Al Merrick (March 11, 1944-)

The Largest Surfing Encyclopedia

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"I surf like Curren." First of all, that statement is bullshit. Nobody surfs like Tom Curren, but every surfer from Kelly Slater to your neighbor's kid has wanted to at some time. Since they can't inhabit his body, at least they can ride his boards. Al Merrick shaped Curren's quiver since the kid was 12, and as Curren rose to prominence in the early '80s, so did Merrick, becoming the most popular shaper in the world.

Merrick began his life in Bradley Beach, New Jersey, during World War II. The family moved to Florida, then California when he was seven. Merrick began surfing in Encinitas at age 10 and attended San Dieguito High School (as did one of his top current riders Rob Machado). He rode for Surfboards Hawaii at the time and helped shaper John Price develop a noserider. After high school, he attended Palomar College for a short time, but found the curriculum wasn't to his liking.

Price, along with Dick Brewer, was Merrick's hero and inspired him to pick up a planer in 1966. "The change from longboards to shortboards spurred my interest," Merrick adds. Having moved to Santa Barbara in 1965, he was on hand as revolutionary shaper Bob McTavish joined George Greenough for several weeks of Rincon test sessions in 1968 on radically new equipment. According to Merrick, "McTavish came to Santa Barbara and that got me inspired."

Still, the world wasn't aware of Merrick, even after Shaun Tomson captured the world title in 1977 on his shapes. Around that time, he began making boards for a local grommet with a legendary bloodline and a promising future. Curren became Merrick's child prodigy, and Merrick did the negotiating as the teenage star inked his first deals with Op and Rip Curl. Curren's status exploded when he turned pro in 1982, and that of Merrick's surfboard label, Channel Islands, wasn't far behind.

With Curren as the most admired surfer ever, Channel Islands grew to colossal proportions. Everyone wanted to surf just like him, from the head snaps to the tucked rear leg to his double-pump bottom turns at winding Rincon. As far as people were concerned, the boards were the path to enlightenment. As the next generation of professionals matured, spearheaded by Slater, they wouldn't think of riding anything but a Merrick. His current stable includes Slater, Machado, Taylor Knox, Bobby Martinez, the Malloy brethren and many others.

When computers took over the world in the '90s, Merrick was one of the first to incorporate them into mass production of surfboards. Nearly all of his boards are computer-shaped today, allowing him to replicate subtle intricacies with precision. "I shaped one for Kelly from start to finish recently," he notes. "But very few." Channel Islands Surfboards, now distributed globally, have grown to include a surf shop in Santa Barbara and a small line of clothing. Surfboards remain the foundation, and the company puts out around 12,000 annually.

Merrick still lives in Santa Barbara, spitting distance from his beloved test track at Rincon. He has been married to second wife Terry since 1968 and has two children, Heidi, an actress, and Britt, who shapes and handles the company's advertising. For three decades, the best surfers in the world have trusted Merrick with their livelihood, and the future looks to be more of the same. -- Jason Borte, November 2000