Tag: pat rawson

Tom Carroll for Quiksilver: Sagas of Shred

Greetings, Shredderz! Today we resume our regularly scheduled scans of vintage surf ads, which is all part of the Sagas of Shred series. This week’s entry focuses on one of the greatest power surfers of all time: two time world champion Tom Carroll, riding for Quiksilver. This ad originally ran in the July 1988 issue of Surfer Magazine (Vol 29, No 7). I love the tagline in the ad: “Real Surfers. Real Surfing. Real Boardshorts.” Carroll is definitely a real surfer, and that snap is genuine too, but uh, those board shorts are real snug. But hey, this is a vintage surfboard blog, not a fashion advice column, so I’ll choose to focus on the stick Carroll is riding.

Turns out I actually featured the photo above in an earlier post. You can see the board Carroll has here is the same one in the photo at the top of the page. While it has a Byrne Surfboards logo, you can see the board was actually shaped by North Shore craftsman Pat Rawson.

It has a very similar airbrush pattern to the 7’8″ Carroll rode during the 1991 Pipe Masters. Carroll performed an insane layback snap at Pipe that remains one of the defining moments of his career.

  • Tom Carroll and the layback snap heard ’round the world, 1991 Pipe Masters.

It looks like Carroll must have stayed with this airbrush design for years, given the Rawson board was surfed in 1988, and the Pipe Masters board was ridden a full three years later.

Another funny note of trivia about the 7’8″ Pipe Masters board: apparently Carroll snapped the 7’8″ shape during the finals, and an enterprising young Jamie O’Brien tried to sneak off with the nose before it was returned to Carroll. The whole thing is detailed in a Stab Magazine story, which you can find here.

Weekend Grab Bag: Tri Plane Hull Twin Fin & More

Greetings, Shredderz! The weekend is almost over, and right before the buzzer we’ve got another installment of the Weekend Grab Bag. Keep reading for a selection of cool vintage surfboards that are listed for sale online.

Channel Islands Al Merrick Tri Plane Hull Twin Fin (eBay)

I absolutely love vintage Channel Islands surfboards. Considering it’s probably the most famous modern surfboard label of all time, I’d expect to see more vintage CI sticks pop up. As you can see the board was shaped by Al Merrick himself — see here for an earlier blog post I wrote on the subject of Merrick hand shapes. The CI Tri Plane Hull twin fin measures in at 5’10” x 20 1/2″ x 2 5/8″. I think the board is way overpriced considering the condition — click through to the link to see close ups of the damage — but it’s still a cool stick.

Donald Takayama Flo Egg Thruster (Craigslist San Diego)

I’m tempted to snap up this one myself! Here’s a lovely 7’2″ Donald Takayama Flo Egg with a thruster setup. I can see this board being a versatile and fun every day rider. The seller is asking $700 for the board. You can clearly see that Takayama signed the board in pencil on the stringer. The newer Takayama boards that are produced nowadays have an image of Donald’s signature, indicating that this one was shaped by the man himself, though it’s unclear to me whether or not he used shaping machines for his later boards. Either way, for $700 I think this is very nicely priced.

Local Motion Pat Rawson Thruster with Pottz Airbrush (eBay)

I absolutely love this board, which was shaped by Hawaiian master Pat Rawson for the Local Motion label. The airbrush on the vintage surfboard you see above is an unmistakable tribute to Martin Potter’s iconic artwork. Sadly, as much as I love the board — and the colors and Rawson’s pedigree are unimpeachable — it’s priced in the stratosphere. I love the different colored glass on fins, too.

Thanks for checking out the Weekend Grab Bag and tune in for some more goodies later this week!

Happy Birthday Herbie Fletcher: Social Media Roundup

Greetings, Shredderz! As 2018 comes to a close I figured I put together one last Social Media Roundup for the year. Even better, it was Herbie Fletcher’s birthday yesterday, which conveniently provides a theme for this post. Check out the photo above of Herbie launching a Jet Ski with an awesome Pottz airbrush design. (Eagle eyed readers may remember that Herbie featured prominently in the last Roundup, but there can’t be too much of a good thing, right?) For anyone who’s read this blog in 2018, I can’t thank you enough. I hope you enjoyed reading Shred Sledz, and more importantly, I hope 2019 has even better vintage surfboard goods for you to enjoy. Now onto the fun stuff…

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Happy 70th Birthday @herbiefletcher Pic bolster

A post shared by Joel_tudor (@joeljitsu) on

Joel Tudor posted this photo of Herbie, which was taken by famed photog Warren Bolster. If you do a bit of digging in the comments, it turns out that this photo was the basis for the Herbie Fletcher Surfboards logo. Dig a comparison shot below.

Herbie Fletcher Logo.jpeg
Close up of the Herbie Fletcher Surfboards logo. You can clearly see the design is based off the Warren Bolster photo featured in Joel Tudor’s Instagram post above.

 

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Here’s a Greg Liddle inspired 7’10 x 21 x 3.25 displacement hull type surfboard that I hand-shaped  last week designed for North Shore surf. 5 years before I left California for Hawaii, I consistently surfed Malibu in the late Spring, Summer, and early Fall months as my favorite surf spot in California. One of my very favorite surfer’s to watch and surf with there at that time, was Greg Liddle, who was also a board builder and absolutely ripped first and second point on his Displacement Hull creations at Malibu along with his sander, Steve Crieski. When I see the “stubs” that are currently popular, and that many surfers are riding now, I can only think back 50 years ago to Greg and his long lasting influence on my surfing and shaping journey.  For those interested in Hull Displacement ideas, Greg can be reached at his website: gregliddledesigns.com

A post shared by Pat Rawson (@rawsonsurfboard) on

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Here’s two different singlefin flex keels from the 1973 era, that I still have from my South Bay influences from Jeff Ho @therealjeffho These fins were so dynamic, they made the boards we were riding and testing much faster and looser. They were thin and made from solid weave fiberglass. They also had curved bandsaw cuts in them to extenuate flex, and sometimes you could turn them so hard, that pieces would break off the fin during the turn!! Heres @therealjeffho and I together at Bob Milner’s (Robert’s Surfboards) memorial back in February 24,2018. In my opinion: in 1971-74, Jeff was way ahead of the curve over everyone else in advancing board design in our California South Bay area. What I remembered most then was Jeff innovating swallow tails, with flat decks and tucked edge rails, along with progressive flex keel fins.

A post shared by Pat Rawson (@rawsonsurfboard) on

Pat Rawson continues to be one of my favorite follows on Instagram. For the longest time I associated Pat with high performance boards made to tackle serious Hawaiian surf, like the sled that enabled Tom Carroll’s infamous under the lip snap at Pipeline. I was pleasantly surprised to read that Rawson spent time surfing Malibu and overlapped with Greg Liddle, during which time Rawson developed an affinity for Greg’s famous displacement hulls. But that’s not all — Rawson’s time in Los Angeles also overlapped with Jeff Ho, the mind behind Zephyr Surfboards.

This is a stunning Morey Pope / Bob McTavish tracker. I love the groovy rainbow slip check on the deck. Transition Era designs don’t get much more classic than this one.

Last but not least Bird’s Surf Shed has a beautiful Natural Progression twin fin with a Bertlemann-esque airbrush on the deck. Love the double logo on this thing.

 

Photo at the top of the page by Denjiro Sato, and originally found via Zak Noyle.

Social Media Roundup: RIP Charlie Bunger

Greetings, Shredderz! As always, here are some of my favorite social media posts I have seen over the past month. Keep scrolling for more.

I hate to start off with one of my own posts, but this time it’s important. Sadly, Charlie Bunger, one of the true OGs of the New York surf scene, passed away earlier this month. The only reason I included my own post is, well, it’s my favorite photo of a Bunger surfboard. RIP to Mr Bunger and thoughts and prayers to all his family and friends.

If, like me, you have an obsession with both Skip Frye boards and their opaque pricing, you’ll also enjoy the post above from Bird’s Surf Shed. (Roperized, for those who are unfamiliar, means the board was fixed up by San Diego local Joe Roper, who runs one of the better-known repair shops in town.) The Modern Machine is a G&S model, not a Skip outline, which Joel Tudor referenced in another recent Instagram post. Anyway, the G&S / Skip Frye board was listed for $1,200, which seems extremely fair to me.

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First gun I ever shaped, in Sumer of 1988. …30 years ago. @renoabellira was in San Clemente, building some boards @herbiefletcher SurfShop ( now @catalyst_sc ) that summer, where I worked. He gave me a little help with the outline and rocker. I took it to Hawaii (on my first trip ever) and surfed fun sized #SunsetBeach…as well as the best #Laniakea I’ve still ever seen to this day. I ran out of money and sold it to a used board surf shop in Honolulu. In 2005, on Hawaiian holiday with my family, I found it sitting in the used racks @ #SurfandSea SurfShop, Haleiwa ( remember that @crawford.eddie ! ). Ofcourse I bought it, and brought it back. Here it is now, sitting in the lam room, @catalyst_sc , exactly where is was first built. Home 🏠. #PacificCoastFiberglass #Suds #MickyT @astrodeck

A post shared by Matt Biolos (@mayhemsurfboards_mattbiolos) on

Is this pushing the limits of vintage? Maybe. Do I care? Not one bit. I hardly ever write about high performance thrusters — mostly because I can’t surf them! — but I am an unabashed fan of Matt Biolos and his Lost Surfboards label. I’ve never met the dude but he seems knowledgeable without being the least bit pretentious. Anyway, this board has some nice history, as it not only involves Mayhem, but also Reno Abellira and Herbie Fletcher.

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Surfed out Al looking at his watch, futility trying to convince Shaun that he needs to get back to the shaping room. Shaun almost smirking, “as if.” Low tide and firing. 5 minutes later Shaun and the professor are walking back up the point for another go. • These early 80’s session, “Shaun at the Con” with Al are legendary. Al has often cited these surfs as some of his most cherished surfing memories. The presence of Shaun, his board, his surfing were all out of place, not Rincon's status quo. This one seemingly basic image of two guys talking, of cobblestones and sticks, red single fins, of black wetsuits and mustaches at the foot of the cove where the trail empties out, this one simple image represents a relationship and the flash point of all that was to come. • #almerrick #shauntomson #rincon #twinfin #santabarbara #surfinglife #surfphotography #cisurfboards @cisurfboards @cisurfboards_sbstore @oneill #adayatthebeach #cobblestone #mustache #allday @cisurfboardssantamonica @cisurfboards_europe @cisurfboards_japan @cisurfboards_africa @cisurfboards_oz

A post shared by Jimmy Metyko (@metykojimmy) on

Jimmy Metyko is a photographer who has been sharing some real gems on Instagram lately. I urge you to give him a follow. He has chronicled some of the great moments in California surf history, with a particular focus on Santa Barbara and legends like Tom Curren and Al Merrick.

Finally, Pat Rawson is well worth the follow. Despite having a resume that any shaper would envy, Rawson is still going strong. He shares a lot of posts on his modern shapes and the details behind the boards, rooted in his deep knowledge of the craft.

Price Checks: Eighties Local Motion Surfboards

Greetings, Shredderz! Today we’re going to take a look at the prices for two beautiful Eighties Local Motion thrusters that are currently up for sale.

Eighties Local Motion Surfboards Example #1: 6’2″ 2+1 shaped by Greg Griffin in 1982 (Link)

Here’s a example of a rad Eighties Local Motions Surfboards thruster being offered for sale on eBay. The starting bid for the board is $600, and as of the time of writing this post, the surfboard has yet to receive a single bid. This board was shaped by Greg Griffin, a Hawaiian shaper who has been at his craft since the late Sixties. I’m a little surprised the board has yet to receive bids, as it looks to me like a prime example of an Eighties thruster. The airbrush on the deck and the bottom is gorgeous, and Griffin is a well-known shaper with tons of experience. In addition, the surfboard looks to be in very good condition. A lot of eBay auctions don’t heat up until the end, and with two days left it’s possible that prospective bidders are just waiting this one out.

Eighties Local Motion Surfboards Example #2: 5’9″ Channel Bottom Shaped by Pat Rawson, $400 (Link)

This board has been on Craigslist for the past few weeks, and frankly, I’m a little surprised that it’s still up for sale. To me, it ticks a lot of the boxes: you have a colorful airbrush, some rad logos, and of course, shaping pedigree courtesy of Pat Rawson. Rawson has an impeccable resume as a surfboard shaper. As a bonus, Rawson is also a great follow on Instagram.

Eighties Local Motion Surfboards Pat Rawson Signature.jpg
Close up of Pat Rawson’s signature on the Eighties Local Motion 2+1 Thruster

The Eighties Local Motion surfboard above isn’t perfect. You can see some discoloration on the bottom of the board, and it’s clear that one of the glass-on side bites has had some work done. Still, though, the surfboard is in great condition, and I’m surprised no one has snapped it up for $400. Maybe at 5’9″ it’s a little small for some folks, but I would have thought an Eighties Local Motion with a neon spray job in this kind of condition would get snapped up quickly.

In conclusion, I wouldn’t say either of these Eighties Local Motions Surfboards are bargains, but I think they are reasonably priced and in good condition. I think both boards have a lot of things going for them, whether it’s the aesthetics or the involvements of well-regarded shapers in both cases. Anyway, I’ve left links to the boards above in case you’re interested in either one. Thanks for reading!