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| Winter Gun Preview |
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Lock and Load It sounds like thunder is in the air and you realize it’s the rising shore break. The traffic on Kamehameha Hwy thickens. It’s wintertime and the big boys are getting their big toys out to play. These surfers are hunters. Hit men. Warriors. They use specialized weapons to challenge big game like third reef Banzai Pipeline and epic Waimea Bay. These surfers are our heroes. Everyone would love to know what it feels like to get spit out of 12-foot Pipe or escape down a heaving 25-foot face with hammering Waimea whitewash nipping at your heels. You don’t catch trophy waves with just a big bravado, you need a dialed quiver to make the kill. Some of our favorite Hawai‘i pro surfers show us their arsenal of winter guns. Lock and load! Mike Ho Stance: Regular Winter waves: Pipeline Claim to fame: Vans Triple Crown of Surfing Champion 1983 and 1985; 1982 Pipeline Master, son! Winter Moment: Mike Ho is a living, breathing, heavy winter moment Shaper: Matt “Mayhem” Biolos (…Lost Industries) UNDERGROUND BACKGROUND For those who are not familiar with the rags-to-riches story of …Lost Industries, the pairing of Mike Ho and his shaper Mayhem makes perfect sense. Back in small-kid days, Matt “Mayhem” Biolos and his friends were outsiders, dubbing themselves the “Lost” crew. Matt sang in a punk band called Mayhem Ordinance and the nickname “Mayhem” stuck from there. He tagged boards with little Lost insignias and the kids picked it up grassroots style. While Biolos is known for his anti-conformity, no bulls*#t stance among the surf industry, he and Ho make a good combo because they both live for that good old-fashioned, nitty, gritty surfing. GRASSROOTS “The Ho family and I have gotten into a long-term relationship going back to when I used to go to Hawai‘i each year in the early ’90s and Derek and Mike would be totally cool to me and have me at their houses and take me surfing and stuff,” Mayhem recalls. “I used to make a few boards in Derek’s backyard factory and do art in his house. This was before my brand or I was well known, but they didn’t care, they were just cool. I felt really lucky.” KEEP IT SIMPLE “I ride pretty minimalistic boards: 6'10x181/4x21/4 with very rolled decks and tapered rails,” Mike says. The ’82 Pipe Master has only been working with …Lost for the last few years. “Mike’s very particular about his boards for sure,” Mayhem says. “He’s the designer. I am the facilitator. I am really just a tool for him to make what he wants. Mike has done some amazing things already in Tahiti and Pipe/Backdoor—for any age—let alone at 50. Mike is extraordinary, very rare. His knowledge and fitness keep him in the game.” Freddy P. DOB: 12/15/1981 Height/Weight: 5'8, 165 lbs. Stance: Goofy Winter waves: Hale‘iwa, Pipeline, Rockies Claim to fame: 2005 ASP Rookie of the Year Shaper: Jason Kashiwai JUST RIGHT… “I love 7'2s and 7'4s, so I have a lot of those lying around,” Freddy P. says. “During the winter I'm also getting my shortboards ready for the next year’s competition. My favorite size board for Hale‘iwa is a 6'6 so I get a lot of those, too. A Pipe board I sometimes like a little thicker. My Hale‘iwa boards I like pretty thin, and my Sunset boards I like right in the middle.” PROFESSIONALS “I don't know much about my surfboards,” Fred admits. “I leave it up to Jason. He's the professional shaper and I'm the professional surfer. If the board doesn't work, I let him know and we move on to the next idea and if it works, we copy it. I've been riding his boards since I was about 16. I think my surfing and his shaping grew together. He's a good friend and a great shaper.” QUIVER “Last year I think I had about 40 boards in my house, a few at the Quiksilver Pipe house and some at my parents’,” Patacchia recalls.  Pancho SullivanDOB: 7/1/1973 Stance: Regular Height/Weight: 6'0, 210 lbs Winter waves: Sunset, Pipe and the zone Claim to fame: Winning the Da Hui Backdoor Shootout and 2005 Op Pro Hawai‘i Heaviest winter moment: Crowd factor year after year on the North Shore Shaper: Jeff Bushman EVOLUTION OF THE WINTER STICK “I believe in always trying to create better boards,” Bushy says. “I don't want to be shaping the same designs in five years that I’m making now.” Pancho agrees, “I ride Bushmans because they are always evolving and progressing. I look for variations in my winter guns. I can go through about 20 in one winter.” MEAN WINTER QUIVER Pancho’s small boards: 6'4x183/4x21/2 Mid-sizes: 6'6 to 7'0x183/4x21/2 Sunset boards: 6'6 to 7'0x19x3 Pipe boards: 6'6 to 7'0x181/2x23/4 R&D “We surf together some, mostly at out-of-the-way spots. This helps me understand what we are working to improve, being able to see firsthand in the water,” Bushy relates. “We never fight over board specs. We are both very opened-minded and are trying to improve the boards and the surfing. This keeps it cutting-edge and fun at the same time.”  Mark HealeyDOB: 12/2/1981 Stance: Goofy Height/Weight: 5'9, 155 lbs Winter waves: Pipeline and outer reefs Heaviest winter moment: Seeing people die Shaper: Patrick Mulhern (Wave Riding Vehicles) PEER-APPROVED Pipe specialist, charger, enthusiast— whatever you want to call it—this guy is cuckoo for crunching, spitting, maxing Pipe. When they gave out the ballots to vote for who would be in the Pipe Masters trials, Healey was one of the only guys to get 65 out of 65 votes. “It's not a contest result,” he says. “But what my peers think means a lot more to me.” And that says a lot when your peers happen to be some of the gnarliest waterman on the planet. NO LEMONS “I first started riding Patrick Mulhern’s boards when I started surfing for WRV,” Healey says. “To be honest, I had some serious doubts that a shaper from Florida could shape me a good Pipeline gun. When I heard that he had shaped for Sunny in the past it gave me enough faith to go ahead and make an order. Since then I've been hooked. This will be my third winter on Mull's boards. He's a classic guy. Always going a hundred miles per hour. I just tell him what I want the boards to feel like and leave the rest to him. Mully, to date, has never shaped me a lemon, and every time he proclaims a board to be magic, it is.” THE HOT LOOK FOR WINTER Healey’s widths range from 18 to 183/8 inches up until a length of 8'2. Thickness varies from 2 to 25/8 inches up until a length of 8'2. “I like to spray paint them myself usually,” Heals maintains. “This year the Pipeline quiver will be black. Knight Rider style!” Shane Dorian and Jamie Sterling Big Island’s Shane Dorian and O‘ahu’s Jamie Sterling were both winners at the Billabong XXL Global Big Wave Awards earlier this year. Their common denominators? Riding ginormous waves, born-and-raised local boys—and a shaper by the name of John Carper (JC.) Shane Dorian Stance: Regular Winter waves: Anything mean and heavy Claim to fame: Surf super star, Globe-trotting big-wave hunter Shaper: John Carper (JC) FROM MUSH TO MAX “I’ve been riding for JC for 15 years,” Dorian says. “I can trust his boards in any conditions, from 1-foot mush to maxing Jaws. We surf together quite a bit on the North Shore. I stay at his house there. It helps to have your shaper really know exactly how you surf. I have everything from a fish, to a 9'8 Waimea gun to towboards for Teahupo‘o and Jaws and everything in between.” FOUNDATION OF THE SHORTBOARD REVOLUTION “We make two types of tow-in boards for Shane-O,” JC explains. “One is for Teahupo'o and the other is for Jaws-type waves. His Tahiti-type boards are 5'5x161/2x13/5 and his Jaws-type boards are a couple of inches longer and a lot heavier. Both have super deep concaves and a type of rocker I remembered from the late ’60s when I was living on Maui and riding surfboards that were around 16 inches wide. Those boards got that way because they were about fifth generation, stripped-down old boards, reshaped and re-glassed. They started out as longboards and eventually ended up as under-6' tooth picks. This was the foundation of the shortboard revolution.” EVOLUTION OF THE TOW BOARD “We had some unique rockers then and when I saw the direction of tow boards, I remembered those old rockers and blended them with the new stuff we do and it seems to work pretty well,” JC continues. “Personally, I think Shane is insane when it comes to this stuff but I really take his guns and his tow boards seriously. We call his guns the ‘PBU’ series. The ‘Pray Before Use’ series.” Jamie Sterling PADDLE-IN “My winter [boards] range from a 5’8 shortboard to a 9’4 Waimea gun,” Sterls explains. “My guns have to have low rocker entry, thick and full at the nose, thin and blade-like in the tail. All must have 6-oz. glass jobs. I like them thicker so I can paddle easy. I don’t mind the extra weight.” TOW-IN “My tow boards are usually about 5’5 in length with a half-moon tail and four fins,” he describes. “They are comprised of three different materials: epoxy, carbon graphite and PVC pipe. The lightest tow board I would ever ride is 14 lbs.—and that is if it is under 20 feet and no wind. The wind dictates a lot on how heavy I go. The heavier the conditions, the heavier the board should be, so the faster I can go. I’m usually riding a 19-pound tow board.” HIGH TURNOVER “When I first started towing in 1998, my first tow board was like 7’0, 2.5 inches thick and 12 lbs.! I usually sell my tow boards after four or five months and try something new,” Sterls admits. “Tow surfing is really evolving and we are always tweaking something, trying something new with fin placement or whatever. I hold on to the magic boards but sell everything else to keep progressing.” Keala Kennelly DOB: 8/13/1978 Stance: Goofy Height/Weight: 5’6, 120 lbs. Winter waves: Pipe Claim to fame: First woman to tow-in at Teahupo‘o. Heaviest winter moment: Last winter when my friend Malik died at Pipe. I still can’t believe he is gone. Shaper: Ian Wright SIZE MATTERS Combine one part Keala Kennelly with one part juicy winter swell and you get a lip-smacking feast of power. Here are the other numerical ingredients, per her shaper, Ian Wright: 6'4x18x2††††† 6'6x18x2† 6'8x18x2 †††† 6'10x18x21/8 †† 7'0x18x21/8 ††††† 7'2x181/8x23/16††† 7'4x181/8x23/16 ††††† 7'6x181/8x21/4 ††††††† 8'0x181/8x25/16 HEAVY CONTENDER “Keala's surfing ability is free and innovative,” Ian says. “She has huge cajones and will paddle for a wave when a lot of guys might think twice. Keala is the nicest person you could ever befriend; totally humble. But don't let her size or surfing ability fool you. After all, growing up surfing with Andy and Bruce Irons has made her a solid contender when the conditions get heavy.” KNOW YOUR SHAPER “My dad was a lifeguard and taught me to understand water and its flow from an early age,” Ian explains. “Ever since I started shaping as a teen, I’ve looked at what the most efficient types of curve patterns on boards will be the best for flow and resistance. Keala and I have a great friendship and a really good understanding of each other. I offer her support and try and give advice that's always positive, no matter how tough things get. She is the easiest person to shape for and she has the ability to try out new designs with an open mind.” Roy Powers DOB: 1/9/1981 Stance: Regular Height/Weight: 6'0, 170 lbs. Winter waves: Kaua‘i home breaks and North Shore premier spots Claim to fame: I recently got second at the US Open. I have a long list of seconds. Heaviest winter moment: Blacked out at Backdoor. Shaper: Glenn Pang (T&C) PROVEN FORMULA “Glenn is a proven well-rounded shaper with plenty of talent to back it up,” Roy boasts. “From international guys to Hawai‘i guys, in the water you'll see his boards constantly, so you have to think that they must work good.” COMFORT IS KEY “From the moment I met Glenn, I felt comfortable with him,” Roy continues. “Even with a big, well-respected name it does not affect his attitude. I feel like besides my shaper, he's my friend and that’s a lot to say in this industry. There is no dispute over boards. If a board works, it works; if it doesn’t, then we find a solution.” THE BARREL “My winter guns need to get me in and out of the barrel! My winter quiver starts from a round pin shortboard to a 6'4 and every 2 inches after that up to a 6'10 are the most used for me all winter long,” Roy explains. “I go through 10 to 15 boards each winter.”  Kekoa BacalsoDOB: 7/22/1985 Stance: Regular Height/Weight: 5’8, 175 lbs Winter waves: Hale‘iwa, Backdoor, Pipe Claim to Fame: Billabong Junior Champ Shaper: Kerry Tokoro BAM BAM SPECS “Koa's winter gun specs range from 6'6 and up, widths of 183/8 to 181/2 and thickness of 23/8 to 21/2; all round pins,” shaper Kerry Tokoro reports. “I’ve been shaping for Koa for about eight years,” he maintains. “Our relationship is pretty laid back. We occasionally surf together. Koa is always open to new specs and ideas. His surfing is powerful, stylish, and world-class.” PROGRESSION Kerry Tokoro has been shaping for about 21 years and is always trying to create high quality, high-performance surfboards. “I’m always striving to be open to new ideas and be creative,” he adds. “This is what makes surfing exciting and progressive.” Bonga Perkins DOB: 8/2/1972 Stance: Regular Height/weight: 6'0, 195 lbs. Winter waves: Pipe Claim to fame: 1996 World Longboard Champion Heaviest winter moment: Two cases of Steinlager in the parking lot at Hale‘iwa. Shaper: Carl Schaper (Local Motion) A LONGBOARD IS A LONGBOARD Bonga’s specs on his typical longboard are: 9'1 x 181/4 (nose) x 221/2 (width) x 141/4 (tail) x 27/8 (thickness) and medium rails. The 1996 World Champ of Longboarding is unique because unlike the other pros mentioned, his winter guns are no different from his summer boards. He is a pro longboarder, and he rides his signature stick in all conditions. “In my opinion, I really feel Bonga is the best all-around longboarder in the world,” Schaper says. If anything, Carl will make a winter board just a bit heavier for Bonga, who has been one of his riders for 12 years. HAPPY COUPLE “We don't have a relationship,” Bonga admonishes with sarcasm. “[Schaper] is kind of old and I just put up with him. [laughs] We surf together every once in a while, go on trips occasionally. But fight over board specs, never. We've been together for this long and he knows what I want. It's easy.” PRO KNOWLEDGE “Bonga is extremely knowledgeable about boards and what makes them work,” Schaper says. “He is very comfortable talking about sixteenths and what he can expect from changes wants. At this point, he can come and ask me for anything he thinks he needs and I am stoked to give it my best shot and try to make it for him.”
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