Oh look, it's a Rob Royal Wake-Sim...

[flacky]

http://www.firewiresurfboards.com/image ... boards.png

[surfrat]

can't wait to see thr tourists struggling around on these this summer!

[Werwulf1919]

I hate Firewire.....

[flacky]

It's funny, the majority of the world probably think everything starts over the pond... I'm not saying that Tomo robbed royal's idea of course, I'm sure they were both developed out of curiosity at a similar pace, it's just proving a point that the small man in the corner has just as much to offer as the big man at the head of the table.

Interested to know if Rob pursued/developed the original ones he was posting on here a couple of years back???

[Surfer1979]

Check out the ectic concepts freakoid been around for a while now very similar I guess it is flattering for the guys like rob and dale? Shows where the uk surfing scene is in terms of design it seems we are leading the pack with some inspirational shapers?

[Kirk3]

I like the fact that when a guy like Tomo or DVS or Kenvin or whoever comes up with an off the beaten path design, it's the 'little guy' shapers who are the ones who take and run with it usually. The bigger guys who are just working off scans and machines can't play around with oddball stuff- they'll incorporate a few elements into a new board definitely- they all have a shorter wider Simmonsy shape now- and usually claim it as their own innovation. Guys like Rob however can experiment and really come up with some great stuff. His Twinzers and sidecuts are totally the business and very much his own take. The Ectic guys seem to be heavily leaning on Tomo's shapes but once you've started making things like that it's going to send you into some interesting places. Power of the internet I suppose, everyone can see what some guy in a small town somewhere has come up with if the photos get taken. Not like the days of crowding round someone's car as he had scored an Aussie surf mag only a couple of weeks old and there was some mad bastard who'd put 3 fins on a board......

You Limeys do alright with your shapers, there's some interesting and innovative stuff I see on here as well guys who refine classic ideas very nicely. The idea is keep buying from the little guys who are playing with design concepts you like and you'll only encourage them.

[Surfer1979]

Keep buying from the little guys...thats the answer!

[flacky]

I've noticed something geographical that goes on here in the UK. Living smack in the middle I've found the West coast, Wales down to Cornwall, Devon seem to be heavily influenced by the US shapers. Lot's of Retro (Retry) shapes, classic Malibus, heavy on the aesthetics (tints, fancy fins)... Whereas on the East side, the emphasis has been about pushing the performance, inspired maybe by the Aussie shapers. One of my favourite shapers has always been Murray Bourton. I've always had a thing for his Pipedreams boards, never owned one, but the glassing looked like you could park trucks on it. I remember seeing asymetrical tails on his boards looooong ago. Channels everywhere, basic shapes, just very refined and taken to the limit.

Maybe the aesthetics always took a back seat on the East as who gives a fuck, it's always raining an grey so no one is going to see it anyway.

[Surfer1979]

Maybe the waves are just better?

[royal]

oh boy...

uh, I had nothing to do with any of that...

thanks for the kind words, and stoke!

all the best to Tomo. Hope that allows him even more free time to make weird stuff work.