Blog

WSL Longboard Tour Is ON!   Now that the WSL shortboarding world tour has ended for the season, the focus has moved to the longboard tour, which has two championship events on the roster, as well as a 1000-point qualifier in Brazil in November. The longboard world tour kicks off this week on September 29, as 36 of the world’s best longboarders (18 men and 18 women) head to the Surf Ranch in Lemoore, California. The world’s most famous wave pool hosted a specialty longboard event in 2020, but this is the first time that results at the Surf Ranch will...

Lynne Boyer Surfing World Champion & Hawaii Artist The other day I was at Kewalos checking the surf, and I was two women painting in the grass. I decided to go over and check out what they were doing, and while I was talking to them I found out that one of them was Lynne Boyer, the 1978 and 1979 surfing world champion! I ended up talking to both women for a while, and Lynne told me her story, which was really quite interesting! She moved over to Oahu with her parents when she was 11, as her dad was in...

Carissa Moore and Gabriel Medina World Champions Photo Credit to WSL This was a weird year for the WSL world tour. The abbreviated season started at Pipe (it normally ends there), then had events at Sunset and Steamers Lane cancelled due to COVID-19 concerns. A four-event leg in Australia got things going again, but then Brazil and Tahiti were cancelled due to the ongoing pandemic, which left only two events on the schedule—the Surf Ranch and Mexico. When the dust had settled, Gabriel Medina and Carissa Moore had both dominated and were way out in front. But to make things...

 Real Sun Cover  When it comes to modern sun protection, there are three main aspects that need to be considered—adequate protection from the damaging and often dangerous UVA and UVB rays, a formula that contains no harmful chemicals that can affect your body, and environmental sustainability. In other words, you need an effective sunscreen made from natural ingredients that are good for both your skin and the ocean. This is exactly what Real Sun Cover  offers, which is why we are so excited about this sunscreen formula. Made with only four ingredients (non-nano zinc oxide, organic extra virgin olive oil,...

Be Cautious! Fake Firewire Website They say that if it’s too good to be true, then it probably isn’t—and that’s precisely the case with a fake Firewire website that’s been tricking lots of surfboard buyers recently. As you probably know, Firewire is one of the leading surf brands in the industry. It has revolutionized epoxy board construction and has a huge stable of shapers and team riders, ranging from Tomo and Dan Mann to Rob Machado and the entire Slater Designs team. Firewire also recently added the Thunderbolt line of boards, which includes designs from longboarding legends such as CJ...

NEWSLETTER SEPTEMBER 2021 The Future of Wave Pools in Hawaii When you think of wave pools and the places that “need” them, you don’t often think of Hawaii. After all, we have one of the best swell windows on the planet, and enjoy consistent, large swells from the north all winter and waves ranging from surfable to epic from the south all summer. Considering how much surf we get naturally, it wouldn’t make any sense to build wave pools here, right? Not so fast.  As it turns out, there are four (yes, four!) potential wave pool projects currently in development...

DAN MANN ANSWERS QUESTIONS ABOUT HIS NO BRAINER MODEL Dan Mann is an avant garde surfboard designer and shaper who has recently joined the stable of shapers at Slater Designs. Dan recently took the time to answer some questions about his No Brainer model, covering topics such as fins, sizing, skill level, ideal wave, and more. If you’ve ever considered adding the No Brainer to your quiver, here are some guidelines straight from the man who created the board. Fins: The No Brainer works best with a quad setup, giving you drive and speed through flat sections when you are...

South Shore Swell Of The Summer Mason & Michael Ho surfing Ala Moana Bowl on the South Shore of Oahu It’s been a little over a week since the biggest swell in years lit up the south coasts of Hawaii’s various islands, and now that the mist has settled we have the opportunity to look back and consider everything that happened. Here on Oahu, the swell was so big and south that many spots that are normally epic weren’t working at all. At the same time, other reefs that are normally close-outs saw rifling, 6- to 8-foot barrels! 😱 Bowls...

Unlock Your Performance Potential with the Xero Gravity SHOP NOW Model: Xero Gravity. A fusion of a number of JS’s most popular shortboard models.Ability: Intermediate to advanced shortboarders looking to take their shred game to the next level.Type of waves: Waist- to head-high, rippable waves.Fin setup: FCS and Future thruster.Construction: The Xero Gravity is available in PU and HyFi construction.Size range:  5'9" X 19 X 2 3/8 V27.85'10" X 19 1/4 X 2 7/16 V29.55'11" X 19 1/2 X 2 7/16 V30.26'0" X 19 3/4 X 2 1/2 V326'1" X 20 1/2 X 2 11/16 V36.5 The Xero Gravity is...

What's New! Ben “Skindog” Skinner’s Signature Fins The best surfers often make the best board and fin designers, and Ben “Skindog” Skinner is no exception. A world-class longboarder from the UK, Skinner has won the European titles 11 times and finished as high as second on the longboard world tour. He also has his own line of boards, designed and built in collaboration with shaper Jason Gray. Now Skindog has added signature Flying Diamond fins to his quiver, with both a specially designed center fin and his own set of twin fins. Skindog has been refining the Subcenter Surfboard fin for...

The Ultimate Surfer—ABC’s Newest Surf-Themed Reality TV Show Photo Credit to @ultimatesurferabc The Olympics just awarded its first surfing gold medals, Bali and Puerto Escondido are on lockdown, COVID-19 is still raging, and the WSL has adopted some hair-brained new competitive format whereby the world title will be decided at a one-day champions event at Trestles. Just when you thought surfing couldn’t get any weirder—well, it turns out it can. ABC announced a new surfing reality TV show this week, and, based on the trailers, it will be chock full of beautiful influencers, cheesy drama, and, of course, Kelly Slater....

Surfrider Spirit Sessions With Ezra Rodriguez and Hawaiian South Shore Surfrider Spirit Sessions were created in 2006 through a collaboration between executive director Cynthia Y.H. Deroisier and Girl’s Court therapist Emma Pavich. Inspired by Deroisier’s book “The Surfer Spirit,” Pavich asked Deroisier to join her in creating a program that used surfing as a platform to reach at-risk children. In 2009, Surfline Spirit Sessions became a registered, independent non-profit corporation, and it received its 501©(3) status in 2010. It provides six events each year for 100 Oahu youth (during spring, summer, and fall), exposing them to the challenging and empowering...

The CarboTune Construction by JS Surfboards JS Surfboards is at it again, announcing the release of a new carbon fiber-based board construction process. “Carbotune” promises to revolutionize the surfboard industry, providing the ideal weight/flex ratio of carbon fiber at an affordable price, combined with next-generation epoxy resin that is engineered to work specifically with carbon fiber.   The Carbotune process starts with a stringerless EPS blank, which is widely considered the industry standard for vacuum-laminated epoxy boards. Once shaped, the blanks are vacuum-bag laminated with specially designed sheets of carbon fiber that take into account specific angles and weight of...

CLARK FOAM Photo Credit to: SURFERTODAY.COM Clark Foam was a pillar of the surf industry for over four decades. Founded in 1961 by Gordon “Grubby” Clark, the company made the vast majority of surfboard blanks used by shapers throughout much of surfing’s modern history. Grubby Clark grew up in California and surfed the heavy redwood boards of the 1940s and 1950s. While he was still a teenager, Clark worked for legendary surfboard designer Tom Blake, who invented the first surfboard fin. He also worked as a glasser for Hobie Alter while studying for his bachelor’s degree at Pomona College, placing...

SURFING NEWS AUGUST 2021 Surfline Spirit Sessions With Ezra Rodriguez and Hawaiian South Shore Surfrider Spirit Sessions were created in 2006 through a collaboration between executive director Cynthia Y.H. Deroisier and Girl’s Court therapist Emma Pavich. Inspired by Deroisier’s book “The Surfer Spirit,” Pavich asked Deroisier to join her in creating a program that used surfing as a platform to reach at-risk children. In 2009, Surfline Spirit Sessions became a registered, independent non-profit corporation, and it received its 501©(3) status in 2010. It provides six events each year for 100 Oahu youth (during spring, summer, and fall), exposing them to...

Local Hawaiian surfer Carissa Moore won the first ever Olympic gold   The 2020 Tokyo Olympics marked a monumental milestone for surfing, as the sport made its Olympic debut and saw its first ever gold medalists crowned. On the women's side, Hawaiian superstar Carissa Moore etched her name in the history books by claiming the inaugural Olympic surfing gold. The 4-time World Champion from Honolulu defeated South Africa's Bianca Buitendag in the finals to ascend to the top of the Olympic podium.   View this post on Instagram A post shared by Team USA (@teamusa)   Moore's triumphant Olympic run...

The Good With the Bad Exploring the Reality of Surf Travel With Kids   When it comes to surf travel, we typically only see the glitz and glamour—the tubes and triumphs, the waves we score and the cultures that we are immersed in. What we don’t often see are the speed bumps along the way—the mistakes and misfortunes that are part and parcel of the travel experience. This week I was reminded first-hand of how difficult travel can be. As the run of south swell in Hawaii trickled to a close, I headed to San Diego with a buddy’s 15-year-old...

SURF TERMS THAT YOU MAY OR MAY NOT KNOW OR UNDERSTAND Surfers have our their lingo and it can be pretty confusing for non-surfers or even the most experienced wave riders. I often have people in the shop asking me to explain some of the more fundamental surf lingo. Here are surf terms I’ve defined: What is a wind swell? And what is a ground swell? You often hear people at the beach referring to wind swell and ground swell and saying things like “Hmm, the waves are a bit bumpy and weak. Looks like we only have a bit...

Surfing Makes Its Olympic Debut This Week!