board#040: shortboard for Jimmy

Jimmy at Illumina: "Inovation is in our DNA" 

Dimensions: 6'1 x 19 3/8 x 2 3/8
[completed in March 2014]
Model "Versatile"

The story: Jimmy sits next to me at my "other" work. We share the same lab and have a Spotify Master Playlist we listen to. He knows my favorite song to play when I am having a bad day: The Lazy Song from Bruno Mars... In brief, we are lab buddies! We actually started working at Illumina at the same time! Jimmy came from Santa Cruz where he studied and surfed. Soon he ordered a board.

The shape: it happened that I was ready to shape Jimmy's board when my mentor David Charbonnel (SWOP Surfboards) was visiting from France. We all met at the beach, surfed together and David was able to assess the kind of board/shape Jimmy would be the most likely to enjoy with regard with his current surf skills. It was decided Jimmy would need an overall "rounder" short board while keeping the squash tail and fast concave. In brief something playful but with plenty of room for progression. Like usual after I spend some time with my mentor, I got a "shaping boost" and shape #040 with a lot more confidence than #39. 

The artwork: Jimmy designed the artwork. He liked the black widow I made previously (board#013) but he wanted to introduce a scientific twist. He thought about the virus design and created it on an online illustration software. I loved the idea and I know why… I am a scientist too after all!

The testimonial: (as it appeared on my Facebook wall)

"Valerie!! I just got back from my first surf session with the board and it was sick!! It was so fast! I'm pretty sure I caught the best wave of my life today. And if Mere-Made Surfboards had yelp id give it infinite stars!! 

Thanks again Val! Keep making awesome boards! "

"28 days after" vibe

seems so biohazardous in my shaping room

in the lab,  just for the photo shoot