The 9ft " Pelican Glider "

 John Cherry's younger brother Frank with his new Pelican Glider - the name given by John to his Simm-21 model when they are over 8 foot long.

 Great looking hand foiled wooden fins by John of course

 Pretty happy looking bro I would say and why not.

"  It has a low, relaxed rocker, with very subtle single-into-double concave.  He has a 7-0 and and 8-0 simm-21 as well."

 Frank rode it Tuesday and Wednesday up at Rincon with a solid 6-8ft swell running.  He got all the waves he wanted, some of which were 300-400 yards long!  He says it really hauls ass down the line

" I tried to talk him out of “shark lure” black as the color.  But he wouldn’t hear of it.  Rincon is right in the middle of “the red triangle” in the winter months.  I guess the great whites weren’t biting (busy breeding and feeding on seals) those days.  A good thing."

The Wounded Warrior Fish

Bobby getting ready to wet it's head

Betty, Bobby Donnelly and John Cherry at the Wounded Warriors Surf Camp in Del Mar .

John Cherry has some very special mates , Bobby Donnelly and Christopher Tomlin who have served their country and come home wounded. Bobby lost his right leg, below the knee. Chris just got blown up 3-4 times in Humvee's. His injuries are slightly less apparent outwardly, but equally traumatic. Bobby and Chris, both accomplished surfers, are very involved and dedicated to the Wounded Warriors Surf Camp at Del Mar, California.

They both love their surfing and wanted to keep doing it. This inspired John to design a new board that would enable them to still enjoy the stoke that was a big part of their lives.

Great looking John Cherry fins

A bit of the Simmons influence there ?

John Cherry wrote " At 5' 1-1/2" x 22-1/2" x 3" with a wide overall template these young athletes can hopefully paddle it into waves. It has a fast hull design, employing a subtle single-into-double bottom, low profile single-foil, Simmons-ish twin keels, set forward for maneuverability and (2) hand holds just forward of the deck concave for extra control. Peter, Sally, Gary Stuber and the crew at Moonlight Glassing have donated the glass job. Dave King of King SUP'S is donating the pad that will cover the deck concave area. I would like to thank them all for helping me with this project."

What a great looking board and what a great team of friends to get together and make this happen.
I was sent a note from Bobby Donnelly which read -

"On behalf of all the guys & gals down at the camp, Thank you so much.Words cannot express how much your donation, time and craftsmanship is appreciated. It's a beautiful board, the glass job is impeccable, the traction from kings is perfect and of course those fins are killer.
Thank you for sharing the stoke and feel free to come down any Thursday and have a paddle out or just hang and socialize with the troops. From my perspective as an amputee surfer it's so great to see people in the industry or any surfer take time from there busy work day to come down and spend any time at all with the guys. I am extremely grateful and proud to have served our country for people like you.

Very Respectfully,

Bobby Donnelly
EOD, USN, AD

For me , surfing is about having fun and time on the water with friends .It is great to see that these guys have such great friends that can band together and make this happen for them. A great story that I am very happy to share with you all.

Now this is a fish

Here is an 11 foot keel fish shaped by Rich Pavel for Steve Schirmacher

Fins by John Cherry

Steve's ride report ," Rode it at a little corner at Trestles today and this board is beyond words..."

More big fish

Skip Frye the master with a board to glide the point and slide the bay.

John Cherry shapes a great board and the finest fins to go with them.

It would be great to have both of these gentlemen join us at the Fry one year. They sure have inspired me over the years.

John Cherry and the 7ft 2" Simm 21, plus the 10ft 10" swallow tail glider.