Paddle Surf Hawaii shaper Blane Chambers is arguably Hawaii’s hottest and most sought after stand-up paddle surfboard shaper. He’s shaped stand-up boards for all of Hawaii’s big names which include big wave hellmen Darrick Doerner, Kealii Mamala, Jamie Sterling, and Garrett McNamara. Blane is relatively new to surfboard shaping but has quickly grown to becoming a sought after commodity. Last year, he stand-up paddle surfed every session to show his commitment and stoke on his stand-up paddle designs.

Paddle Surf Hawaii has also teamed up with Dave Parmenter providing Hawaii surfers with some of the top cutting edge stand-up paddle board designs. Dave Parmenter who is still based out of Makaha, is one of Hawaii’s top shapers who has built his reputation as a master craftsman and builds a variety of surfboards in all shapes and sizes.

One of surfing’s high performance pioneers, Larry Bertlemann became one of the sport’s biggest influences. Born on the Big Island of Hawaii in 1955, he moved to Oahu at age 11 and surfed at Queens off Waikiki. One day he broke his 9’6 and tried glassing the fin to the front half of the board but had trouble getting it to stay. A guy walked up to show him how to do it properly and that guy turned to be Donald Takayama. From that very day he mindset changed on what types of surfboards could be ridden (longboards were the norm in the 60’s) and he would also work with Ben Aipa who began shaping shorter, wider, and faster twin fins, swallow tails, and stinger designs.

The new shorter designs allowed Bertlemann to surf faster and begin experimenting with radical maneuvers and would change surfing forever. Larry became one of the most popular and highest paid surfers during the 1970’s signing endorsement deals with soft drink and airline companies.

Larry first shaped his surfboard when he was 19 and has been most influenced by Ben Aipa. He firmly believes in hand shaping all of his boards and feels that there will always be a market for the artistry and craftsmanship that goes into a hand built surfboard. You can still order his famous twin fin design he used from his surfing hey day as well as retro shortboards, swallow tail thrusters, and quad models.

Because the thruster has been most surfers’ “go to” board for quite some time, it isn’t uncommon to see hot-dogging shortboarders riding their 5’10 potato chip in all types of wave conditions including 2 foot slop. I always see these shortboarders struggling to catch waves on days like this and when they get lucky enough to catch one, the lack of foam causes their board to bog and after a weak turn their wave is over.

The retro revival has shown many of us how functional and exceptionally fun old throw back boards can be. The twin fin fish is arguably the most popular retro board out in the line-ups and if you watch good surfers on these things, the first thing you’ll notice is how insanely fast they can go in weak and pathetic waves.

While the hot dogging younger crowd is obsessed with riding their Kelly Slater shortie, the smarter surfers are riding twin fins, quad fin fishes, single fins, eggs, and longboards. These surfers are not only catching more waves than surfers riding potato chips, but they’re also learning about lines and curves and different positioning and feel required to surf each type of board.

Take it from Rasta and Rob Machado who both believe that expanding your quiver and riding a variety of different shapes will improve your surfing tremendously. Longboarders will find that learning how to ride shortboards drastically improves their ability to pump and turn those huge planks around and shortboarders will find that riding a longboard for a few sessions will smooth out their surfing and help them draw better lines.

Check out TORE Surfboards if you need help or advice with expanding your quiver.

Innovative shaper Dave Parmenter, from California, was an up and coming pro surfer in the 1980’s. He had ridden Rusty Preisendorfer’s surfboards as a pro which eventually led him to Australia as a shaper under the Rusty label. After having notable shaping success in Australia, Dave moved to Makaha, Hawaii in the 1990’s and created his own surfboard label, Aleutian Juice.

In his spare time, Dave Parmenter also contributes surfboard design articles and features to Surfer Magazine and Surfline. Aside from his writing, he has become one of the leading stand up paddle board shapers around though he shapes a wide variety of surf craft including high performance shortboards, retro designs, funboards, beach boy boards, and longboards.

Billy Hamilton grew up in California and surfed the entire coastline growing up in the 60’s. He competed in California surf contest and found his way competing in Hawaii and developed an attraction for the North Shore. He found his way back to Hawaii in 1966 and married his wife Joann (her son Laird is the top and most respected big wave rider). They later moved to Kauai and Billy eventually shaped for Surfboards Hawaii, Country Surfboards, Chuck Dent, and Lightning Bolt.

Aside from shaping, Billy Hamilton is known for his graceful surfing style and appearance in ‘Big Wednesday’. He has been shaping under his own label since the 1990’s and has several classic epoxy longboards offered through Surftech.

Bob Bolen, a self taught surfer and shaper, started surfing in 1958 and shaped his first board one year later. In 1960, “The Greek” opened his shop known as “Surfboards by the Greek” in Huntington Beach. He later closed the shop in 1980 and currently works in Real Estate. His designs can be found at Huntington Beach Realty where his office serves as a real estate office and surf outlet.

Bolen has produced several well known models such as The Eliminator, Maui Model, and the Pickle all of which helped put him on the map. He is also the inventor of the Turbo Tunnel longboard fin and continues to surf in Southern California.

Due to Bob’s limited production schedule, custom Greek surfboards can be hard to find these days. However, die hard Greek fans can find some of his timeless shapes in Surftech epoxy models.

Larry Gordon and partner Floyd Smith began making and shaping their own surfboard blanks in 1959. They were in a great position as the surfing industry exploded in popularity in the following years. Several years later, Gordon & Smith Surfboards experienced tremendous growth and Gordon passed his shaping duties over to his talented team which included Mike Hynson, Roger Ross, Jim Hovde, Paul Bordieri, Bobby Thomas, Rusty Priesendorfer, Hoy Runnels, Terry Goldsmith, Steve Seebold, Hank Warner, John Holly, Mike Eaton, Robin Prodonovich and Larry Mabile.

Gordon & Smith Surfboards was one of California’s premiere surfboard labels from the 1960’s through the 1990’s and were also credited as pioneers of the skateboard industry. They ran four surf shops and created their own clothing line.

You’ll also find a number of Gordan & Smith’s master shapes in the Surftech epoxy line.

Dick Brewer came to Hawaii in 1959 after having been raised in the Los Angeles area. He learned to surf Hawaii’s powerful North Shore waves and established himself as a big wave rider charging macking Sunset Beach and Waimea Bay. He began shaping surfboards shortly after and later shaped for big surfing companies like Bing, Hobie (he created the Hobie Dick Brewer Gun), and Gordan & Smith Surfboards. After a falling out with G&S, Brewer created Dick Brewer Surfboards.

Dick Brewer would go on to work and design boards with Gerry Lopez on the island of Kauai. Years later, he began working with Laird Hamilton, Derrick Doerner, and Buzzy Kerbox to develop tow boards for Maui’s giant north shore waves. Through Brewer’s progress designs, tow surfing was taken to a whole new level. Most recently, Bruce Irons won the Eddie Aikau Big Wave Invitational on the infamous borrowed yellow Brewer gun.

Brewer Surfboards has also collaborated with Surftech to provide surfers with epoxy versions of his timeless quivers.

11/5/11 Mike Woo has requested that his profile be removed from surfboardshack.com. According to him, he no longer make surfboards. All comments have been removed from this post.

Hawaii shaper Jason Kashiwai develops high quality boards with the best craftsmanship. His shapes have been tested all over the world with his various team riders. You’ll find J. Kashiwai Surfboards in select Hawaii surf shops and a variety of shortboards as well as signature team rider shapes. The Kashiwai team consists of Jun Jo, Mike Dodd, Jason Shibata, and a number of Japanese pros.