The Alley Fish Fry

UK Fish Fry report

Rob Royal who put the Fish Fry together this year at Crackington.

Crackington central

Check out the festivities via Marco Mazzini's blog report :
whataniceride.blogspot.com/2011/09/european-fish-fry-2011-17th-sept.html

Marco was out here for last years Alley Fish Fry and I stayed with him in Italy this June. Great guy and a great surfer. He and good friend and shaper Michele Puliti of Ola Surfboards have a loyal group of surfers at there local beach at Pietrasanta. They both traveled to the UK Fish Fry as well. Thanks guys for keeping the ball rolling.

New " Velo" Simmons on the way

This is a fish I did early last year that has been an idea of mine for a while and just had to see how it would come out and perform.

And this is a Simmons that I have built quite a few of this year.

I have been playing with this idea for quite some time and it seems to be a great fit with the shovel nose Simmons I have been making of late.

I was inspired by the Greenough spoon and a couple of " Wilderness " boards I have seen.

Concave " S " deck and fine rails through the tail

Should be fun. Just wish I was a lot smaller guy to give it a run myself. 5ft 4" x 23" x 2 1/2" with Rasta Keels from Futures

Brad Kelley's quiver

Brad hales from Los Angeles and has been experimenting with a few shapes of his own that he would like to share.

" A yellow 4'10" mini-simmons with a spoon nose, a 5'10" double wing quad swallow-tail fish with a double stringer, a 6'0" single wing quad dove-tail fish, and a 6'0" regular foot asym-tail."

A pretty nice selection to have some fun waves on for sure. Mixing it up and feeling out these different boards is a great experience. Thanks mate for the pics.

A little Simmons action in Cornwall yesterday

4 ft 10" of fun

Nathan Tummon taking his little snub nose Simmons for a local blast.

" Here are a few pics from my surf this morning which I have literally just got back from! its just a beachy next to where I live in Cornwall called Harlyn Bay......its a fun wave, bit of a close out at low tide but can get really fun."

Looks like a fun morning and a great way to start the day for anyone.
http://ntsurfboards.blogspot.com

The " Dumpling " is evolving

" This is a Dumpling which is one of my designs, its evolving alot lately from its original form which was basically a big mini-simmons with a quad fin set up and some tweaked bottom contours but recently I have been looking for more performance and making some super fun variations...this one is 5'5" x 20 1/2" x 2 3/4", it'll be a quad and I'm glassing it super light for maximum liveliness and resposnsiveness in the small stuff. I have been playing with some different rails in the tail of a few boards recently too, looking for MORE realease so I have been doing them with hard, sharp and bevelled angles and they have been going good, less hold but more release, just playing with different stuff to get em going as good as I can..."

Great to see guys experimenting and being inspired by things from the past. We are living and surfing in great times. Just need some waves this week.

Mini Simmons for the UK Fish Fry

Nathan Tummon just sent these shots of a couple of his boards that he took to the UK Fish Fry last weekend.
"Hey here are couple of recent Mini Simmons ive been playing with the one above ^ is a 4'10 x 20 x 2 stub nose and also a 5' x 20 x 2 1/4 swallow tail Simmons "

Check out his other boards : www.ntsurfboards.blogspot.com

I believe the boys had a good turn out but got rained out and had to move inside. Got to love the English weather.

Dick's new toy

Dick Van Straalen is not a young man and he loves his surfing , so is always experimenting with new boards and ways of enjoying the waves. Here is his latest creation a 5ft belly board. Kind of Simmonish and kind of small, but fun.Nice one Dick.

A new season for Rake

New season stringerless Trash Can 5' x 21 1/2" x 2 3/4" - light strong and double foiled fins

Gearing up for summer as it is nearly here.

A bit of road testing in Bali on the 5'0 Cookie

The Trash Can Simmons with new rocker , new refined foil, new fins . narrower outline , Arctaill, new logos . Shaped by Adrian Knott 5'0 x 21 1/2" x 2 3/8".

Adrian Knott from Rake has been busy with new models for this summer and created a new line up of his great little craft.Look forward to seeing them out and about.

Ryan speaks his mind and puts it out there.

Ryan Lovelace from Santa Barbara who was at this years Fish Fry has just posted the following comments. I must say that I support him all the way. Hand shaping a board from scratch is an art that is rear these days. Finishing a CNC shaped board is a skill for sure , but light years apart and to say you hand shape boards and you don't is not on.

It seems trivial to a lot of people, and to others it's a pretty hot topic; but either way, the term hand shaped is being bastardized pretty hard at the moment. The following isn't a rant, just a humble observation on some wordage and some pretty blatant lies being told.

The term hand shaped, for years, has referred to a board that was whittled down by a planer, sandpaper and whatever other hand-held tools the shaper liked; chunks of foam flying, tight lines and experienced eyes laying down the cuts that make up our favorite boards. Not a CNC shaped board, that was then 'hand finished'. Finished and shaped are two very, very different words.

There seems to be a rash of shapers marketing "Hand Shapes" that when you do a little looking into, are most definitely not hand shaped. I'm not sure what the thought process is behind calling a machine shaped board anything else, but taking some router bumps down with a sanding block doesn't warrant the use of the term hand shaped. I'm sorry, but customers are being lied to daily and thousands of people are walking around with CNC shaped boards sporting the term hand shaped.

Let me digress for a second.

Machine shaped boards are fine, they surf, and they look nice like any other surfboard, they get glassed and have pretty colors.

What it comes down to though, for me, is creating a belief around your product through marketing and the terms that are used, and then selling something else. Thats telling a lie, just like our mommy's told us not to. I don't frown upon machine shaped boards too heavily, just the lack of distinction and honesty behind them.

Heck. If I was making machine shaped boards, I'd market THAT; they are flawless, perfect copies of each other and you have a very very narrow margin for mistake, that's got some value. My feathers start to get ruffled though, when every few weeks I learn exactly whose boards are machine shaped and marketed as hand shaped. When you're being dishonest and toting a term thats not applicable, in order to make a product more 'classic' and warrant a higher price tag, the truth usually comes out.

I'm guessing that most people reading this at the moment are thinking shortboards, hp longboards, etc. as the products I'm speaking of. When what I'm talking about are full on 'retro' 'classic' or 'alternative' boards. The ones all over the blogs and websites that you're cruising through today, by big, popular shapers, by the most 'soulful' shapers. I know people who have sold their entire quivers once they figured out the truth about their "hand shaped" boards. Making one or two honest hand shapes per week (I'm giving you guys the benefit of the doubt on that one), and 20 machine shapes, doesn't deserve the term 'hand shaped' for all of your boards...It's a blatant lie and to me just shows lack of respect for your customers.

Machine shaped boards have a place in the industry and honestly are likely the only way to keep board prices under $1,000 in the coming future. The demand for boards is just too large and honestly not everyone wants to spend more money on a hand shaped board. There are people out there though, doing justice to the term and being supported by people who care. I'd just like the lines to stop being blurred, and for everyone to be proud of what their product honestly is, even if it's machined...Just own it.

There's a laundry list of guys who fall under the pointed comments above, and your heart would likely break if I named them and you cared much for the debate.

I'm not trying to out anyone in particular. I haven't written this directly at one person or another, these are thoughts and bits of conversations I've been having for the past couple of years.

I'm pleading for some honesty from my fellow shapers that are, in their quest for their place in an honorable craft, dishonoring one of the last real traditions within it.

Pass this on if you feel like it, I hope the message is clear and not misread.

Fish Fry 2012

The Fish Fry next year will be as always the first weekend of March. If you were at this years Fish Fry you will have noticed a changing of the guard if you like . Not only fishes but other boards on display as well. This was a first but also if you like a natural progression and evolution for this group of like minded people. I have tried to explain it as follows...

It all started with the fish when the innovative shapers and board builders out there decided to revisit the past for some inspiration. In doing so they brought back some lost skills such as resin tints and hand foiled fins.The Fish Fry has been a place for these fine craftsmen to showcase their skills. We have seen some amazing boards as shapers have pushed the boundaries over the last few years. As this new look at the fish has evolved to its many forms, it has influenced other shapes and designs along the way.This has spawned a renewed interest in other board forms by this same group and a wider following.Notably the Mini Simmons, Hulls, old school Logs and Pigs. It is pleasing to note that there are an increasing number of people building their own boards as well.

All of this is to be applauded and celebrated as a positive for surfing.So it is only natural that these shapers and board builders continue to share their skills with us and include these other shapes at the Fish Fry.

It has truly become a melting pot of ideas for like minded people , and I think it is great.

So please if you are one of the many people out there that is having a go at shaping your own boards , bring them along. There is no better feeling than surfing something you shaped yourself.

The dual fin Bolt by Tomo

This looks like a fish to me...

More like a gun here...

This is from Daniel Thomson's blog...
" I have been privileged with the opportunity to shape some concept guns for Lightning Bolt Surfboards. The legendary brand has stepped up to the plate and ordered some of my new Dual Fin Guns as a part of their revival push in the U.S

The Bolt once ruled the big wave domain in Hawaii in the late 70's and Early 80's. This era saw the peak of the world class surfer/shaper's Gerry Lopez, Mark Richards, Rory Russel to name a few, refining their own sleds to tackle the gnarliest waves in the world. I have always loved the foil templates of this era. Bullet noses with clean accelerating curves. Full Fluid Accelerators !!

It was my goal to try to re-produce this proven curve with all the modern design elements. Basically, I shaped a modern version of a 7'6 and 8'0 Lightning Bolt Pin Tail, proceeded to saw approx 6-8" off the tail before cutting in my (mini) Raptor V1 & V2 tails for low drag control.

I figured losing the pin tails adding the Raptors would open up the turning radius (tighter Arcs) reduce drag (speed increase) and balance it out with a naturally controlled, Parallel Dual-Keel fin setting to provide a stable, predictable ride.

Think of it as a ‘Double single fin’ with heel/toe control rather than a ‘twin-fin’ .

Furthermore, i feel there will be no loss of paddle power as the now wider pod area will lift the tail into waves resulting in a smaller more efficient big wave package.

I decided that the high velocity ‘Tomohawk Keels’ were apt for these designs to combat the extreme laminar pressures apparent in big wave surfing. The leading edge of the fins will efficiently cut through the water with effective rail to rail pitch. Once the board is on rail, the clean parallel rail outline will engage, the hatchet fin will flex and load accelerating the rider through the turn. I have experienced no cavitation as a result of using the particular angular fins,

Whether or not this is a breakthrough in big wave performance will remain to be seen.

But logic suggests, two is better than one, faster than three and four and all the performance boxes are ticked and circled. Cant wait to launch over a few ledges this Coming Winter.

*Special thanks to Moonlight Glassing for the pro glass jobs."