Why buy off the rack?

I will begin by making an admission, I love foam. I like just a little bit more foam on my surfboard than most other people. I like to get into a wave nice and early and I like to catch a lot of waves. If people are not upset with me by the end of the session then I am not happy. Yes, I am an ass hole to surf with but that's a different story. I would like to tell you a little bit about why I expect more waves than everyone else.

The simple reason, apart from the aforementioned ass hole bit, is because I had a surfboard shaped for me by a real craftsman. A shaper that really treats every board he makes as a completely different entity. I have bought boards off the rack and had some good experiences but you can just tell the boards that are magic and those are the ones that are made for you.

So here is the question. Why buy off-the-rack?

Is it a spur of the moment thing? Or is it that we think we are all going to surf like a particular pro so we must have a signature board? Is it a money issue? Is it any cheaper to buy off-the-rack?

Lets tackle the money question, is it any more expensive to have a board made for me? Answer is yes. About 20 bucks more expensive! That is it!

How about the 'I will be sponsored one day even though I am already 35 years old' and buy Kelly or Taj or Toledos boards off the rack. These mass produced and apparently hand finished 'under licence' boards are copies of copies. And they are the same price as getting it shaped just for you. The fact is there are a handful of shapers around the world that make boards for the top Pro athletes and they are soooo finely tuned to those pros that why on earth do we think they would work for us mere mortals?

Check out this short film of Nico from Wavegliders showing you what goes into making one board for one person. (A real craftsman)

How many other sports do you know that it would be the norm to have you equipment tailor made for you and where that costs you same amount as buying one with cellophane rap and a price tag. Answer none. Its almost as if we owe it to these set of fortunate coincidences to do some experimenting and look at different craft and maybe change the way we look at buying surfboards.

In short support your local shaper or, if he/she is crap then support a good shaper that is local but make use of their skill and knowledge, I promise you will not regret it.Unless of course you surf like Kelly in which case make sure you order the up-to-date pro model.

I will leave you with a bit of a geeky video about the process that goes into making a board from blowing the blank to surfing the finished board.