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.

Pat Rawson of Rawson Surfboards was born in Santa Monica, California, and has been shaping surfboards on Oahu’s North Shore since 1972. While shaping the majority of his boards out of Sunset Beach, Hawaii, Rawson has been designing innovative custom surfboards which can be found in 26 countries around the world including Central America, South America, Europe, Japan, and Australia.

Rawson began shaping surfboards in 1966 and worked for a variety of California shapers including Rick Surfboards, Wilken Surfboards, Blue Cheer Surfboards, Tom Overline Surfboards, and Doug Haut Surfboards. He later moved to the North Shore of Oahu in the 1970’s and worked for Lightning Bolt Surfboards, George Downing – Wave Crest Hawaii, and Local Motion.

The consistency in Rawson Surfboards comes from CADD software that he’s custom programmed himself which provide surfers with a consistent signature design over and over again.

His team riders have included such notables such as “Buttons” Kaluhiokalani, Mark Liddell, Larry Bertelmann, Mike and Derek Ho, Mark Richards, Tom Carroll, Gary Elkerton, Reno Abelleira, Ben Aipa, “Beaver” Steve Massefellar, and Brian Kellner. His son Ryan has also made a name for himself charging some of the World’s largest waves at the big wave spot Peahi, aka Jaws.

Dennis Pang has shaped 27,000 surfboards ranging from single fins, twin fins, shortboard, funboards, longboards, and paddle boards. He’s shaped surfboards for surfers in Hawaii, California, Australia, Brazil, Peru, and Japan. He’s also shaped for companies such as Surfline Hawaii, Lightining Bolt, Local Motion, and Town & Country. Besides offering a variety of surfboards, he also been shaping competitive paddle boards since 1990. While working with Gerry Lopez, he created an EPS Epoxy paddle board striving to make it the lightest and strongest paddle board around.

Dennis Pang Paddle Boards

Imperial Beach native Jeff Alexander of Alexander Surfboards is most known for his Gemini double-hulled surfboards. Alexander created the patented Gemini design in 1995 and put the boards to the test in Hawaii, Indonesia, Mexicio, Fiji, and his home of California. When Gemini surfboards first burst onto the surf scene, the majority of surfers were unwilling to embrace the radically new design. Featuring two noses blending into a double hull and 4 fin set-up, the Gemini claims to be the ultimate performance surfboard. Alexander also claims that a Gemini can be surfed in 2 foot slop to 8 foot heaving barrels which reduces the need for a surfer to buy a quiver. Tow versions of his Gemini designs have also had success in giant surf here in Hawaii and around the world.

Jeff Alexander has been shaping surfboards since 1974 and has shaped over 4,587 surfboards since then and his team includes Hawaii tow surfer Cully Kamisugi.