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Channel Islands Surfboards

36 Anacapa St., Santa Barbara, CA 93101
Tel: 805.966.7213
www.cisurfboards.com
Since 1969, Channel Islands Surfboards has been dedicated to performance and quality through hard work, innovation, and originality. Over the last 42 years, Channel Islands has grown from a local grass-roots operation to a cutting edge organization, catering to the best surfers in the world. It started with hard-core surfing and quality in mind and these guidelines have brought us through four decades of constant change in the surf industry. Channel Islands will shape the new millennium with innovative design and quality as our main focus.

"The driving force behind Channel Islands Surfboards is the demand on design created by the world's greatest surfers, allowing for the highest performance surfing possible. To provide the most dedicated surfers with the most advanced, performance designs is my passion" - Al Merrick, Designer/Shaper

KNOW YOUR SHAPER
AL MERRICK
First Board Shaped: 7'6" The Shoe
Early Influences: Dick Brewer
READ THE FULL Q+A HERE

Q+A WITH CHANNEL ISLANDS SHAPER AL MERRICK


Can you remember the first board you shaped?
I'd done some design work with John Price when I was riding for the Surfboards Hawaii surf team; we worked on a noserider together. But the first board I shaped I think was a 7'6". I called it The Shoe. It had this hyper kick in the nose, like an elf shoe or something.

Why did you Choose shaping as a Career?
I just really wanted to make my own boards and ride them. I was a craftsman, and felt I was good with my hands, so it felt natural.

How do you remain at the Cutting edge of surfboard design?
That's all driven by the surfers themselves and our surf team. I'm just trying to accom- modate the level of surfing as it progressed over the years. Basically, I had to put my own ideas aside about what would work for me and focus on what I think will work for them. The team is what has driven everything.

Who Was influential in your early Career and Why?
Dick Brewer was my inspiration. He was so innovative with his mini-guns, and his use of different equipment, planers, etc.

What's it like to have Kelly Slater on your team?
Kelly and I have established a friendship, and to me that's what's important. Obviously his being on the team has been essential in the growth of Channel Islands Surfboards as a brand, but it's my personal relationship that's been the most rewarding.

Does Kelly push the boundaries of your shaping?
Yes, no question about it. He's taken me way beyond anywhere I thought I would ever go.

Which of the boards you have shaped for Kelly has been your favorite?
That's an interesting question. I think probably the board he won that early Trestles event on--1990, I think--the one with the colored orange panels. That board has always just stood out to me.

Where do you see the future of surfboard shaping?
Pro surfers' input will continue to be more and more influential in where we go in the future. Now with the use of shaping machines and designing on the computer, things are changing. I'm not saying shapers will disappear, but certain interested surfers will play a more active and creative role.

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