Dave Vernor with one of his many creations. Photo c/o Noah Dundas
Surfboard shapers occupy a unique niche in our culture, creating something real with their hands amidst a sea of products polished by child slave labor. This world is occupied by a love of handcrafted beauty, people who pour their artistic expression through the steady hum created by their trusty 30-year-old Rockwell planner. Over the last 15 years, these people have been replaced by computers which do the mundane, rudimentary work of the early stages of this craft, and like all things whose popularity starts to outpace its originality, mass-produced Walmart-bought products are the next stage.
Between these two worlds plays Vernor Surfboards, started and created over 20 years ago by Dave Vernor. So far he has had built over 10,000 surfboards and enjoys planning out a board almost as much as he does parking it at his favorite local surf spot. To find out a little bit more about how Dave does what he does, I sent him a few questions.
Surfers often talk of mentors, people who have helped them along the way. You have talked about your relationship with local shapers Doug Haut, Mark Goin, Joey Thomas, etc. Are there others outside of the surfing world that inspired you? Designers, engineers, visionaries who helped you see things differently?
Over the last ten years, Kirk McGinty has been a huge influence and a good friend to me. He’s one that taught me how to use CNC programs on the computer, which allows me to build close to 3,000 surfboards a year. Yeah, Goin, Haut and the other legends helped teach me the initial stages, the handcraft part of shaping, but without my heightened computer skills, the volume I do now would not be possible.
Despite the many changes in design, the thruster remains the predominant design ridden. Can anything replace the thruster? If not, what designs are you most excited about?
Almost every big wave board or gun that is made around the world are four-fin surfboards. Four fins have replaced the thruster in all vertical tube riding situations and large surf. Riding on a four-fin is at least 30% easier than a thruster.
How did you go from riding a surfboard to wanting to shape one?
Funny answer to this question. I wanted to be a surfboard shaper before I even rode a surfboard. I always looked up to surfboards shapers and how people treated them as rock stars. I used to wish I could be that cool and make that kind of money, ha ha! But seriously, I always liked the respect that a customer and a shaper share, and that was the beginning of it for me.
There have been many changes in the industry over the last 15 years. From computer shaping to the rise of the mass-produced market, how does an independent shaper like yourself compete with myriad local, national and international competition?
I am an international shaper. Of the 3,000 surfboards or so a year, 1,200 of them are made domestically in America. The other ones are made overseas and sold in four different countries. Most local people do not know that. My market is on four different continents and every state on the coast of the United States. I don’t concentrate that much on local Santa Cruz business although both local Rip Curl stores do over 100 boards a year.
The dirty secret of our sport is that the most natural sport in the world relies on the most toxic materials to make the equipment. You have developed and made your boards with something called the Marko Envirofoam Core. Can you explain this a little and why it is better for the environment?
Polyester resin is a UV-cured resin. It does not gas BOCs in the air. The Ipock seat resin is completely non-toxic to the air. However not all of this is biodegradable, but we are as green as you can be. Everyone else is just lying.
Will any technological advance convince you to give up the planer or rather are there aspects from the computer shaping machines you find you can incorporate into your work?
If a shaper says a planer is better, he is fighting a losing battle. You are bringing a sword to a gunfight. I have hand-shaped over 10,000 boards and that translates into my computer work which translates into a better, consistent every time quality that you just can’t get with a planer alone.
You shape a lot of SUP and wakeboards. The popularity of these, river surfing and other forms of surfing have evolved to where their popularity rivals that of surfing. Do you see a future where these sports, like skateboarding, eclipse the popularity of the sport that spawned them?
Wake surfboards are a hobby I love to do and stand up paddle boards are very financially rewarding around the world. I feel very blessed and fortunate as I am only 42 and because of these successes, I am able to own my house in this amazing town and I’m able donate a lot of time and money to different charities.
Any last words of advice to those wanting to start their own dream?
The advice I give children when giving a tour of the factory is find something that you will want to wake up and do every day and make money at it. I will never retire as it’s all I love to do!
To contact Dave, you can reach him at his website: http://www.vernorsurfboards.com
