Tom getting around to it

Wood at Rhombus

When wood leads to glass "The Seaglass" by Tom Tom Wegener

Tom Wegener , well known to us all as the man behind the Alaia and its popularity has teamed up with Global Surf Industries to begin ‘The Seaglass Project’. This collaboration set out to launch a unique range of finless surfboards capable of challenging existing notions of modern surfing.

Tom Wegener has developed an obsession with crafting, riding and understanding the finless surf craft, or the ‘Alaia’ as it is referred in its Hawaiian origins. He has come to believe that the genius of efficient surfboard design was discovered hundreds of years ago through this ancient wooden model. Wegener has since sort to pick-up where the Hawaiians left off and vastly contemporise the Alaia for surfers of today. He has been experimenting with a combination of ancient knowledge, modern material theory and an elite team of forward-thinking surfers to bring us The Seaglass Project Tuna.

The Seaglass Project Tuna blends flex, rail and bottom contours with modern materials to increase floatation, while its rocker profile is very flat making it easy to catch waves. These two areas were downfalls of the original Alaia model. The combination of the gentle curves and hard rails gives the Tuna traction enabling it to hold in the wave-face without the existence of fins. Ideal for summer, the Tunas have a ton of speed even on the smallest of waves.

Due out in November, the Seaglass Tunas will retail for $695 and come in the following sizes:

TUNA:
6’2”, 17”, 2 1/8”

MINI-TUNA
5’3” 16 1/8” 2 1/4”
(Suitable for those under 85kg)

Ton says : “The majority of the time spent perfecting The Tuna’s functionality was on the rail system. The rail design will ultimately make or break a finless surfboard, as this is the area that takes over the directional control.

The Tuna is super-fast as it eliminates standard surfboard drag. It also comes in handy when surfing shallow reef-breaks as you don’t need to worry about your fins catching.

With the Tuna we started with a standard stringer design but found it too stiff, we then tried a parabolic stringer (which runs around the rails) but this didn’t have the correct flex properties and compromised rail design. In the end we removed the stringer completely and used SLX technology to give the board the required flex properties and buoyancy.”

Rasta at Noosa ...

Tom's off to the UK to shape Alaias

Tom’s living the good life in Noosa , but this summer he’s dragging himself out of paradise and around Europe, making it to Cornwall in August 2009. He’ll be hosting three alaia day workshops at Revolver in Newquay (01637 875730 info@revolversurf.co.uk). Details as follows:

Dates: 21, 22 & 28 August, 10am start.
Cost: £325 per person (£100 deposit on booking). Places are limited to 8 people per workshop.
Includes: partially shaped alaia blank; the tools and guidance (provided by Tom and apprentice Matt) you’ll need to shape your blank; lunch (Tom’s legendary chilli, if you’re lucky); alaia DVD; private screening of Tom’s favourite alaia moments on film, plus Q&A session.

You might even get to catch a wave with Tom if the conditions are looking good.

Come along and share the stoke.

www.tomwegenersurfboards.com

Details and pics grabbed from Driftsurf

Tom and the tuna. Tom Wegener and his new take on timber boards

tuna fun, alaia fun, finless rocks!! from matt williams on Vimeo.

Wood is Good and Tom is the man to put it up there...

Tom congratulations on this recognition for all your efforts and with what you have done for wooden boards. For taking us back to our roots with the Alaia and showing surfers across the board ( no pun intended ) what it really feels like and where it all began. Not hi tech , simple and the simple pleasure that is surfing - riding a wave on the most basic of things , a piece of wood. All be it crafted by someone who understands what it is all about.