A Shaper's Figure - The Surfers Journal

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A Shaper’s Figure

Dave Parmenter goes through the mental process of shaping a custom board for Flippy Hoffman using a unique rocker bent by Matthew Barker who worked at Clark Foam. Flippy's life stories as a California surfer that went to Hawaii in the 1950s and as a diver and sailor informs the shape of the board. Parmenter argues in favor of the difference between shaping by hand versus using a computer-controlled machine. Though imperfect and not as exacting and minutely precise as a machine, evolution of surf shaping is propelled by handshaping as an art.

Words by Dave Parmenter

Volume 13, Issue 4