Friday, August 14, 2009

Malibu chip










I know this picture is really bad, but the board is already in Japan. This is a tribute to one of my hero's, Matt Kivlin, who influenced modern surfboards as much as any one else. I got a chance to speak to him in Hawaii at Randy Rarick's auction. What a treat. Actually the whole weekend was amazing hanging out with Bing, "the coolest legend of all," and so many others...the list is far to long.




Well, back to the topic. The thinking behind this board is that you can ride a lot smaller board that turns well. The advantage you have is a longer rail line and wider tail that give the board tons more glide. My thinking behind most designs is based on what advantages you'll gain in various conditions.




I see trends come and go and not all of them are functional. If I don't see an advantage to a trend, then it's not really advancing surfing or board design. I love to look at the past and find out what they were thinking and the theory behind their board design to find out what was valid and functional. Some just need a little modern tweaking. The magic board will be an ever evolving process that keeps my job exciting.

3 comments:

  1. nice! any other pics? finished product?

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  2. Dear Matt-

    The Chip looks awesome. If you haven't, take a gander at Tyler Hatzikian's Chips, which are on his site. They're balsa. He made them under the watchful eye of Lance Carson.

    By the way, it's Matt *Kivlin*, not Kevlin. You're not the first to make the mistake; I've seen his name mis-spelled in print more than once. If you'd like, I'd be glad to email you a fairly illustrative interview with Kivlin from 7 or 8 years ago. A hydrodynamic genius, along with Quigg and Simmons, who
    just seemed a natural at about everything he did.

    Thanks for your attention to detail in your craft. You mow foam with the best of 'em.

    Eric Burns
    eric.burns AT gmail.com if you want the article.

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  3. Hi Eric,
    Thanks for posting and for the correcting my spelling. Much appreciated. Coincidentally, I too had the pleasure of shaping a balsa Chip under the watchful eye of Lance Carson...but that had to of been almost 10 years ago. That actually reminds me that I'd like to dig out that original template Lance and I worked on. I definitely have a new appreciation for this design, a decade later.

    ReplyDelete