life is short, when you have time to get in the water, ride good boards!
I've been very fortunate to make a living by building custom boards since 1986.
I made my first board at 17 years old in my mother's backyard (she was happy I had the drive to make myself a board, not too stoked on the mess.....I think there is still resin on her back porch). At 18, I was invited to join Bob (shaper, designer) and John (laminator and sander) Miller at Advanced Surf Designs (ASD) as a polisher. John broke his leg 6 months later and I got thrown into the laminating and sanding room. At that time we were making mostly polyester sailboards with a few surfboards in the mix. About a year later we began vacuum bagging PVC (polyvinyl chloride) to lightweight EPS (expanded polystyrene) foam cores. By 1988 we were vacuum bagging 80% of our product. Our boards were strong, very light weight and won numerous events.
I moved to Ocean Beach, San Francisco in 1989 to attend SFSU's Industrial Design program (while working with Bob and John). I finished school and opened SF Surf Shop in 1994 with fellow shaper/builder John Schultze. We had a very unique shop by today's standards. As owners, both of us were also shaper/builders and we were at the shop every day. Our shop was also very much a part of the community as we hosted neighborhood BBQs at the shop every few months.
In 1999 I moved to the North Shore of Oahu, where I have lived ever since. Here I have been able to meet and make boards for a bunch of good people and some very talented riders.
some recent accomplishments:
2008 Hawaii State Governor's Innovation by Indiviuals Award
2009 Molokai to Oahu 14' SUP stock division 1st place - Andrew Logreco
2010 Molokai to Oahu 14' SUP stock division 1st place - Andrew Logreco
2010 ASP Longboard World Tittle - Duane DeSoto
2011 Molokai to Oahu 14' SUP stock division 2nd place - Andrew Logreco
2011 Co-founded FLIGHT BOARDS HAWAII - click blue icon to view molded boards
2012 Stand Up World Tour at Sunset Beach 1st place - Bonga Perkins
These accomplishments were all made possible by using leading edge (enviromently sensitive) materials, advanced building techniques coupled with functional designs.
I am happy to build custom boards in any construction, but currently I am most excited about the "stringerless" EPS boards with a vaccum bagged bamboo veneers for surfboards and surf SUPs and carbon/bamboo for distance SUPs.
