Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Monday, November 22, 2010
POINT CONCEPT SURFBOARDS
Ryan Lovelace
Ryan Lovelace is a surfer/shaper who is the creator of Point Concept Surf boards in Santa Barbara, California. Lovelace constantly experiments and innovates new ways for people to find the flow, speed and simplicity in their surfing. We spoke with Ryan to learn more.
What was it like growing up?
I was born in Seattle, Washington. It hits me more and more just how lucky I was to come from where I did. My parents would let my brother and me cruise around and if we wanted say, a kite or some thing, we’d go to the front yard and pick out some bamboo and newspaper and get to work. That also included any contraption that we might be into: R/C airplanes, cars, boats. Then I got heavily into motorcycles through high school. It became a graduation from working on small things to bigger things.
What got you into surfing?
My dad. He surfed a bit back in the day and he would tell me stories. We’d also go visit my grand parents on Maui and we would spend hours in the water getting pushed into waves on a sponge. My uncle Mark had a sponge with retractable fins that blew my mind. It was the apple of my eye.
When did you get your first surf board?
I bought my first surf board with my brother from a huge jar of pennies and nickels we had accumulated from my dad’s pockets. We found a board at a garage sale behind my dad’s shop and we bought it for $100. We even went to the bank to change all our coins into cash for it. I still have that board.
Do you remember the first time you stood up on a board?
Not entirely, but I do remember a few days later, catching a little wave with my brother and my dad, and watching the reef go by under neath. It tripped me out. That was the first time I ever felt real “glide.”
Who did you look up to and admire when you were grow ing up?
My parents and their friends who did cool stuff. But I didn’t really have any all-time heroes or any thing, but I did like Nolan Ryan, Alberto Tomba, and a hand ful of artists.
Why did you start shaping displacement hulls and other alternative crafts?
For the first two years of my shaping, I followed the trends: keel fishes, gloss/polish jobs with hot rod pinlines and all the bells and whistles. I loved building those boards, but after 3 years of it just wasn’t clicking. I didn’t shape for 3 months and just went surfing the whole time.
Kyle Lightner asked a question: “If you could shape what ever you wanted, day in day out, what would you shape?” I said hulls. Because I’d been shaping them for myself for a couple of winters and that’s where my interest was. At that time, people weren’t quite on the whole hulling band wagon yet.
Kyle and I went surfing a few days later at Rincon and we saw this tall guy with a mustache riding a Liddle really well. Turns out it was Kyle Albers and the next day Lighner and I went to the shaping room. Lightner told me that Albers had never really found the limits of how flat and how bladed a hull could get – so I took it as a challenge. I laid down a long, straight template with a hip at the fin and added a really wide nose and just started going at it. Albers liked it a lot. Lightner and I scored countless days with that board at some choice spots, rode it in every thing and we loved it. It changed everything about my life and my shaping motivation.
Since then, hulls are pretty much all I have shaped. It’s what has been the most appealing to me. Being able to draw longer lines and flowing in the power band of the wave. It just feels connected to surf that way. All I’ve done since has been shaping the boards that I want to surf. Some how lots and lots of other people really like them, too. I couldn’t be more pleased.
What projects are you currently working on?
I’m working on what ever pops into my head. For every two boards I do for other people, I do one for exploration and fun. They end up being models for other people and the cycle continues.
Tell us about your crew and how they influence your shaping
Even more than shaping or surfing, I love watching my friends ride my boards. It’s the biggest rush to hang out and watch them actually “get” what I do in the shaping room. When I see the water flowing off the board and the weight being put into the perfect spot on the board and the wave, it makes me want to shape again. It’s whole reason I’m doing what I am doing.
What’s your most memorable wave?
Probably the double tube I had at Sandspit last winter. Shoulder high-ish, I was riding my Vampire Hull. It was the perfect board for a perfect wave. The tube was so square and so dry. And the sound that that wave makes is incredible as you sit in that vortex.
What is the most memorable place you’ve been?
Santa Barbara.
What is the greatest thing you have learned in your life?
If I do things from a position of strength and positivity, good will always win out. I’m still learning. The hardest decisions I’ve ever had to make have always been the best ones.
What meaning does surfing hold for you and how has it changed your life?
It’s some thing fun to do and it happened to have taken over my life. I don’t ever want it to become work because it’s given me freedom ever since day one. It’s a challenge and the ultimate “in the moment” experience – which is what we all live to find.
Who are some of the people you feel are shaping the path for surfing today?
People like Ryan Burch, Ryan Thomas, Morgan Maassen, Kyle Lightner, Trevor Gordon, Robin Kegel, Richard Kenvin, and Nick Palandrani. Greg Liddle and George Greenough. It’s funny how some of them are still shaping the path of surfing today… 40 years later.
In terms of building boards, I don’t know. Any one who is doing it for the right reasons and following what they love – and not doing what is trendy.
What is your favorite board? Your favorite surf spot?
It totally depends on my mood. I am open to riding any board on any day. I typically end up surfing 4–5 different boards in a session.
What’s your favorite meal?
It would be my Dad’s sacred BBQ salmon. And I’m really trying to learn to not love pizza so much, but it’s really difficult.
What are you currently listening to on your iPod?
If I owned one, it would be the John Butler Trio, Earth, Wind and Fire, Neil Young, Tom Petty, Bob Dylan, Stevie Ray Vaughn… too many to go with, but hopefully you get the idea.
What are you most grateful for?
My life, my friends, my “job,” Herbie, and my family. And the simple fact that we can ride waves. What’s next for Ryan Lovelace? At this point who knows? Every thing comes up organically so I don’t plan too much out aside from when and where I’m going to meet people. There will be lots of surfing this winter. And now I finally have a solid demo quiver for the guys here. I’m very interested to see what we get into.
in, http://www.liquidsaltmag.com/2010/11/ryan-lovelace/#more-6755
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Friday, November 5, 2010
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Montauk’s Duct Tape Invitational
By SURFER - October 18, 2010 - 16:55
Joel Tudor and Vans' hard work paid off with a successful inaugural Duct Tape Invitational. Photo: Glaser
“Surfers, drugs, and rock ‘n’ roll sometimes went together,” writes Nat Young in his book The Complete History of Surfing. Last week, Joel Tudor teamed up with Vans to deliver the Duct Tape Invitational, an event where 16 handpicked longboarders were unleashed upon the town of Montauk, New York, to prove that Nat’s comment still applies today.
A legendary father to the surfing world, Nat is referring to an era that preceded the current generation of battle-faced, exercise ball-toting pros. “I genuinely felt there was more to surfing than competition,” he continues. “Many young surfers today are missing out on the possibility of expressing themselves through their surfing because their lives are dominated by contests.”
Joel was, and always has been, the exception to Nat’s generalization. Sure, Joel has spent his fair share of time garbing contest jerseys and slapping sponsor logos on his quiver. But no one can deny that Joel wandered into a realm of surfing that no other young surfer dared search out during the early- to mid-’90s, a time when shortboarding was the only way to roll if you were an ambitious kid looking to make it in the pro lineup. Instead, as an immensely talented surfer, Joel spent his time toying with board shapes and styles of surfing that the rest of the industry viewed as antiquated and unprogressive. Little did the surf world realize where this seemingly aimless path of counterculture would lead Joel and his eventual cohorts.
Last weekend’s blur of an event featured two days of heats, none of which can be considered genuinely competition-focused. The rules of the contest basically went like this: F–k it. There are no rules. Just four colored singlets, 25-minute heats, a few tents on the sand, and an open bar tab. Snaking, burning, crossing over—it was a free-for-all. In fact, competitors were awarded $500 to split for the best doubles ride in every heat of the event.
Age and sex didn’t matter either. From Herbie Fletcher to Kassia Meador, the roster of competitors was skewed with a variety of talent. Psychedelic stylemaster Robbie Kegel, a smooth operating Alex Knost, and a perpetually barefooted, facial hair-harvesting Chris Del Moro were a few among the crew to invade Montauk.
Admittedly, there wasn’t much focus on pre-contest preparation, better known as “getting in the zone” by what Del Moro calls “jock surfers,” but you can bet there was plenty of creative, and sometimes daring, maneuvering going down in the heats. From feet-first paddle-ins and hanging tens over the infamous Ditch Plains rock to a bit of ass-jiving to the Talking Heads playing over the loudspeakers, there was no lack of classiness to the antics of the Duct Tape Invitational.
With local Montauk surf boss Tony Caramonico on hand for weather and swell insight, the call was made to run the semis and final at dawn on Friday. Tony’s call was spot on. The tribe (well, most of them) stumbled across the freezing sand at sunrise to discover 2- to 4-foot lefts with roaring offshore winds rolling toward the contest site.
–Darlene Conolly
Justin Quintal, winner of the Duct Tape Invitational and $4K richer. Photo: Glaser
In the end, Florida’s Justin Quintal cruised his way into ownership of a giant foamboard check that boasts the sum of $4,000, while Noosa Heads local Harrison Roach pulled into second place with $3,000. Montauk staple Mikey DeTemple walked away with third place and $2,000 and California’s Tyler Warren claimed fourth place and $1,000.
Vans wrapped up the weekend with a private party and concert by Public Enemy, Mos Def, and Flavor Flav at their newest locale in Brooklyn. Yeah. Amazing. The weekend was like that.
Justin Quintal, balancing amid the strong offshores. Photo: Glaser
Jared Mell, having a quick chat with Joel Tudor before the Final. Photo: Glaser
Alex Knost, practicing on a miniature insider before the heats began. Photo: Glaser
Tyler Warren, stylizing. Photo: Glaser
Unlike most surf contest, there was a $500 check for the Best Tandem Wave. Photo: Glaser
Jumanji, Troy, Alex Knost, Jared Mell and friends, hiding from the wind between heats. Photo: Glaser
Most swells on the East Coast are created by local windstorms that make for short interval swells. Tyler Warren noserides on the inside, while Harrison Roach sets up on the outside. Photo: Glaser
Mikey DeTemple, making sure everyone's having a good time. Photo: Glaser
The local surf community were pleased to play host and many came out to show support. Photo: Glaser
Despite rolling her ankle skateboarding the day before competition, Kassia Meador still ripped in the small, windy surf. Photo: Glaser
Jared Mell and the legendary Herbie Fletcher get ready for their second heat. Photo: Glaser
An Ode to The Pacific
Frances Surf Session
- Chris stars in the Frances Surf session mag – A article entitled “A Hippy Named Del Moro” and gets his latest shots in the new ODE to the Pacific Surfer Mag…
in, www.bingsurf.com
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
South swell
to Nazareth "North Beach".
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Longboard Hobie Legacy
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