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.

Byron Bay Surf Festival


 What a great day we were greeted with at Wategos Beach. First up at 6am we paddled out for a tribute to Donald Takayama and from there the numbers grew as people embraced the day and all the boards and activities taking place.
 Toru from Japan had people making their own handplanes throughout the day
 He had a great range of tools and planes for everyone to use
 Lachlan Leckie from The Salty Merchants had a nice range of fins on display
 Dead Kooks
 Eden Saul from Dead Kooks helping himself to a nice 13" fin
 Retro Classic Malibu board
 Peter White of Classic Malibu in the middle and some great looking boards as always
 The local surf club did a roaring trade
 Ryan Lovelace and his girlfriend from Santa Barbara made the trip out for the day with a about 8 boards. One was too long for the airlines so he cut it in half and put it back together when he got here.
True story.
 Every man and his dog was there.

 Toru passing on the vibe




 Simon Jones of Morning of the Earth Surfboards
 This Italian guy from Rome liked my wooden board and took it for a spin
 The kids had a ball
 A happy girl with her days work.
Make a date to go next year for sure

Byron Bay Surf Festival this weekend

Check out the site for all the details of a great weekend coming up : www.byronbaysurffestival.com

See you there we had a great time last year.

RIP - Donald Takayama

The passing of a legend , a talented shaper and surfer.

Fins and Fishes

Californian, Steve Schirmacherlikes his fishes and big boards to. Here are some off his latest additions to the quiver. Skip Frye is a favorite shaper of his for sure.

 7'9" diamond tail Fish Simmons, 7'7" Derek Hynd style fish. Both are 22" wide and 3"

Check out his great blog of big and interesting boards.  the-big-slide.blogspot.com.au

 Steve, has been using some of our Gold Coast Burford blanks for boards like this as they make a 
12' 3" blank which is pretty rare these days. Rich Pavel took one back with him last year after the Fish Fry and that got the ball rolling. Rich has shaped a few for his mate Steve as well.

Surfing in Tuscany , Italy - better than you might think

The locals in Tuscany are a passionate crew of surfers who have developed a culture of their own. They love to surf , skate build their own boards and celebrate all that is surfing.Right in the middle of all the high end beach clubs and hotel clubs they have their own turf and club house given to them by the local govenment.I was there last June and it is a great part of the world. Good mate Marco Mazzzini sent me this clip to share with you.

The " Hot Curl " revisited

 Roger Hall in New Zealand has created quite a quiver as he continues to develope his passion for experimenting with the Hot Curl finless design
 He tests them in some demanding situations as well
Check out more detail here -
www.surfline.co.nz

Rich hangs out in Bali

 Good mate,  Rich Pavel who has been a great supporter of the Fish Fry has just spent some time in Bali. Some 10 weeks letting his creative juices flow shaping a number of special boards for Deus. It looked like he was in his element and took some time to reflect on life and the passing of his uncle, the great shaper Terry Martin.

 Rich taking in life and getting creative.
 He converted some of the locals to the feel of the fish.
 Check out Rich here.

6'0" Hot Curl Re evolution prototype

 Roger Hall of Surfline Surfboards New Zealand has been on journey of discovery for a while now and I asked him to share some thoughts with us.
" Here are some pics of my latest foray into Hot Curl design. I have been riding my Hot Curl quiver since early May exclusively. The more I ride the different lengths with their various design tweaks , the more I am enjoying this finless connection to the waves. My idea with these Hot Curls seems to be a little different to what I see happening elsewhere with finless design."
" My Hot Curls are designed to hold a line at all times. I am looking to eliminate slide whereas I see other people incorporating slide as a major part of the package. The idea of this board is to explore the ratios of some of the design components I have already proven as mainstays in my overall design. If this board teaches me what I am hoping it will, then the path forward will be about feeding the Hot Curl concept into a wider range of board shapes."
" I had some fun with the stringer arrangement. This stringer configuration has been on my mind for awhile. It is a chance to be a little bit creative but also serves a design purpose as well."
 " I like the idea of some core weight and also wanted the board to be very stiff flexwise. The less flex the board has the more I can gauge how well the design components are working together to hold the board into the wall of the wave."
" I also got abit of a kick out of the fact that the Pine inner stringers came from Southland and the Redwood outers came from Northland so to combine them together is symbolic of N.Z being made up of two main  Islands. Just a bit of fun on the side."

 "What I am getting from riding Hot Curls is a completely new connection to surfing and riding waves. These boards respond in a different way and I have had to relearn how to surf. When I take off on a wave I am making it up as I go and it is really refreshing to be experiencing all this new stuff for the first time."
 This board is 6'0" x 22" x 3 1/8" and 47 litres.
Here you can see Rogers use of his chine / bevel and concave blending on the rail line. You will agree there is a lot going on in this small board. A combination of tradition and modern ideas in the melting pot , just the way Roger likes it.
 SURFLINE CUSTOM SURFBOARDS LTD
Roger Hall
Check out Rogers other Hot Curl boards and some of his other great work :
http://www.surfline.co.nz
surfline_nz@yahoo.co.nz