nova Pintail getting fin boxes. Its has a sweet Ice Green resin tint on bottom and rails, with a green pinline.

Also at the glasser's is a 9-6 Nova for Rick and a 9-0 Nova Benjamin.