A one-board weapon even for pro's, says shaper to
the stars…
Two weeks ago, the BeachGrit principal Charlie
Smith wrote of the virtues of an asymmetrical surfboard
he’d been given from Album Surf in San Clemente.
Let me remind the reader of the breeze Chas blew across its
bow.
“It was almost too much fun.”
“I am getting another asymmetrical to try out because it
feels like the key to me getting on the WQS as a 40-year-old man.
The feel-good story of the decade!”
“Tell me I’m wrong. Tell me I’m a dirty dirty bad
boy.”
Are asymmetrical boards, which have been around for thirty
years, as good as Chas says or are they an embarrassing crutch for
kooks who have little need for direction changes?
Who must we turn to for sensible surfboard advice?
Oh you know it has to be Matt Biolos, shaper for three decades,
to world champs etc.
We begin.
BeachGrit: When did you first become aware of
‘em?
Biolos: Honestly, I’m not sure. One of the best snowboards I
ever owned was a NITRO “Pyro” asymmetric. This would have been
Winter ‘92/93. It was an early “twin tip” with different side cut
and effective edge on heel and toe. If you were goofy, you would
set up the bindings one direction and if you were regular you’d do
the opposite. The good thing for the business side was either
a goofy or regular footer could buy the same board. No double
inventory. I made a few asym surfboard tails for myself that
next summer, 1993, because of the great experience I had on that
snowboard. It really made your heel turns and heel-to-toe
transitions easier. It was the first time I felt I could do a good
snow carve on my heels.
BeachGrit: How did those first surfboards
go?
Biolos: I don’t remember anything standing out and lost interest
in it quickly.
BeachGrit: I remember great New Zealand shaper Allan
Byrne loosing ‘em, oowee, would’ve been in the nineties
sometime.
Biolos: Rest his soul. I don’t know much about those boards
but I’m friends with Carl Ekstrom. Obviously he’s pretty
much The Godfather of Asym. He’s a brilliant guy.
Engineer type of mind and approach. Very good aesthetic to
everything he designs. A few years ago I ordered one from him. It’s
beautiful. Goes really fast. Had one really good surf on it one
winter, a northwest swell at Uppers. Where you’re taking off way,
way up near “Barbwires” and racing the wall, full horizontal speed,
one hundred yards behind the normal take-off. But, overall, I
struggled with the board and it didn’t really fit my surfing,
although I cherish it.
BeachGrit: I get the theory. But are they really, as one
commenter put it so eloquently, for people who like to go
straight?
Biolos: Most of the ones you see these days are more about art
or “Shock and Awe”. So it’s easy to say that and be cynical. But I
believe that statement is too broad and sarcastic. It’s just that
no one is really working on them in the competitive zone. The best
surfing I’ve seen on them is Ryan Burch, by a mile, so you know it
can be done. Someone like him could push them to more acceptance.
They can actually be made far more subtle and I think make turning
a bit more easy. The thing is that fringe, artsy shapers have
pushed them too extreme.
Most of the ones you see these days are more about art or “Shock
and Awe”. So it’s easy to say that and be cynical. But I believe
that statement is too broad and sarcastic. It’s just that no one is
really working on them in the competitive zone.
BeachGrit: Tell me about your recent shaping experience
with ‘em.
Biolos: My best experience was one I made myself in 2000. I took
it on an early trip the Ments. It was a diamond tail on my toe edge
and a round tail on my heel. It had more rail rocker spiraling off
the toe edge. I surfed it at speeding, hollow, head-high Rags
Rights and similar, playful Macaronis. At Rags I felt the longer
rail line of the toe edge gave me lots of projection in the fast
walls and tubes but the round heel let me do quick snaps and stalls
under the lip. It was more forgiving than if it was a squash on my
heel. At Maccas, and other backside bowly waves, I always struggle
on sharp backside bottom turns. Especially on a squash tail. I
always feel like I need a rounded pin to do a firm backside bottom
turn in bowly reef waves. Thus the round tail. But by having the
wider outline on the toe side it made backside snaps off the top
more loose and playful. Solid off the bottom, loose and almost
drifty off the top. Great board and great memories. I still have
the board.
At one combo ASR/Sacred Craft show in SanDiego I had a bunch of
asyms in our booth. It was actually the year I won the Tribute to
Masters/Simon Anderson shape-off. We were launching
Hydro-Flex construction with Bufo. The only ones that seemed
interested at the time were Gorkin and Tom Carroll. TC was tripping
on one of them (There is a photo with him floating around the
internet) but beside Gorkin ripping on a couple, we got no traction
with them.
I had another one, a more grovel-style board, which was actually
a prelude to the Puddle Jumper back
in October 2013. It was 5’10” x 21” x 2.75” with a round tail
on the heel side and Rocket tail on the toe. Same theory as the old
board. Faster with drive, and skate, on the toe, with a forgiving,
precise heel turn. I remember Tyler Wright had flown to California to
begin our working relationship. I had just made this
little board and we surfed really soft , late-season windswell at
Lowers for a couple days. The little board just flew, and skated,
but still felt precise. You could really lay into the heel turns. I
think asyms are good way to negate the corkiness of high volume,
wide-tailed boards. I ended up making a few of that particular
design for some of my buddies here in southern California and over
in Florida. Still have that board as well.
If we took the time to dial some in for a top surfer, and they
had success on them, which I firmly believe is possible, there
would be dramatically increased demand.
BeachGrit: I defer to shapers like you (and Pyzel too,
occasionally) because what counts but experience and expertise,
right? So let me ask. Why isn’t there an asymmetrical in the Lost
range? Wouldn’t it be a seller if pushed by Brother, Yago, Carissa
and co?
Biolos: The biggest hurdle for the success of asyms is getting
retail shops to stock them and manufacturers like me to make ’em.
Asyms are a regular or a goofyfoot board. Stores don’t want to have
to double the amount of boards to cover a size range. I think it’s
financially daunting. Like glass-on fins are now. No one has the
room to stock them although I think they could sell.
Another thing is the extreme art board guys have embraced it more
so I think it could be turning off the “performance” guys. Most of
the guys working on them now don’t even sell to shops. I do agree
though, if we took the time to dial some in for a top surfer, and
they had success on them, which I firmly believe is possible, there
would be dramatically increased demand. I should try to do it. But
like most people I get too caught up in my everyday stuff.
BeachGrit: In theory, could a customer walk into one of
your Get a Board Shaped by Mayhem appearances and request an
asymmetrical?
Biolos: Absolutely. I do them on request. We actually made a
regular, goofy sample pair of Puddle Jumper spin-offs a year ago. I
cut them, shaped them and threatened to put them in our 2017 line
up. Then I got scared or distracted. Those two boards are both
still around. We can make nice functional, realistically
proportioned asyms that work. Not quite the “Shock and Awe”
monstrosities you see hype fed on Instagram but more for function
than fad. Kolohe could have done well on one in France this week.
He rode two nearly identical boards on finals day. A squash in the
am, then the same exact board, as a round tail, in his second two
heats. As the swell grew I think the one with a
squash on the toes and round on the heel could have been a
one-board weapon.
