board#065: shortboard for Aiden (Team rider)

notice how Aiden sacrifice his shoe
to make sure his board is safe!!!

Dimensions: 5'1 x 16 3/4 x 2
[Completed in September 2014]

The story: Aiden's family and mine share the same playground. For months we have been surfing the same break, made castles with the same sand, went down the same trail. We are Beacons's crew!!! I noticed Aiden for his cute hairstyle and most of all for his surfing skills. This kid can surf!!! I could also see how he loves being in the Ocean, either on a pink foamy board, or with a short board or a hand plane, anything that would keep him in the Ocean... I approached his mom, Colleen, very surfer too, as I was looking for young talents for my brand. Few months after, we decided to make Aiden a board for his next NSSA competition season. Let me introduce you my youngest Team rider: Aiden Sprunk.

The shape: Aiden was 11 when he ordered his board.  He urgently needed something bigger and longer, more than his current board to accommodate for growth spurt! He brought his beautiful DHD Darren Handley Designs board and I took the outline and we discussed what new dimensions would fit Aiden better. We had a pretty tight timeline in order to get his  board ready within 4 weeks for the first contest of the NSSA season.

The artwork: Aiden was inspired by the boards I made for Rudy Marechal (click here). He asked for a purple blade with brush-painted stripes. The glassing was done at Global Glassing in a record time to make sure Aiden gets his board on time for upcoming contest. Thank you Global Glassing!

Testimonial: Few days after picking-up his board Aiden rode it at the contest and made it to the finales ;) 

with mom

board#048, #049, #051, #52: full competition quiver for Rudy Marechal

Dimensions: confidential :)
[completed in May 2014]
Model Vedette

The story: in the last episode I was shaping some performance short boards for French pro Surfer Rudy Marechal (see previous post here). After he tried them out, he ordered a full quiver for the QS contest season in Europe. Big deal!!!! The biggest so far. 

The shapes: of course, the shapes were all derived from the model I created for him ("Vedette"). We worked a lot "on paper" to make sure I get it right with all the little differences for each of them. Of course, length was a variable. But also one had a round tail and others had subtile changes in the squash tail. All of them had the Vedette signature: some volume on the nose for front foot rider with very spread stand, deep single to deeper double concave, and the (now famous) round rails! Rudy and I decided it would make more sense to shape them in parallel, step by step, in order to stay consistent throughout the whole quiver. Basically, I would remember better what I did if I was doing the same step for all of them at once. No need to say that that was very stressful and tiring physically and mentally. I dedicated a full month to this project.

The glassing was done by Global Glassing (Oceanside). The whole team, including the big boss, Jeff, made sure the boards were perfectly glassed ultra light. They did a wonderful job in a record time. Thank you Johnny for the hard/awesome work!!

The artwork: Rudy was very specific about what he wanted. He drew sketches of the blue/black/white designs he wanted and I could not change his mind!! As usual, he was pretty damn right about the finish look of his quiver. I like the thematic with different flavors from board to board. The artwork was intentionally simple  in order to accommodate for all the sponsor stickers.

The breaking news!!!!:  Rudy was set to travel to France for his contest season last week. The day before he was supposed to leave, he was told by a US governmental agency that he could not travel outside the US for an undetermined time. To make a long story short, Rudy had to miss his flight and he is not going to participate to the European QS tour. 

As the shaper of his quiver, I am, or course, very disappointed by the news. But I am even more saddened that he can't get to see his family and friends (I know he missed them so much and Capbreton!). I wish him the best of luck in his private life as well as on the waves!

Vedette factory 

Mere-Made tails

Rudy and his Dad!

Rudy's picking up his quiver was documented by Cody
(but that is another story :)

stacked Mere-Made boards

that is a lot for one man!

behind the scenes

Ze official picture of Ze happy shaper!

Bye bye … :(

Board #020: performance fish for Vincent

Dimensions: 5'5 x 20 x 2
[completed on March 2013]

This shape is 100% original as I worked with the Surfdesigner software from Atua Core to create a high performance fish for my husband as he likes to compete in the fish division during his day-long surf contest events. I had the strict requirement of a minimum of 15 inch wide at 12 inches from both the nose and the tail to be considered as a fish by the officials. Because I got  a bit under those dimensions on the tail, I had to shorten the swallow tail to regain some width. As usual, Vincent wanted a thin board, no volume at all and he made me remove volume until I said : "it is a large short board with a swallow tail!" Performance, performance was the goal. Well, this board looks like it is going to ride like a flying fish!

The artwork is minimalist. Vincent wanted something classic for a fish. He was answered. But man,  these designs are very hard to make: the curves of mine got a bit wobbly on some parts. But at the end, I like it as it emphasizes the big-o Mère-Made logo. Vincent better represents the brand well at his next fish contest! Go Hubby!

5 fins setting for more versatility

almost as skinny as Vincent!

Ducking is a useful skill at Swamis

Cross steps on a 5'5!

behind the scenes (me taking pictures of Vincent for my blog)

Vini, Vidi, Vinci

Duck diving towards... victory

Last week-end, I witnessed my (only) team rider won the two divisions he entered at the WSA contest in Pismo Beach. He got first place in the Master division but more importantly, he won the Open men division which for a guy his age (38_sorry darling:)) is a big deal!!!!
I was so excited to be with the whole family on this beautiful beach of Pismo Pier, cheering for him very loudly. Of course, I got ecstatic when he made it on the podium, twice, holding tight on his Mère-Made short board.

if you know my hubby, you know it is true :)

MERE-MADE !!!!!!! 

Daddy is definitely a model for his own next generation

Proud sponsor of my... hubby :)

See that Mère-Made surfboard next to the big trophy?
It is a second place for my team rider at the WSA contest (aster division)
in San Onofre earlier this month!