The Ventana Surf Co

Martijn Stiphout and Tyler Frome are a couple of mates from Santa Cruz who build some good looking wooden boards .Here they are after a session on R&D.

Hollow framed wooden boards take time and skill.

This is a 1970′s inspired single-fin shortboard with down-turned rails, low nose rocker, and the wide point forward of center.

A classic fish en l’honneur de lis. 5’ 10” birch decks with cork and mahogany rails. The nose block is salvaged redwood from a 140-year-old Santa Cruz home. Abalone is inlayed in leash and vent plugs. Ready to slide.

They custom build fins...

Some nice details and a variety of woods

The guys have stock boards on hand and can custom build for you as well. Check them out at ...
Ventana Surf Co

Bob McTavish and the Balsa Pigs

Each one hand shaped and signed by the little master

Here's a couple of photos taken by Samuel Lindsay of Bob working on the first 2 of our limited edition balsa pigs. 12 boards will be made all-up, over the next 12 months, and each will be hand-finished and signed by Bob. They are all solid balsa, have a glass-on timber D fin, and an individually numbered copper plaque instead of a decal. These are beautiful collectors boards, and will look great on the wall, or if you're keen, in the water. I'll get more photos up as they come through.

Check out the new McTavish site and Bob's blog

The Walnut Glass Tiger

Mark Roberts from Glass Tiger Surfboards in the UK just sent me these shots to share of this great looking board. It has an EPS core and then a 1.5mm veneer of Walnut vacuum bagged top and bottom with glass under.

The rails are Chestnut with a Mahogany pin line

The nose and tail blocks are Iroko.

And the finish is varnish not glass to save weight.

So check out Glass Tiger to see what other great projects they have been up to. They are doing some nice work.

Masterclass with Tom and Thomas

Surfrider Foundation Melbourne and Rhombus Surf Shop are teaming up with two legends to bring you ‘Masterclass’ – an afternoon celebration of surfing’s original design. 

Wooden board aficionado Tom Wegener and Californian surf artist and film maker Thomas Campbell will join forces in Fitzroy on Sunday May 1 for an afternoon of shaping, art, film and conversation.

Wegener has hand-shaped hundreds of finless wooden boards in the style of the ancient Hawaiian alaia. He and other curious souls are leading a modern revival of the lost designs now re-emerging in the lineup after decades (or centuries) on the board rack.

Campbell is best known in surfing circles for his widely acclaimed 2004 film, Sprout; as well as The Seedling and most recently The Present, featuring the likes of Rastovich, Reynolds, Cassador and Malloy among others. There’ll be a special screening of ‘The Present’ on the day, followed by Q&A.

Together they’ll produce a unique, one-of-a-kind hand-shaped, hand-decorated alaia which will be raffled on the day. All proceeds of the event will go to Surfrider Foundation Melbourne to support their efforts in safeguarding our marine and coastal environments and cherished surf breaks, such as the currently threatened Bastion Point break at Mallacoota.

The event will be held at Melbourne’s finest dedicated surf shop Rhombus, in the heart of Fitzroy. Food and beer (courtesy of Little Creatures) will be on hand too.



Tickets are limited and available from Greentix



For further inquiries, please contact Rhombus Surf Shop on 9077 9878 or Surfrider Melbourne at http://www.facebook.com/surfridermelbourne

Tony's next board

A classic shape nicely executed.

Some nice work by Tony Crimmins from Brisbane as he gets ready to laminate the rails of his latest board. All Paulownia frame and skins with a Cedar accent down the stringer line.

Grain Surfboards reach a milestone...

Grain Surfboards in Maine have helped well over a thousand people feel the satisfaction that comes with surfing a board built with your own two hands. Building boards of locally grown sustainable-yield, northern white cedar since 2005, Mike LaVecchia and Brad Anderson have used their skills from previous careers in boatbuilding, board sports and computer technologies to refine the method of designing and building hollow wood surfboards.

UPDATE: 6’3” BALSA FISH FOR CHRISTCHURCH EARTHQUAKE APPEAL

Jay has just sent this update on the board he is building to raise funds for the earthquake appeal...

" Thanks to everyone for your support and encouraging words upon receiving my first message.

At this time we are still keeping it real, doing roadies to catch some waves. According to Canterbury medical officer of health, Alistair Humphrey, surfing in Christchurch was posing “serious risks.”

"The microbiology results show that the surfers at Sumner will be surfing in sewage. The E. coli count is off the scale," he said.

I think it will be a while before we’ll be hitting Christchurch beaches any time soon!!

Check-out the progress that has been made on the Balsa Board on facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/#!/notes/sadhana-surfboards/update-63-balsa-fish-for-christchurch-earthquake-appeal/155872101140003

Pretty exciting stuff!! All shaped up by hand and glassed with a 6oz deck and 4 oz bottom.The density of the balsa allows for a lighter glass job which will still look beautiful for years to come.The polyester resin gives a good finish and really brings the grain out.

Will let you know soon when the auction will start.

Not to forget, our hearts and thoughts still continue to be with those facing the disaster in Japan."

Regards
Jay

www.sadhanasurfboards.co.nz

Belly Board art

Some nice art on one of Billy-joe Shearsby's belly boards

Layia the Paipo

I just got these great shots from Yohei Shiraishi to share with you.

" The little Paipo, 33″ x 22″ x 5/8″, is named after our native dune plant, Beach Layia. It has a domed deck and 1/4″ concave bottom. The board was donated to a benefit event for Friends of the Dunes and Humboldt Surfrider, who are working hard to protect our coastal environment."




Check out what other projects he has been working on.
www.taiyosurfboards.com

Ben's new fish

Tyler Wright showing how to have fun on the Pocket Rocket.

6’3” x 22” x 2^15/16”

BASICS ROUNDNOSE FISH // SLIGHT CONCAVE FALLING INTO VEE BEHIND FINS, QUAD SETUP
FINS USED FIXED FINS, HANDMADE BY DESIGNER
TECHNICALS EPS FOAM BLANK, HAND-SHAPED, 4OZ GLASSED BOTTOM WITH RESIN-GLUED PAULOWNIA WOOD PANEL DECKING, ONE-WAY AIR VENT VALVE UNDER LEGGIE PLUG, EPOXY RESINS

www.wallbridge.com.au

Belly Board art by Lachlan Leckie

During Nossa festival of surfing 2010, Vintage Pacific surf craft hosted an exhibition of belly boards. Decorated by artists/surfers including, Dane peterson, Jai Lee, Tim Crabtree, Keith Hamlin and Many more. We follow the process from start to finish (with a few distractions) of Gold Coast artist Lachlan Leckie.

Thinking of our friends in Japan as they try to get back on their feet

These photos were taken near the nuclear power plant outskirts in Fukushima in 2010.

They may never be able to surf there again due to contamination

All photos by : Kenyu /On The Board/Marine publishing company Japan

" Dear Friends,

This is the biggest disaster ever seen in JAPAN.
The earthquake of magnitude 9 overcame the wide coastline at 2:26pm on March 11, and the tsunami attacked from Tohoku to North Kanto in the 30 minutes by being generated in the Tohoku coast. The tsunami waves were 14 metres max in front of the nuclear power plant. The tsunami was made momentarily, attacked the long coastline, and destroyed up to ten kilometres or more inland.

A lot of surf points are scattered in this region. A lot of fatal blows were received. Moreover, a lot of surf shops near the beach disappeared too. Several thousand corpses went up to the coastline in the afternoon though it was uncertain whether there was persons who was surfing there. The above-mentioned life of 10,000 people was over in a moment, they were deprived, resulting in several hundred thousand victims. In addition, damage reached the nuclear plant, the radiation began to leak, and the evacuation order went out to the residents in the 20 kilometre radius. The fire fighting of the nuclear plant continues still as of today, March 26. The number of disaster evacuees keeps increasing too and it has became the worst disaster in the history of Japan.

The surf point from the Tohoku region to North Kanto received a huge amount of damage, and the surf point of Fukushima in particular, received a fatal blow. When it comes to restoration for the future, damage will continue to be serious throughout the rescue operation as it is now. I would like you to please lend help for the revival of Japan. Please hold out help to Japan that fights against the earthquake, the tsunami, the radioactivity, and the harmful rumours. The people who lost family, friends, houses, pets and everything are asking for help.

It is not time for tears in Japanese right now, we never give up and we will work hard until the country is revived. "

Please send contributions to: www.redcross.org.au/japan2011
USA - www.redcross.org

Best regards

Tadashi Yaguchi /Japanese surfer who lives in Newport Beach, Sydney Northern beaches since 1998.



A helping handplane from Mike

" Hi Grant, as part of a fundraising effort for the Christchurch Quake Victims, I was asked to make a handplane as a spot prize at the New Zealand premier of 'Stoked and Broke', so here it is, laminated paulownia with poker work, stain and linseed oil, built in handle (like you advised), stoked to do something fun and help raise money for those poor buggers in Christchurch."

Cheers Mike C.

The High Tech approach

We all know that the bee and the honey comb are a dam good team when it comes to building ideas. Well meet Mike Grobelny from New Zealand. He has taken that idea and some technology and lifted the bar for us all.

Old ideas new ideas , it is all out there in front of us we just need to know where to look sometimes.

It helps when you are a computer design major and have a work shop like this to use.

Light , strong and only the beginning for Mike.

Check out this clip and if you would like to meet him he will be one of the speakers at the Gold Coast Surf Museum on the first weekend in August for The Wooden Board Day 2011

A wooden Fish and a time to help out others.

The following is a letter I have received from Jay Jackman in Christchurch , New Zealand.

"Well it has now almost been one month since we felt that devastating shake here in Christchurch.

We have been involved since that day in a City moving forward to heal itself. As a collective there has been incredible personal loss and emotional strain.

Heartbreakingly parts of our City are reduced to rubble on a daily basis.Our ocean and beaches continue to be punished and polluted as a result.

However in the face of all of this, there is the determination and courage to stay positive and carry on.

As part of this movement, we have decided to shape a unique board to donate to the Christchurch Earthquake Appeal.

I will be shaping a balsa South Island Fish, one of our most popular local models, crafting the stringers and fins from timbers belonging to a demolished factory that once stood right behind our own. The board will be 6’3” to represent the 6.3mag quake that changed a lot of lives. We will show the progress of the construction on Facebook and will finally put this on Trademe to auction. Please feel free to let anyone know that may be interested.

As a shaper I cannot think of a more poignant moment to shape a board. This one is for our home town of Christchurch and to help those who still continue to struggle in the aftermath of the Feb 22nd Earthquake.

At this time also, our hearts and thoughts go out to all those people coming to grips with what is happening in Japan."

http://www.facebook.com/note.php?saved&&note_id=153667688027111#!/notes/sadhana-surfboards/63-balsa-fish-for-christchurch-earthquake-appeal/153667688027111

Jay Jackman Shapes & Designs

www.sadhanasurfboards.co.nz

So guys guys follow Jay's progress on the board and if you can help out I am sure it will be appreciated. Our surfing friends in New Zealand and Japan are having a tough time at the moment.

The extra Mini Simmons from Richard Harvey

Peace brother.

Burned in logos

Concave deck and bottom with a high low rail. Lay down, kneel or stand up.

It's a 4' x 24" wide Mini Simmons style Piapo.