board#090: shortboard for Ian

Ian, his cool car and his new Mere-Made

dimensions: 6'2 x 19 1/8 x 2 1/4

[completed in April 2015]

Model Vixen

The story: I was vacationing in Hawaii last March when I get that text from Ian saying that I need to get back asap to San Diego to shape him a new board. He had just broke his getting out of a barrel at Blacks (not bad of a way to break a board!). 

The shape: Back home, I worked with Ian to fine-tuned his new board, based on the previous version (see here). The previous one was shaped for Costa Rica. For this one, he expressed the wish for a more polyvalent board. We widened the tail and decided for more forgiving rails. The bonus is that I used a collector Clack Foam blank I had preciously kept for the proper shape. 

The artwork: The idea was to have a white board for Ian's professional activity. He is a stock photographer and plain white board is visually ideal for most of the photoshoots. Logo had to be very discret too for the same reason. Fortunately, Ian had found a very cute track pad to bring a personal touch.

Testimonial: see screenshot below.

Isn't it a cute track pad ???!!!

board#063: shortboard for Ian

sunrise color board in the sunset

Dimensions: 6'2 x 18 1/2 x 2 1/4
[Completed in August 2014]
Model Vixen

The story: just one month after Ian got his first Mere-Made (board#042), his house was broken into and the robbers took the board along with a couple of Bing. Although it is the first stolen board in Mere-Made history, I wished there was no such "first"… But Ian is not the kind of guy to let the fate dictates his life. Quickly he put another order to replace board #042. 

One day he called me to go surf and said: " I have a surprise for you in my car…."  Because he just came back from a surf trip in Costa Rica I thought he brought me back a little something… Until I realized he was handing me the original board I was supposed to copy the first time around… When he saw my disappointed face he realized the confusion and we both had a good laugh about that. Yes, I guess, for a shaper it is a gift to have the board you are supposed to reproduce :) !!!

The shape: same shape as board #042. I used the same template. But this time I had the original board from Bill Johnson in hand for the volume distribution/rocker. The additional special instructions from Ian was to make it a tiny bit wider but loosing some foam under the front foot.

The artwork: Ian submitted his idea of a reverse rail overlap on the bottom with a baby blue-to-white fade through a very fancy sketch he sent me online. I added a little grey fading on the tip of the tail which gave the cool sunrise color effect. The glassing was done at Global Glassing Oceanside (as usual).

Concave: checked!

Mere-Made on top of the original

Ian's vision of the artwork. pretty cool sketch!

tens of birds above our head during the sunset photoshoot

board#042: shortboard for Ian

Dimensions: 6'2 x 18 3/8 x 2 3/8
[Completed in April 2014]

The story: I met Ian when I was picking up one of my boards at the Bing glass workshop. He just finished a photoshoot of the Master Matt Calvani in action.  Ian is a photographer (click here). We exchanged business card and soon, he was shooting me in action in my purple shaping room for stock photography  purposes. Later my whole family was under the spotlight as we did another photoshoot at the beach, portraying the "typical surf family"… Yeah, we are I guess a surfing family ;) Soon Ian became our friend and he now comes over for beers and for Mere-made surfboards!

The shape: Ian ordered a very specific shape he liked from a board he has… in Costa Rica. From the pictures and dimensions a friend sent him, I tried to reproduce the board without seeing it. In order to be more accurate, I brought Ian in the shaping room for the rail shaping step and he helped to finish up the fine sending. The resulting board was pretty close to its original but ended up a bit narrower which made it more a Blacks board rather than a D-Street board. Ian said it was the first iteration of many orders (:)) and he is expecting to refine the details while we go.

The artwork: because of its number (#42), Ian wanted something related to the famous comedy science fiction series: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. "42" is The Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, The Universe and Everything. On that light note, I spray painted the logo for the movie and its famous phrase "Don't Panic". Easy. Thanks Ian for such a simple request ;)

The end of the story: a little more than a month after Ian got his board, it got stolen at his house along with a couple of Bing surfboards. I hope this is the first and last time I have to report that in my blog...I hate to think that the board I shaped for Ian is in other hands. When I think about it actually, it is better than if it got broken in half… At least  someone somewhere is surfing it… I am just sad for Ian… On a more positive note, he got to try it a couple of time before it disappeared and had a nice documented barrel with it :)

tailoring the tail for Ian

Work! work!

Ian mounted a GoPro on the nose...

pretty rad pics!

in it!