28.8.11

flying in action

 
This blog has come to an end.
I will no longer post here, but this page will remain open for you to enjoy posts
and blogs (still in motion).

 The new shaping bay is up and running,
hand crafted boards are being designed every day.

To be redirected click on the logo.
And if you want to be kept in the loop, you can also find flying on

See you soon.

26.8.11

18.8.11

16.8.11

11.8.11

2.8.11


31.7.11

28.7.11

26.7.11

10.7.11

5.7.11

1.7.11

28.5.11

agressive cat heroes

27.5.11

voyage



23.5.11

chile

16.5.11

process

9.5.11

countdown

6.5.11

5.5.11

disc it

28.4.11

underground


what makes jim phillips proud is shaping boards his customers are proud of surfing

19.4.11

crystal v fix

13.4.11

behold

6.4.11

duct tape


no leash
no side fins
no less then 9'
no heats
no rules
&
16 riders

1.4.11

wipe the simmons

ks
vs
fc
same board same wipe outs
fast and tricky little simmons

31.3.11

ks


how about kelly slater riding something different for a change ?
4'11 mini-simmons inspired twinny
shaped by mr. pickle

29.3.11

so cal

28.3.11

pays basque


back to classic with anthony harouet

27.3.11

23.3.11

quiver-ing

“Our lines, ultimately, define us as surfers”.
The Surfer’s Journal 20.1, illustrating the way Tyler Warren carves his 4’10 mini-Simmons on the wall.

Indeed, our equipment is a mean to an end, our way to express ourselves on the canvas of a breaking wave. Each one of us have our own standards when it comes to define our surfing style. And it all gets down to the way we move and the way we stand. It is only a matter of rhythm, almost of musical preferences …
The modern surf crafts we have access to are instruments to play our part on the waves we surf, and the choice just gets better and better. So much is happening lately, that whatever we have in mind is available, and shapers constantly develop what we haven’t yet imagined. It is also why there is no such thing as “retro”, unless you surf a vintage board. All contemporary surfboards are improved by experience and years of shaping, even if they are directly inspired by older crafts.
I think my quiver not in terms of conditions but in terms of style. Each board, should I shape it or order it, has a special way and purpose. Most of them could eventually be a “one board quiver”.
It allows me to travel light.
It also gives me a very deep understanding of the possibilities of each shape, because I will have to face all type of conditions with that one board I picked from the rack.
My progression curve is steeper, and the evolution of my surfing style more complete, when I change to a board that is in every way different to the other one.
And the point being to have as much fun as possible, each instrument I choose will provide that stoke I am looking for, because each one will allow me to express myself the way I want to.
There is no right or wrong board. The important thing is to choose in total honesty and consciousness, considering ability and personal pursuit.
I like motionless trim, speed down the line, carving; and my boards respond to those special features that define my style. For that very reason, I rule out some boards and select others, and my quiver is in constant movement in search of my own personal rhythm.
Someone else would do it differently, but the process should always focus on our basic needs as surfers. The mistake would be to think that any board would match any style and quest.
When I started surfing, choice was not really available. The surfing landscape was not varied at all; surf shops all had pretty much the same equipment; few shapers dared to step aside from the mainstream plan-shapes. It hasn’t been easy, but those days are over now.
Surfers today live a creative time. We look back on the past decades for clues. We constantly learn from our predecessors and their transcript experience. It is what makes surf a culture.
However, there is no place for pointless regrets: we can’t go backwards anyway, and what we have ahead of us is big and exciting.

21.3.11

lost and found


surf is about the search and the quiet places you can find

16.3.11

mister soul arch

10.3.11

6 ft point


3.3.11

get a tuna ...


... before summer
trust me

28.2.11

The basis of shaping

It takes patience and courage to dedicate your time and labour to shaping boards by hand in a world and time where this kind of craftsmanship is almost forgotten, sometimes even depreciated.
Twenty years ago, all surfers still needed shapers. And a great part of them still had a special relationship with the man that singlehandedly carved every curve of their surf craft.
As with everything else, shaping got mechanical, surfers got themselves believing that riding Occhy’s board would make them better and everything started popping up of bigger factories.
Hopefully it still takes creativity and experience to design a surfboard and many surfers are still interested in riding a special board. One made to fit their own needs. One they won’t find next to them waiting for the set at their usual peak. One shaped for their skill and swell conditions, and not for the ASP’s top 10 pro-surfers.



Looking at this Cyrus Sutton short piece, you know that Ryan Lovelace is one of those dedicated and vocational designers that on a daily basis try to make people happy. Ryan, and every other shapers who decided that shaping is meant to be a personal, self-expressed and hand-crafted quest, are the necessary factors that make surfing a millenary culture and discipline.
It is vital that surfers consider what a surfboard really is and why it is better when it is hand shaped by someone who cares ; discussed, thought through, and adapted to their own criteria.
The hand-shaped way is the only real research and development left in surfing. It is a genuine pursuit of performance, excellence, and happiness. It is a calling that few people on this planet answer for the greater good, and who's work we should all be more aware of.

24.2.11

cool viking


kam brown and co
getting set for noosa on mid-day californian peelers

22.2.11

half hull

21.2.11

half 9er

20.2.11

half simmons

19.2.11

half tuna

11.2.11

tuna bar by tw

tuna.albacore.atún.bonito.thon.atum.tunczyk.tunfisch.jinqiangyu.túnfiskur.tóvoc.tuncis
ton.tun'éc.tonfisk.cá ngù.tunák.chamchi.ikan.tongkol.orkinos.thunnus.tuniak.tonijn
etc.

30.1.11

timeslipper

28.1.11

yeeewww!!!


it looks easy when it's funny

14.1.11

revivalist

11.1.11

cakewalker

10.1.11

pulitzer

3.1.11

nivôse an 218


share some waves mother fuckers
h a p p y 2 0 1 1