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."

Short and funky

The boys in Sydney are vamping it up with these little numbers. Sean Wilde and Mark Gnech have quite a following with these wee craft. Check them out at :http://gnechsurfboards.blogspot.com
and :  http://vampiratesurfboards.tumblr.com

Single fins at Burleigh

The 15th Annual Burleigh Single Fin Classic was run last weekend and it is great to see what modern surf style and old boards can do.



15th Annual Single Fin Festival Burleigh Heads from Billabong on Vimeo.

The Fish Fry in POC magazine

This is a piece written by Shannon Denny in the UK about the Fish and the Fish Fry. If you would like to check it out :   POC

Single to double

Sweet little board from Bernardo Sodrefrom Brazil - 5'10'' X  20" X 2 1/12". To checkmout what else he is up to : umbeskate.blogspot.com

Pretty to watch

Intuition from Ryan Lovelace on Vimeo.

A nice selection of Kiwi Simmons

Noe Bridler from New Zealand sent me these great looking simmons that he has been building for himself and customers.
  " I thought I'd share some of my backyard creations, noticed you said there's not many mini simmonesque boards over this side of the ditch well that's true. So I focused mainly on them with the images, been shaping a few short ones for myself and then some mid size ones for customers. I do wooden tail blocks and linen deck inlays etc focusing on a handmade one off custom board.
Anyway cheers for a great blog and happy new year! "
Noe

Check out his other boards at : http://noesurfcraft.blogspot.com

The Gold Coast, yes it gets crowded but we sure get some fun swells.

We have had a great run of swell and Noosa and Byron didn't miss out as well. But it has hung in here much longer with some great banks , 25c water and crystal clear to boot.

You have to love what this guy does...

The Waxa Chip

 I just love the antique , rustic glass job. It really siuts these boards

These are Waxa Surfboards new Chip  model, which is Scott Robinson's take on the mini simmons. Each of these boards has been completely hand made by Scott including the fins. Pictured is a 4'10 , 5'2 , 5'0.  
Scott embodies exactly what the Fish Fry is about. Someone applying art , design and craft to build great looking boards by hand. Old school with a modern twist just how we like it. Can only hope he makes it to this years Fish Fry.

If you would like to see more of Scotts great boards and old school logs , you can check him out at :
waxasurfboards.blogspot.com

Kiwi Simmons

There aren't many simmons of any shape or size in "the land of the long black raincoat" New Zealand,
but here is a fine example by Roger hall of Surfline Surfboards in the North Island.

 "Hot out of the factory and in to the showroom racks today, Mini Simmons, 5'4'' x 20-1/2'' x 2-5/8'', Such a sick little board, Resintint bottom and rails, Pinlined with a customized Surfline logo, LokBox finboxes with LokBox Pavel twin keels."

www.surfline.co.nz

Burleigh single fin contest this weekend

Burleigh Heads, Queensland Australia
6 - 8 January 2012
Once again surfboards from before 1982 are being dusted pulled out of the garage and made ready for competition for the 2012 Burleigh Boardriders Single Fin Classic presented by Billabong.
 Competitors in previous years include: – Mick Fanning, Occy, Luke Egan, Dave Rastovich, Cheyne Horan, Gary Elkerton, Bede Durbidge, Jay “Bottle” Thompson, Jockey Damien Oliver, and Rugby League legend, Andrew Johns just to name a few.

This year Occy, and Luke Egan will don the singlet again, but will have a troop of up and coming champions giving them a great run for their money for the Single Fin Classic Title. 2011 Champion, Clint Kimmins will be defending his title, and is keen to make it 2 in a row. Here are some of Clint’s thoughts on the event-

“The single fin is one of those events that you just really want to win. The contest isn’t about the money or the prizes- it’s about trying to surf well in front of your mates. I respect all the old boys out at the point and to surf on the boards that they use to ride back in the day is not only fun but also a great challenge.

Burleigh is a place that I’ve grown up surfing; I feel I know the waves really well so I’m hoping for a repeat performance of last years win. There’s always a great vibe on the point and the event pulls a good crowd. Everyone is hooting and cheering and it just feels good when you pull the heat jersey on. It’s an honor to be able to surf the point in a contest on a single fin. “

One of Clint’s good mates, Noah Lane, was runner-up in last year’s event, and is keen to grab a win in 2012. Noah is a Burleigh Boardrider, and has been competing in the event since he was 10 years of age. Noah’s Dad, Justin was a member of Burleigh Boardriders, and Noah is the local crowd favourite. His dynamic backhand style has earned him a wildcard to the Breaka pro for Burleigh Boardriders, and will definitely one to watch. Other Burleigh Boardriders to keep an eye on will be young guns Josh Hyland, his brother and former winner, Tim Hyland. Another former winner to keep an eye on will be ASP Australasian Pro Junior Champion of 2011, Thomas Woods,  Woodsy won the contest in 2010, at only 17 years of age.

The Burleigh Boardriders Single Fin Classic, presented by Billabong, is to be held Saturday and Sunday, the 7th and 8th of January 2012. Limited entries are available, entry forms can be found at burleighboardriders.com.au , competition commences 8am both days.

The Burleigh Boardriders Charity Luncheon will be held at Burleigh Bears Leagues Club, from 12pm on Friday 6th of January 2012. Tickets are $100, which includes food, refreshment, and entertainment. To purchase tickets contact Burleigh Boardrdiers Treasurer, Andrea Ford, on 0755354349, or andrea @ fjpcs.com.au.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year to you all for supporting me with the Fish Fry. Lets hope the year ahead is a little better than what we have endured this year. Fish Fry six next year, how time flies.  I hope you and all your families have a great year ahead.

The Brazilian Simmons

These two boards are built by Bernardo Sodré from Brazil. Red: 5´3'' X 21'' X 2 3/4'' Yellow: 5'5'' X  21'' X 2 3/4" , both with S-deck and Paulownia wood fins.


Check out his other projects at : umbeskate.blogspot.com

Wild old day at the Alley , Christmas Day Cyclone swell

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to all of you who have supported me this year. There have been some great boards built and many guys experimenting and trying new things. Looking forward to what you come up with next year.

Have a safe and happy time with family and friends where ever you are.

Grant

Tristan, the little Frenchman

Tristan Mausse is a very talented and very busy little guy. He is the artist who created this years illustration for the Fish Fry. He is also a fantastic glasser and polisher , who travels the globe plying his trade. On the way he is documenting his travels and producing a film of the glassers and some of the unsung heros who help create those wonderful boards we all admire. I first bumped into him in Byron a couple of years ago as he came in to introduce himself to Evan at North Coast Surfboards looking for work. He later did a stint at Classic Malibu in Noosa and then moved back to France to work with good friend and fellow artist Paul Lefevre. He is soon off to California to work at Lost Surfboards.
Here he is working on the Fish Fry art. Thanks Mate.

I first knew of Tristan with his very popular blog Mini Simmons Religion which was a great window to what was happening with the simmons in the very early days. He has a number of blogs to his name
* www.glass-sandingjob.blogspot.com
* www.nopainindream.tumblr.com
* www.glasslove-artwork.blogspot.com
* www.powersludge.com

" Hey, this is a trailer of my film documentary as i'm doing right now! It's a trailer with the Australian part only, because I'm actually doing this film, so my travel / film is not finished yet.


Next week I leave Australia, for go film in California, and after Canada, Nicaragua, Costa Rica."


SACRE BLEU is a documentary film of 1hour 30min, which calls the best glassers / shapers / artists / photographers around the world to tell their story, it is also a travelogue, which traces the 8 months of my experience going through the world to work myself in all these workshops surfboards, since I am myself Glasser. Starting with Australia and California, Canada, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and the film not just talking about "glassing" because it incorporates many different images lyfestyle, surfing (many images aquatic ), skate, music and landscape. The soundtrack is composed entirely of small independent artists, who explore the roads of the "post-rock", "instrumental hip-hop", "punk-hardcore" or "folk"
I am currently filming the movie, the release is not expected before summer 2012."



SACRE BLEU Trailer, Séquence Australie from No pain in Dream on Vimeo.

Having fun...

Rhythm x Board Culture // Pasted from Rhythm Livin on Vimeo.

That home built enthusiasm is great...

 Keith Nevelee ," Tiki " to his mates is a keen back yard shaper who loves to build boards for himself and his mates. I first met him at this years Wooden Board day.

 " Had these two to make and, as you might know I still work fulltime and do boards after work, so , production for me is 6 a year, they are both quads the shooter is 6' 3 and the Pocket rocket is 5'1x 201/2". The 5' is for my eldest son who is a shortboarder of a young 40 years of age , his feedback has been great with the board excelling better than the last one I made him which was 4'9  x 22" and was a twinny, I hope to make it to the fish fry next year but I'll have a few hurdles to get over to make it but, I will try. "

 Not sure what is with the nose horn here Tiki ?

  " I am making 2 boards that are very similar , they are both longboards 9'6"  and 9'8' but are reverse templates off Roy's Velzy Jacobs Balsa one is a pintail the other a squaretail...."

" Hope everything is good up your way and until next Cheers and Aloha "

Tiki

Where it all started...

I just love the look of hand foiled ply fins and resin tint fishes. To me a classic look that evokes the art and romance that made the fish the board of choice to bring us all together in the beginning of the Fish Fry. This interest and experimentation has been the driver for the great wave of innovative shapers to keep the ball rolling and apply their skills and passion onto other shapes. And this is what you will see at the next Fish Fry on Sunday the 4th of March 2012.

The other great thing is that there are so many guys out there having a go at shaping a board themselves and experiencing the thrill of surfing something they made themselves. There may be mixed results , but don't judge till you have had a go yourself.

So if you are one of these experimenters , the invitation to share the passion goes out to you to bring whatever you have built along.