• Support
  • Advertise
  • Locations
  • Contact
Monday, June 5, 2023
No Result
View All Result
NEWSLETTERS
San Clemente Times
  • Calendar
    • Event Calendar
    • Submit an Event
  • Sections
    • Eye on SC
    • Soapbox
      • Submit a Letter
    • Getting Out
    • SC Living
    • Sports & Outdoors
    • SC Surf
    • Dana Point Times
    • Capistrano Dispatch
  • Digital Edition
  • Best of SC
  • Explore SC
  • Legals & Classifieds
    • Locals Only Business Directory
    • Classifieds
    • Submit a Classified
    • Obituaries
    • Announcements
    • Submit an Announcement
    • Legal & Public Notice Advertising
  • Special Publications
    • A New You
    • Aging Well – For the Young at Heart
    • Best of San Clemente
    • Crib to College
    • Festival of Whales Event Program
    • Go See Do
    • Good Eats
    • Holiday Happenings & Gift Guide
    • Money Matters
    • San Clemente Trolley Route Map
    • Summer Camp Guide
    • Swallows Day Parade & Mercado Event Guide
    • The Green Issue
    • Triton Football Preview
  • SC Guide
  • Real Estate
    • South County Real Estate Guide
    • Real Estate – Who’s Who
  • Calendar
    • Event Calendar
    • Submit an Event
  • Sections
    • Eye on SC
    • Soapbox
      • Submit a Letter
    • Getting Out
    • SC Living
    • Sports & Outdoors
    • SC Surf
    • Dana Point Times
    • Capistrano Dispatch
  • Digital Edition
  • Best of SC
  • Explore SC
  • Legals & Classifieds
    • Locals Only Business Directory
    • Classifieds
    • Submit a Classified
    • Obituaries
    • Announcements
    • Submit an Announcement
    • Legal & Public Notice Advertising
  • Special Publications
    • A New You
    • Aging Well – For the Young at Heart
    • Best of San Clemente
    • Crib to College
    • Festival of Whales Event Program
    • Go See Do
    • Good Eats
    • Holiday Happenings & Gift Guide
    • Money Matters
    • San Clemente Trolley Route Map
    • Summer Camp Guide
    • Swallows Day Parade & Mercado Event Guide
    • The Green Issue
    • Triton Football Preview
  • SC Guide
  • Real Estate
    • South County Real Estate Guide
    • Real Estate – Who’s Who
No Result
View All Result
San Clemente Times
No Result
View All Result

Choose Your Summer Surfboard Wisely

Staff by Staff
April 15, 2021 3:45AM
in SC SURF, Surf Headlines
Choose Your Summer Surfboard Wisely

Italo Ferreira flies high on his Timmy Patterson shape en route to a big win at the Rip Curl Newcastle Cup last week. Photo: Courtesy of WSL/Matt Dunbar

0
SHARES
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

With World-Renowned Shapers in Our Backyard, Shopping Local Is a Great Idea

By Jake Howard

The first south swells of the year have graced our shores, water temps have begrudgingly inched up a degree or two, spring break is in the rearview mirror, and all that means summer can’t be far off.

It also means that it’s the perfect time to get an order in for a new board or two before the upcoming warm-water season.

Last week, Carissa Moore and Italo Ferreira won the Rip Curl Newcastle Cup in dominant, statement-making fashion. Under Carissa’s feet was a board shaped by Matt Biolos. Under Italo’s feet was a board designed by Timmy Patterson.

Both are local shapers based in San Clemente, and while they’re expert craftsmen sought out by the world’s best surfers, they also make ridiculously fun boards for the everyday surfer.

And it’s not just Biolos and Patterson. San Clemente’s industrious “Surfboard Ghetto” alone is home to a number of world-class shapers. And a little further north up PCH, artisans such as Tyler Warren and Gary Larson at Hobie epitomize what it means to build beautiful wave-riding craft.

Italo Ferreira flies high on his Timmy Patterson shape en route to a big win at the Rip Curl Newcastle Cup last week. Photo: Courtesy of WSL/Matt Dunbar

Whether you’re buying a board straight off the rack or are interested in going the custom route, to have that kind of access to that kind of equipment is something to celebrate.

I recently stopped by the Surfing Heritage and Culture Center in San Clemente, and next door to them are the good people at Catch Surf. Behind their building was a mound of cardboard boxes from what I would assume was a recent shipment of new foam boards from its overseas factory.

“Brands like Wavestorm and Catch Surf, among others, are produced in Agit Global’s 75,000 square-foot Taiwan factory,” reported Surfline’s Dashel Pierson in April 2019.

Mystery solved. Now, I’m not saying that all foam boards are bad—even though I’ve come to loathe Costco’s Wavestorms—kids are learning on them, guys are charging Pipe on them, and they don’t hurt when they hit you in the face. There are all kinds of upsides to having a foam board or two in your quiver. I have several, in fact.

But as I drove away from the Catch Surf offices, I was struck by the contrast between these mass-produced joy machines and the expertly crafted blades that are made within a 5- or 10-mile radius. And I guess that’s my point this week; when it comes to picking out a new surfboard for summer, there is no shortage of choices.

If it’s a user-friendly, durable, ride-anything kind of board you’re after, there are lots of interesting options in the foam board space. But there are also a lot of amazing surfboard shapers, glassers and sanders who live in our community and benefit from local support.

As evidenced by Moore’s and Ferreira’s performances in Australia last week, they literally make the boards that world champions ride—which means they’ll work just fine for your marathon Trestles sessions.

And by supporting your local shaper, not only are you putting money back into the area’s surf community, you’re helping ensure that the tradition of surfboard building lives on for another generation.

This area has a long and distinguished history of surfboard construction. Heck, if it wasn’t for Grubby Clark and Hobie Alter back in the day, who knows what we’d all be riding today?

Over the years, those early, first-generation shapers—including Patterson’s father and uncle, Ronald and Raymond, who were employed by Hobie—honed their skills and were able to pass that knowledge along to current shapers such as Timmy.

Meanwhile, Biolos, who was born in nearby Orange, was adopted by some of the key players in the local shaping community, who helped foster his emerging talents.

If surfboards are going to keep evolving and getting even more fun to ride, somebody has to design and build them, and while you might just be ordering a new board for summer, that investment could help ignite the career of the next great local shaper.

Jake Howard is local surfer and freelance writer who lives in San Clemente. A former editor at Surfer Magazine, The Surfer’s Journal and ESPN, today he writes for a number of publications, including Picket Fence Media, Surfline and the World Surf League. He also works with philanthropic organizations such as the Surfing Heritage and Culture Center and the Positive Vibe Warriors Foundation.

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)

Related

Tags: Carissa MooreCatch SurfFoam SurfboardGary LarsonGlasserHobieHobie Surf ShopItalo FerreiraMatt BiolosOrange CountyRip Curl Newcastle CupSan ClementeshaperSummersurfsurfboardsurfingSurfing Heritage and Culture CenterTimmy PattersonTyler Warren
ShareTweetPin
Staff

Staff

Related Posts

Assistance League Provides Scholarships to Local Graduating Seniors

Assistance League Provides Scholarships to Local Graduating Seniors

June 2, 2023
GALLERY: Newest Class of 2023 Triton Alumni Celebrate Commencement at San Clemente High

GALLERY: Newest Class of 2023 Triton Alumni Celebrate Commencement at San Clemente High

June 2, 2023
Dana Wharf Whale Report: Incredible Variety of Species Delight Recent Trips

Dana Wharf Whale Report: Incredible Variety of Species Delight Recent Trips

June 2, 2023
GALLERY: San Clemente Celebrates Independence Day

Ocean Fest to Launch Ticket Sales for Annual Independence Day Dinner

June 2, 2023
Next Post
Grom of the Week: Avery McDonald

Grom of the Week: Avery McDonald

Discussion about this post

No Result
View All Result

SC Times Daily
Get important news and updates delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up here.

Subscriptions
Don’t get the SC Times delivered to your home? Subscribe today.

Advertising
Get new customers and drive traffic to your business. Advertise with us.

Support Local Journalism
For less than the cost of a couple of cups of coffee a month, become an “Insider” member and continue to get “Local News You Can Use” from the only independently owned, dedicated local news organization in South Orange County.

Contribute today.

Picket Fence Media is a proud member of the SoCal Media Network.

  • Archive
  • Contact Us
  • Dana Point Times
  • The Capistrano Dispatch
  • Terms of Use
  • About Us

© 2023 Picket Fence Media

No Result
View All Result
  • Calendar
    • Event Calendar
    • Submit an Event
  • Sections
    • Eye on SC
    • Soapbox
      • Submit a Letter
    • Getting Out
    • SC Living
    • Sports & Outdoors
    • SC Surf
    • Dana Point Times
    • Capistrano Dispatch
  • Digital Edition
  • Best of SC
  • Explore SC
  • Legals & Classifieds
    • Locals Only Business Directory
    • Classifieds
    • Submit a Classified
    • Obituaries
    • Announcements
    • Submit an Announcement
    • Legal & Public Notice Advertising
  • Special Publications
    • A New You
    • Aging Well – For the Young at Heart
    • Best of San Clemente
    • Crib to College
    • Festival of Whales Event Program
    • Go See Do
    • Good Eats
    • Holiday Happenings & Gift Guide
    • Money Matters
    • San Clemente Trolley Route Map
    • Summer Camp Guide
    • Swallows Day Parade & Mercado Event Guide
    • The Green Issue
    • Triton Football Preview
  • SC Guide
  • Real Estate
    • South County Real Estate Guide
    • Real Estate – Who’s Who

© 2023 Picket Fence Media