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Mid-Size Boards
 
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RUSTY DESERT ISLAND 8’6"
This series of boards evolved out of years of R&D combining the superior paddling of a longboard with the performance characteristics of a shorter, narrow-nosed board. At around 9’ long and 23" wide, this balanced template allows you to perform in a variety of conditions. The DI is maneuver oriented and an easy transition from a longboard to something shorter.
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KECHELE PUG PERFORMER 7’2"
Matt Kechele knows the future when he sees it. "Kelly Slater? I put him on my Team when he was very young," says Matt Kechele, and smiles quietly to himself. "I taught him everything he knows" Just kidding, but he isn’t. Kechele was 19 years old and an established East Coast pro and shaper for Quiet Flight when he saw a nine-year-old kid pulling multiple 360s in gutless Cocoa Beach surf. Kechele knew the future when he saw it and he took Kelly Slater and brother Sean under his wing, shaping them boards and chaperoning them up and down the coast to surf and compete. Slater left the shadow of Kechele’s wing at 16 and moved on to do all that he has done and is doing. Kechele went on to establish himself as one the East Coast’s most prolific surfer/ shapers. In 2002 he saw the future again when the SurfTech system began to catch on.
Kechele claims Greg Loehr, Richard Munson, Nat Young, Darrel Bulger and Al Merrick as his shaping influences. He made his first board at 13, in his bedroom. "I made a mess and my parents were pissed!" He has made boards all around the world, in Florida, Hawaii, Japan and Peru, and he shaped Kelly Slater’s boards through a good part of his teen years.
Kechele figures he has shaped over 12,000 boards in his career. He signed on with SurfTech in 2002, and now produces the 60 Performance Module, the 510 Stub Fish and the 72 Pug Performer. "At first I was a little skeptical on the new molding technology and concerned as to where the whole line would go and what type of longevity they can keep," Kechele said. "But through time they have proven longevity ! I’m really happy with the reproduction of all my master shapes and how they translated in not only the cloning of my designs, and the strength to weight ratio they offer.. I’ve been riding them on some recent surftrips "they ride excellent"! I’m really stoked on my SurfTech Kechs."
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ROBERT AUGUST WHAT I RIDE 8’4"
In 1964 Robert August left the United States with one surfboard, his buddy Bruce Brown and a couple of cameras in search of the Perfect Wave. Co-starring in The Endless Summer, August went around the world to change the public image of surfers in America and around the world. Surfers weren’t druggies or deadbeats or guys who sang to their girlfriends. Surfers were clean-cut all Americans who were willing to go to great lengths to get their kicks. Forty years ago, August changed the way the world perceives surfers (and the way surfers perceive the world), now August is working with Surftech to change the way a world full of surfers perceive surfboards.
The board that went around the world with August in 1964 was a sturdy 10’ 2" glassed with two coats of ten ounce. "We didn’t have board bags or leashes or even a ding repair kit. We just threw boards on the planes and they spent a lot of time banging around in the baggage hold and on the rocks and on the roofs of taxis and rickshaws. Well the glass was tough back then and so was the foam. After three months the boards were worked over, but they made it."
Robert August has been at it for more than 40 years. A star pole vaulter at Huntington Beach High and also the Student Body President, August had been surfing since the age of six when he graduated from Huntington Beach High and graduated into the adventure of a lifetime. Endless Summer made Robert August an international star right when the surf boom was booming, but he still had to work. He first managed the Hap Jacobs shop in Hermosa Beach but wanted to get into shaping to make more money. "I started shaping these little bellyboards for $5 a piece," August said. "That introduced me to tools and techniques and I moved up from there."
August commuted from HB to the South Bay and then eventually moved there, until the lack of good surf moved him back to Huntington. He shaped for Overlin, Petrillo, Plastic Fantastic, South Shore, Harbour, Chuck Dent and anyone else who needed him through the late 60s and into the 70s. In 1974 he started Robert August Surfboards in Huntington Beach. The retail shop and the factory have moved many times over the years, but the August label has been pumping out boards ever since. August figures he has shaped over 37,000 surfboards personally over the years. He now employs five shapers but still puts his hand in every day. "When I was younger and trying to get somewhere I was doing 50 to 70 boards a week, no problem," August said. "But now if I do three boards a day I collapse."
August was the second shaper to get involved with Surftech, but he approached it like he approached all those wild animals in Africa: tentatively. "I had been approached by other board manufacturers before but never saw any quality worth my name next to," August said. "When Randy first approached me he was enthusiastic but I thought, ’Naw, I don’t want to get involved with this. They’re going to sell these boards for $800. That’s not going to work.’ But then Randy gave me one of the veneer boards and I rode it and it was great, you know? It was kind of a heavier board and strong and I reconsidered."
August has designed a variety of boards for Surftech, from 8 to 10 feet long. "There is a ’What I Ride’ board, which is basically what I ride, and then there is a Mike Doyle design from my factory and there are also boards from Mike Minchington and the Mark Martinson Wingnut model. I prefer the veneer boards because they are a little heavier, but the TufLite boards are great for high performance surfing."
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JOHN CARPER EQUALIZER 7’5""
You saw the JC label under Shane Dorian’s feet in the movie In God’s Hands and those were John Carper’s shapes under the Eden label in Blue Crush. Peter Mel pioneered tow surfing at Mavericks on a "magic" 7’ 2" tow board shaped by John Carper. Mike Parsons caught a $65,000 wave at Cortes Bank riding a JC "sling shot"-and then he lost it out to sea. The JC label is one of the most respected in the surfing world from T Street to Pipeline to Jaws, and now you can see the JC label on a range of modern, high performance shortboards produced by Surftech.
John Carper was inspired at the foot of legends. During the 50s, John lived down the street from Greg Noll and spent some younger years kicking around Noll’s sawhorses, watching "the big guys" make balsa boards. His first board was a Velzy/Jacobs, a present from his dad in 1956. JC surfed the South Bay and around southern California until the middle 60s, when he moved to Hawaii. "I was a student at a Community College on Maui when Nat Young and Bob McTavish came through with the first shortboards," he said. "At that time Maui was kind of the center of the universe and a lot of the first shortboard experimentation happened over there. At the time all you could buy in the surf shops were longboards, so for the first couple of years to get what you wanted you had to strip those boards down and do it yourself. The first board I shaped was a seven-foot shortboard stripped down from an old three-stringer Donald Takayama." John moved to Oahu in 1969 and while attending U of H he took a job doing ding repair for Surfboards Hawaii: "Ben Aipa was there and then he left to go to Surfline and they offered me a job as a shaper. I quit school and started making boards for a living in 1972. I worked for Surfboards Hawaii and then moved on to Lightning Bolt when they were just starting. I stayed with them until 1975."
JC broke his neck in 1980 and was semi-paralyzed for a year and a half. As he recovered he found that his hammering muscles no longer worked but his shaping muscles still did and so he embarked on a career as a full-time surfboard shaper. He started Island Fusion Surfboards (named in honor of his spinal fusion operation) on the Big Island but learned pretty quick that a surfboard business in that remote surfing area wasn’t going to support a wife and growing family. During the 80s JC took a job with Rusty and moved the whole family to La Jolla, "I learned a lot from Rusty," he said. "I worked with pros and learned how to make a surfboard properly. I learned how to analyze a surfboard and look at it as not a sculpture but a tool for somebody."
The Carper family got homesick and went back to the islands. This time they moved to the North Shore and John hit the ground running. "From just about the minute I got off the plane I was working and I have been working ever since." John worked for HIC and Island Classics and then in 1995 he started his own label, JC. "I wanted to have a complete surfboard company," he said. Since starting JC Hawaii John Carper has shaped for virtually every pro alive and more than a few of his boards have made movie and big-wave history under the feet of Shane Dorian, Peter Mel, Mike Parsons and Anne Marie Chadwick.
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DICK BREWER SUNSET GUN 7’5"
Raised in the Long Beach California area, Dick Brewer came from two generations of engineers. Blessed with the brainpower, skill and aptitude it takes to be a designer he would have been successful at any profession he chose. He chose surfing.
Life and a deep sense of adventure took him to Hawaii and in 1959 Dick began on a journey that he would continue for the rest of his life. He founded Surfboards Hawaii in 1961 and never looked back. In the 60’s Brewer worked along side such notable shapers as Bing Copeland, Hobie Alter, Rich Harbour & Duke Boyd. In 1965 Hobie Alter hired Dick to shape big wave boards exclusively. The Hobie "Dick Brewer Gun" evolved. During the 70’s he continued his work on the Mini-gun and continued to shape shorter boards. One notable board he developed during this period he called the "flip-tip." Ridden by Reno Abillera, the "flip-tip" was the sensation of the ’69 Huntington Beach contest. Soon after Dick Brewer Surfboards was born.
Dick went back to the south side of Kauai, where he spent the better part of the next ten years in seclusion developing new shapes and designs with Gerry Lopez. Dick and Gerry would shape a new model and take it out to a little known Kauai surfspot to test it out. Lopez would put his Brewer mini-gun designs to the test on the North Shore and he and Dick would fine tune and refine them together.
Throughout the 90’s Dick continued to innovate and advance his design skills working on the development of towboards with Laird Hamilton, Derrick Doerner, and Buzzy Kerbox. Brewer continues to be heavily involved in the evolution of the sport, constantly shaping new towboards with different foils and contours, and experimenting with different woods and materials.
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YATER HOT DOG 7’2"
Since the early 60’s a Yater surfboard has been synonymous with quality and performance. Owning a Yater meant riding the very finest shape combined with legendary craftsmanship. These prestigious boards didn’t come easy though - often limited to a select few or long wait. Reynolds and Lauran Yater are the consummate craftsmen, continually searching for the best possible way to produce their designs. A journey that started decades ago with Rennie’s involvement with Hobie and urethane foams continues today with Surftech. The new Yater Advance Tech is light, responsive and available in classic or contemporary designs. The legendary performance of a Yater manufactured in Surftech’s TUFLITE or Woody veneer constructions. All the heritage associated with Yater available in an equally impressive state-of-the-art epoxy construction creating the next generation of surfboard. Unreal performance, the looks of a wall hanger or show board!
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TOWN AND COUNTRY B-2 7’4"
Town & Country is a company that shares and perpetuates the stoke and aloha of the Hawaiian surfing lifestyle. At T&C they strive to create the highest performance custom surfboards, using superior materials, utilizing the best craftsman with the most advanced design concepts, to enhance the global surfing experience.
Glenn Pang has 32 years of shaping experience under his belt, having shaped for many top pros including Martin Potter, Marvin Foster, Simon Law, & Jason Shibata to name a few. Glenn’s boards are tested in the critical waves of Oahu’s North Shore and surf spots all over the world. The G. Pang logo stands for world-class craftsmanship. Surftech is proud to offer three new Glenn Pang models for 2005. The 6’2” X-3 with it’s single to double concave and lower rocker is an ideal all around small wave board. His 6’4” V-2W incorporates a medium rocker with single to double concave, which makes for a super responsive board for all conditions. Finally the 7’4” B-2 is the ideal transition fun board. The wider nose increases paddling while the slight vee and double concave loosens up the board to give it a shortboard feel.
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WATERCOOLED MINI MAL 8’4"
This mini malibu model, represents my love of the longboard surfing which
I started my surfing life with, blended with the performance benefits from the modern short board era which dictated my shaping career.
With the rounded pintail template and width from a regular short board thruster, coupled with a generous rocker, concaved "V" and a precision
rail design, an amazing performance is achieved. The board responds exceedingly well in very tight arcing turns from rail to rail, through to great forward trim and nose riding performance. The board provides both sides of the surfing spectrum with complete ease. It’s a real confidence booster to any level of surfer.
After testing different fin configurations, I decided to offer this with a 10" centre fin box and a side fin configuration utilizing Fin Control System (FCS). The board comes with my low base area 7" cutaway centre fin and GL model side fins.
From a complete novice to the most highly skilled surfer, the board will
(deliver ) a good stable platform with a outstanding performance just
waiting to be tapped.
Truly, I class this a " magic" board. Cruise it or push it hard, this
board will perform at a level you never thought possible. One wave on this and your imagination will begin to run wild. From the smallest "ankle
snapper" waves to double overhead and more! That will depend more on the skill and ability of the surfer rather than any limitation of the board.
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CHANNIN SIREN 7’2"
Channin established Channin Surfboards in 1970 with one goal in mind: to build the most beautiful, highest quality boards achievable. 30 years later and Channin Surfboards continue to develop and adopt new technologies, such as computerized shaping machines, exotic new resins and fabrics, plus innovative tools to enhance quality and efficiency. In the same way Tony has set the standard for quality craftsmanship in polyester construction, Randy French has revolutionized the sandwich epoxy surfboard concept. Today, Channin is proud to announce its partnership with Surftech and introduce its first four Tuflite models, the 7’2 and 9’0” Channin models and the 7’2” and 9’0” Siren women’s models.
The 7’2” CH2/Model F is the ultimate mid-length surfboard, balancing stability, maneuverability and ease of paddling in a 7’2” package that’s as at home blasting off the lip as it is screaming down the line. Flat rail-to-rail bottom contour at the mid section acts as an accelerator while the medium Vee in the tail allows for fast, agile turns. Rails are soft in the forward section of the board and harden through the tail for an extra boost that’ll get you around the slow sections and back in the pocket.
The Channin CL1/Ruler 9’0” was designed specifically to be a Tuflite model, building upon all of the design attributes that have made our CL1 Tri-fin a favorite for over 10 years. Soft, forgiving rails extend to the forward section of the board, allowing for easy recovery from off the lips and extended tip time. Hard, down rails in the tail coupled with a double concave make turns fast and snappy. Moderate nose rocker feeds into accelerated tail rocker, making this very sleek board a surprisingly confident nose rider. Well suited to waves ranging from fast beach breaks to classic point breaks, this tri-fin is the one all around board you need to have in your quiver. It can handle it all.
The Siren 7’2” Soul Desire is the ultimate mid-length surfboard, balancing stability, maneuverability and ease of paddling in a 7’2” package that fits easily under your arm. Flat rail-to-rail bottom contour at the mid section acts as an accelerator while the medium Vee in the tail allows for easy turns. Rails are soft in the forward section of the board and harden through the tail for an extra boost that’ll get you around the slow sections and back in the pocket. An excellent beginner board for girls who ultimately want to shortboard as well as a great all around fun board.
The Siren 9’0” Hot Tamale was designed specifically to be a Tuflite model, building upon all of the design attributes that have made the Siren Surfboard models so popular among girls of all ages. Soft, forgiving rails extend to the forward section of the board, allowing for easy recovery from off the lips. Hard, down rails in the tail paired with a double concave make turns fast and snappy. Low nose rocker feeds into accentuated tail rocker, making the Hot Tamale a surprisingly confident nose rider. Well suited to waves ranging from fast beach breaks to classic point breaks, this is the model the Siren girls rely on in competition. Girls at all stages of ability will find this board to be easy to surf, paddle, and carry.
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HAMILTON FREE BILLY 8’1"
The Stylist series, one and two, were designed and shaped by Bill Hamilton and John Price, owner of Surfboards Hawaii in 1967. They were very popular boards, especially on the East Coast. The late 60’s were a time of great change in surfboard design and the Stylist was one of the last great longboards.
In 1996, twenty-nine years later, Bill Hamilton recreated the Stylist II. “I tried to incorporate all the positive aspects of the newer design theories from past to present and the only part of that process that resembles the Stylist II is the outline and the name. Everything else is an amalgamation of new design theory”, says Hamilton.
“A really good working surfboard is made from very simple ingredients. It’s a marriage of ideas that have proven to work over time with one key element that makes it all come together - bottom rocker. This is the great secret of the shaper and what makes the difference between a good board and a magic one.”
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GORDON AND SMITH MAGIC FISH 8’0"
Larry Gordon is one of the men who put the "industry" in "surf industry." Over the past 44 years, Gordon has brought a lot of surfboards into the world. A lot of surfboards. Since he started blowing foam and shaping in San Diego in 1959, Larry Gordon figures he has been personally responsible for shaping and/or selling as many as 100,000 surfboards under the Gordon and Smith label.
In 1956 Gordon stripped, reshaped and reglassed his balsawood board. Then in 1957 Wayne Land custom-shaped another balsawood board that Gordon glassed. By 1959 Gordon was a 19-year-old Chemistry major at San Diego State College when, with no real experience he and his partner Floyd Smith, built a mold, bought chemicals began blowing and shaping their own foam blanks in Smith’s Pacific Beach garage.
Timing is everything and Gordon and Smith were perfectly positioned to supply the surfboard boom that erupted in the early 60s. "Surprised me," Gordon said, in the understatement of the late 20th Century. Gordon did about four years of production shaping before gradually turning it over to his stable of 6-8 shapers which at one time or another included Mike Hynson, Roger Ross, Jim Hovde, Paul Bordieri, Bobby Thomas, Rusty Priesendorfer, Hoy Runnels, Terry Goldsmith, Steve Seebold, Hank Warner, John Holly, Mike Eaton, Robin Prodonovich and Larry Mabile. To name a few.
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