There’s a lot more to surfing than riding longboards and shortboards. No other surfer reminds us of this fact with as much grace and style as Leah Dawson, which made her the perfect person to collaborate with when Inspire Courses decided it was time to design a course dedicated to alternative surf craft.
“My surfing has always been about riding as many different surf crafts as I can get my hands on because I’m incredibly enthused by the different feelings I can achieve just by switching fins or by riding a friend’s board,” she says in Leah Dawson’s Guide to Alternative Surf Craft. “The flavor of the month, as it goes, is always changing. And my desire to ride different craft and swap out, trade, and create (something) new has only continued to grow.”
One look through Leah’s quiver is all it takes to see just how much passion Leah has for riding unique and diverse shapes. Her collection of boards includes anything she’s gotten her hands on for about the past 15 years, from twin fins to downrail single fins, twinzers, mid-lengths, and the list goes on. So she took all those experiences, all the things she’s learned from (and about) these different boards, and all her years of surfing, and packed as much knowledge as she could into 17 separate video lessons for this course. Along the way, Leah introduces us to five boards out of her quiver that have very unique characteristics, analyzing what makes each one of them magic for her. In doing so, students get a chance to start looking at any and every board in front of them with a renewed perspective. She also shares her technical approach to riding each, covering topics like footwork, cross-stepping, tube riding, and other skills that can be adapted to a variety of diverse shapes.
So, who is this course for? It’s for any surfer looking to break through plateaus or simply break away from the routine of their everyday board. By doing so, the appreciation for surfboards can expand and new ways to ride waves can be discovered. Leah brings excitement to something as simple as switching to a new fin template or just taking a friend’s board for a spin.
“I love the infinity that is all of surf craft,” she says. “It’s like fingerprints, they’re all unique. And that space is really exciting to explore.”
