Happy days here again.
The jaw-dropping storylines continue to… drop now days after the World Surf League’s third Championship Tour stop, the poetically named MEO Rip Curl Pro Portugal, has wrapped. You know that Caitlin Simmers created the beginning of history in winning her first CT event in three tries against veteran Courtney Conlogue. You also know that Joao Chianca, a dark horse favorite now in the light, smashed Australia’s Jack Robinson to hoist his first CT trophy after being culled off tour just last year.
Epic.
But what of the shapers, those brave men and men crafting sculptures under their very feet who have, for the first time, been recognized by the aforementioned World Surf League via the Vissla CT Shaper Rankings, much ignored on official channels but ballyhooed at announcement.
If you recall, the man or man who formed the winning board would get some glory and where do we currently stand?
Ahhh, as predicted Sharp Eye’s Marco Zouvi is well out in front thanks to stellar boards, no doubt, but also the likes of Jack Robinson and fantastic Filipe Toledo who slide them. Mayhem” Matt Biolos is second, thanks to the likes of Carissa Moore, and Australia’s Darren Handley is third which leads us to a resurgent Channel Islands.
The Santa Barbara co. was a mainstay at the top of the podium during those magical Kelly Slater years. Al Merrick and the 11x World Champion seemed to have a bond forged in the heavens. Well, time and tide wait for no man. Slater left to found Slater Designs, Merrick retired and surf fans wondered if the iconic hexagon would ever return to glory.
Like a phoenix rising, it certainly has. Britt Merrick took the reigns and quietly went about carving excellence which reached a crescendo underneath Chianca’s feet in Portugal.
Note the logo placement on the Brazilian’s winning round tail CI Pro (above).
Same same as Slater’s from the good times.
Happy days here again etc.
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I just love Britt. He rips so hard at Rincon. He has that place wired.
That’s the rumor.
Pretty common for me after getting a brutal case of montezuma’s revenge some 30 plus yrs ago…
For logo placement there has been a concerted effort by some riders’ managers and sponsors to have the board brand lams placed further down the board or to be less prominent. They see the board sponsor as less of a contributor even though no one at Red Bull is staying up late to make sure a special custom flavor is ready to go just a few hours or days before their guy gets on a plane.
9ne armee trimphers
men mundy on the weather…cplonsossphy
so if Al is on the board as the shaper , and CI win the World shaping title….where does Britt fit?
100% makes sense from the perspective of a competing shaper but he does currently own part of the company and brand and took the reigns as the lead shaper/designer. As you are well aware, the majority of boards at CI were not shaped by Al and are not shaped by Britt. It could be argued that they aren’t the best shapers there. The designs were originally Al but they transitioned long ago to a model of involving the team riders more in the design of the boards. Its a different model than the MC brand but it works for them and has been extremely successful for the most part. Not to mention, its a great group of people over there nowadays.
Slater??? Tom Curren put CI on the map. Then Kelly carried the torch. KIDS…
Shoelace for the win
Strider super biased commentary towards mayhem riders..
Not sure where Britt fits in as it is clear that Al shaped and designed the C I boards….I mean there’s Al’s big logo on the deck…..?????
I imagine its all marketing. Why change a good thing? If it ain’t broke don’t fix it I say.
Brutus is aware of the marketing. His query might be more of a reflection of his pride for the craft. I assume he doesn’t like the reduction of those terms to mere marketing tools. He might also say unless you have proof of origination, it is a brand competition not a shaper competition.
Word
Is this a competition to see which brand of shaping machine is best?
Or do they all use the same kind?
Or is it a competition to see who can afford to sponsor the most pros ?
traction pad rankings? thought FCS made fins…fin rankings?
Never hear a bad word about CI boards or business dealings with them.
And you won’t. They even have some sheep shaggers shaping over there.
Sheep Shagger brought the Timmy Patterson label home with him unless there’s another one mowing foam there.
Yup, good fucking guy.
Good shaper too. 2/3 of my TP’s go so good. 3rd one was imagination getting the better of me (too old to go that small)
a classic channel islands sunset…all my boards were either blood red or deep ocean blue!
https://scontent-sjc3-1.xx….
I’ve heard different from several retailers. Large order requirements for soft goods and boards or threats of pulling the line from long time dealers. And when you get to shapers there’s the rumored attempts and actual poaching of team riders as well as more than just influenced shapes.
Poaching of team riders?? There’s not really such a thing
There’s no stealing when deals are brokered, Pros and the brands will do what they perceive to be best for themselves.
Don’t disagree but riders have been pursued while they were riding for other brands not just rider seeking better equipment
The shapers at CI don’t control the team riders.
To clarify, not their shapers, shapers/owners of other brands in the industry
That’s burton for you.
been on em for a hundred years, nearly half my life!
Made me a better surfer that’s for sure.
Than who?
Are you asking who’s on first?
been riding the MBM (bobby martinez model) since around 2004, 6’1 and 6’4 and no plans to change. prices sure have changed though.
Repaired a lot of their team boards. The Al hand shapes with the squiggle inside the fish were well studied and looked nothing like their regular boards. I remember Al looking at a repair job of mine and commenting on the line running along the rails from where I had used a carpenters pencil to pull a copy of his template off. He didn’t seem to care.
Maybe if Brit spent more time doing drugs than reading Bible verses his shapes would improve.
Words to live by.
Uhhh, pretty sure been there, done that. Know what you’re saying before you speak.
Your understanding of sarcasm in the English language sucks. Are you Brazilian?
Yeah Al Merrick was a speed dealer before he found Jesus so make what you will of that. Used to shape, do drugs and get dragged to church so I do know what I’m talking about. Probably had a different experience with those things than you I’m assuming.
getting a good Al board way back when was a hit or miss proposition…wait 3-4 months….get board, weird problem, skip CI for a season…get another, Magic…..all prior to computers
You need a new CI midlength Chas?
Does it come in a soft top?
A soft top for a soft cock
I’m struggling with this one
Pyzel’s plastic outhouse door model for JJF…https://scontent-sjc3-1.xx.fbcdn.ne…
THIS!!
Won three times on Stab!
Beyond being a shameless Weasl plug for the above manufacturers – it’s hard to see the point of Shaper Rankings.
I’m going to put it down to a Prodan brain fart and the other Chiefs have gone along with it. Coz what else do ya do when you’re clueless.
Well at your age and the fact that your shortboard is 7”6” it is a pointless irrelevant exercise.
Others, like myself find it interesting and enjoy the milking of another layer of competitive chest beating from the WSL.
Don’t you have a job to go to, young fella ?
1) They decided to help all the shapers with a free plug in addition to how it used to be just in the live commentary. In the live shows it was pretty well established that Mel rides CIs and you’d see Strider sitting on his Losts. They did and do try to talk about other brands when it’s opportune but maybe there was perceived bias from the other brands. Or 2) as business people they see it as a potential opportunity to squeeze $s from the big guys for marketing their brands.
It’s all about sponsorship $$. There’s also the fact that any of these pros could ride a toilet seat at our fave point better than we can our boards. And we all owe our lives to CL.
Having just completed a ride on my toilet seat I approve this post!
Lost or CI toilet seat?
I’m very partial to Lost these days
Oddly, I’ve never had a good one! All three went like dogs?!
Ya but you’re a skilled surfer unlike me
long-time local Wayne Rich riding a barndoor model
https://scontent-sjc3-1.xx….
Friends don’t let friends wear neon!
Needs more wax.
paraffin…lit candle droplets.
No, you buy a block at the grocery, heat it onna stove and pour it on your 9’4″ Mitchell in anticipation of swell tomorrow. This is how your venerable elders done it. Have some respect!
vulernables…https://youtu.be/HBzzdlpISFg
in retro, my retro…barndoors!
Didn’t you run this “story” a few days ago?
If I was a story, I’d run from Chas.