board#133: shortboard for Lizzy

Lizzy and board#133

Dimensions: 5'8 x 19 7/8 x 2 1/2
[completed in June 2016]
Model V-land

The story: Lizzy contacted me after hearing about my shaping hobby through the Wahine Kai Surfclub in Huntington Beach. It was a delight to meet her as a person. She is beautiful, smart and humble... and very determined to have a woman shape her next surfboard.  I was so proud she picked me!

The board: when Lizzy contacted me by email she expresses the frustration of not being able to paddle in the waves easily. She brought her current board over and with Vincent's help we narrowed down the ideal dimensions fort Lizzy's custom board which would allow her to ride a shortboard without the struggle of getting onto the wave.  Mostly adding volume over all with a fuller nose than the classic performance shortboards.  I didn't forget to add my deep single concave going into double for speed.

The artwork: Lizzy got super lucky that Gauthier Richard, a talented digital designer was staying at my house when I was ready to paint her board. He offered to "sketch" 15 options for her and she just had to pick her favorite.  Thank you Gauthier !

Gauthier Richard (GIRCA) designs fro Lizzy: guess which one she picked...

board#066: shortboard for Robert (and Catwoman!)

Rob is holding his gift board from Lily and her parents!

Dimensions: 5'9 x 19 1/2 x 2 1/2
[completed in October 2014]
V-Land model

The story: This story is pretty unique and neat. One day I get an email from a friend of mine requesting a custom surfboard for…her daughter's teacher… ??? The board would be a parent-to-teacher gift to tell him how much they appreciate all the good work and progress made during the year Lily was in his class. Isn't it like a teacher's fairy tale??? So, I got in touch with Robert (the teacher) and he was, of course, delighted to get a custom board for free (you bet!). Then I realized he is not only a neighbor (he walked to my house) and a surf comrade (he surfs the same spot as me!). Encinitas is such a small world!

The shape: Robert studied my blog and picked the V-Land model I created for Sam (board#015). I agreed it would be perfect for our home spot and we modified few dimensions to accommodate to Robert's tastes. I also added a bit more rocker than on the previous V-Land to make it more permissive on steeper waves.

The artwork: Robert suggested some very simple black rails (probably because the original V-land also had black rails!) but as usual I got carried away by my imagination. I really liked the metal patches with fake screws that look like steal plates I just made on board#064. I decided to surprise Rob with some plates additions on the rails. The finish is classic and cool at the same time. But the best part, to me, is the little drawing that Lily made for her teacher on the tail…

(Global Glassing is behind the wonderful glass as usual)

[selected by Boardporn]

How cute is Lily's little sun???!!!

The board just got back from the glass shop on Halloween day and I was Catwoman that night…
A steal plate board was the perfect accessory for a superhero photo shoot :)

Board #015: shortboard for Sam

Dimensions: 5'7 x 19 1/8 x 2 1/4
[Completed in august 2012]

To make a short story even shorter, this short board is very .... short.

I met Sam, new owner of board#014, on the beach at a the Switchfoot annual Bro-Am last June. If you read my Eat, Surf, Love blog, I posted about that very crazy story of meeting with a french surfer who knew about my shaping activity from an interview on the "french Surfline"... Well, he and his wife Taina are now very good friends. Because he is a hard-core/passionate/crazy surfer, he asked me to shape him a custom board: a tiny short board, keeping some volume towards the chest, with a very flat rocker to compensate for the overall shortness of the board. With the round pin tail he asked for a 5-fin FCS box set so he can ride it as a thruster but mostly in a quad setting (his preference). The beast was designed for serious action in the steep 6 foot waves raging during the winter season at his favorite surf break: Blacks. Black are also the rails as firmly requested by the owner. I was a bit reluctant about going for such a simplistic design at first. I usually like to bring colorful contrasts but I have to admit that the black rails are very classy and they emphasize the Mere-Made logo.

This board has teeth...

shorter than a flower

Sam discovering his new toy

Sam testimonial (in french sorry):

"anyway, ce matin, j'ai pu surfer ta planche dans des vagues plus sympa qu'hier!! et bien content! surprise backside, malgré le quad la board tourne in the pocket!! bien rapide, bonne glisse! frontside j'aurais aimé avoir plus de vagues.. et plus longues pour avoir plus de turns. sur un cutback j'ai eu un bon feeling, tourné là encore bien court.

seul flip, faire des face plant un jour de gros!! car le rocket et vraiment tendu!!!! pense que je la surferai le matin only.. quand c'est glassy sans clapot!

 mais so far.. great feeling!"

Thank you Sam, I am very proud that a Mère-Made Surfboard is now a Blacks local :)

11/27/12 update: pictures talk more than words. See Sam shredding on his Mère-Made board at Blacks last Thanksgiving day. 

Sam on board#015 at Blacks (Photo: courtesy of Samuel Bertin)

(Photo: courtesy of Samuel Bertin)