Photo: WRV//Instagram
Wave Riding Vehicles (WRV) has been an East Coast mainstay for over 50 years. The surfboard company was founded in 1967 in Virginia Beach, and has since expanded into the largest surfboard manufacturer in the region. Recently, they lost one of their own – beloved shaper Mike Doyle.
“Rest in peace, reside in porpoise or just RIP,” wrote Wes Johnson in a memorial posted to Instagram. “Mike Doyle passed during the biggest snow storm I have seen in Virginia Beach, it wasn’t just a normal empty winter night. He passed before the completion of the synthetic Virginia Beach wave pool. Fitting. Doyle was the REAL THING. All of the magic, hope and possibilities within the ocean inspired Doyle. He spent his entire life making water crafts to enjoy the ocean, to bring us closer, to draw us near and understand it more. He checked the waves twice daily, often by bike with the same excitement each time. I’m not sure the last time he physically surfed, but he checked the waves for us and for the ocean.”
He goes on to describe a man known for his generosity, exuberance, and above all love of surfing. “He would give you half his sandwich and knew your dog by name,” continued the post. “He was somewhere between a prophet and a kid. The best of both worlds.
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“I shot this photo in 2014, Doyle was in the middle of finishing a shape, he had literally just given me half of his sandwich (not the first time) and was on the phone with our North Carolina factory trying to gain access to more blanks,” the post from Johnson continued. “Doyle was so obsessed with making surfboards we literally had to put a lock on the blank storage room because if we didn’t he would shape everything in the room! He hand shaped everything, obviously; because to Doyle EACH blank was different. No two were the same. The variance in wood, the changing foam densities, slight shifts in rocker all played a part to him in how the board should be shaped. Each board Mike shaped was a true original. It wasn’t uncommon for him to write full blown paragraphs in the foam explaining the board, a dream or vision he had or just a love note to an old friend, sealed forever in fiberglass.”
