There are few surfboards that cause a massive stir in the surfing world. The Hypto comes to mind immediately, of course, but so does John John Florence’s Ghost model. Shaped by Jon Pyzel, of course, it’s the board that makes everyone think they might — just might — be able to surf a little more like John John. That’s not possible, but the Ghost sure does suit John’s surfing just about perfectly. It wouldn’t, though, if it weren’t for the dusty hands of Pyzel.
He’s a shaping legend, as you well know. He makes shapes that sit under the feet of John John Florence, Nathan Florence, Koa Rothman, and Mark Healey, just to name a few. Pyzel, a California native, grew up in Santa Barbara but made the move to Hawaii in 1992. He started off as a lowly ding-repair guy at Country Surfboards, then moved on to hot coating and laminating. There, he met Jeff Bushman, who decided to throw him a bone and give him a job as a back-shaper. From there, it was on.
A few years later, in 1998, Pyzel bumped into a pretty blonde who wanted to get her five-year-old son his first surfboard. Pyzel made it for a little kid with two names and began to shape surfing history.
John John Florence became a Pyzel Surfboards cornerstone, and all these years later, they’re still just as tight as family. The Ghost gave birth to a handful of other similar shapes, like the Phantom, the Gremlin, and the Ghost Pro. The World Surf League recently trained its cameras at Pyzel and had him give the run down of what makes John John Florence’s Ghost the surfboard that it is.
See more from the World Surf League here.
