It is always great to see new ideas evolve

They may not all be what some would call fish exactly , but they certainly are a close cousin .It is always great to see people thinking outside the box and experimenting and blending ideas and design elements to come up with something different.Sage Joske from Valla Surfboards near Coffs Harbour has created the Vector above. Sage is an avid Alaia and fish shaper and rider and from this the Vector was hatched.
This is the Anderson Stealth 6' 4" and is an obvious marriage of the two, like a fish on top of an Alaia , then add fins.This is in California.
Fins for bite when you need them and out when you don't.The foam will certainly help the paddle into a wave.
The fish and the Alaia marriage is an interesting one, but not unlikely.I would say the Simmons is pretty well involved in there as well.This is the sort of thing that will be seen at the Fish Fry in 2 weeks time.

The Fish Fry - a gathering of afishionados

The Fish Fry will be a gathering of all parties interested in "The Fish" and all things of a fishy variety. There are always interesting new boards and ideas. A chance to meet shapers and check out what they are doing. Swap ideas , try a new board or be inspired to head home and have a go at making one in the shed yourself. There is sure to be something to catch your eye and plenty of interesting people to met and talk to . A very simple day in the park. Bring your lunch and chill for the day with your board.

Great illustration by Ben Waters from TCSS.

Matt's Christmas holiday project

Greg Wheeldon is an Architect from Brisbane who did the board building class with Paul Jensen last August. His son Matt was keen to build a board , so with his dads guidance he was kept busy over the Christmas break.
" Matt wanted something different, so we cut the deck and hull boards at 450, inset a woven bamboo panel into the deck nose and tailpiece, and hull nose. On the hull we turned the boards back to parallel, to give the tail and fins more interest."


" We even managed to form a 5mm concave to the hull nose, and a 3mm double concave to the tail under the parallel board section."





" He is keen to show it at the Fish Fry so we will see you there ." Would love to see the board at the Fish Fry Matt, this is exactly what it is all about. A great life experience for anyone to build their own board .


Proud dad with his board he built with Paul Jensen at The Eco Village last year.

Marco Mazzini from Italy to be at the Fish Fry

Marrco is coming out to check out the Alley Fish Fry as he gears up for the European Fish Fry to be held on the 25th of September at Versilia Italy later this year. It will be great to host him and show him around.It seems as though the word has spread far and wide and the day has come of age. There were over 35 shapers last year as well as plenty of guys who are building there own boards , which is great to see. I am looking forward to another great rollup. Hope to see you there.

How wide is wide ?

Now this board look fairly well proportioned , until I tell you it is 6ft 3" x 29" wide. I know you thought it was a Mini Simmons , well it is actually a belly board. Now that is some planing area. Pics were sent to me by Paul Jensen of his mate Jeff Chamberlain's new board.Should be a flyer.