[video=vimeo;125524917]https://vimeo.com/125524917[/video] Please, share your thoughts about this guy's boards. I have a feeling a lot of the big boy shapers out there in SoCa may be borrowing ideas from this guy.
Legit. Just added to my list for old St. Nick. Unfortunately, I've been bad this year. Solid share - that was cool.
I hear you. Not a lot of power turns going on there, but the swell is mostly soft LB waves. To be able to take a smaller board into surf like that and 'free surf' looks fun.
Manny Caro is *completely* legit...I've been following him for almost 10 years now. He's a protégé of Rich "Toby" Pavel, and basically evolved from the Steve Lis tree. His shapes are pieces of art, and a couple of guys I know in NorCal that ride his boards say they're magical. OTOH, I talked to him once to try and get him to shape me a board...he was a lot like Pavel. He's one of those "artist-types", a real right-brainer. Getting him to shape me a board was almost like pulling teeth. Funny thing is, a lot of people still don't really know much about this guy and his shapes. Surfy Surfy in San Diego sells his shapes, but everybody down there is still on a big Bonzer kick (which is OK)...but his boards sometimes sit for long periods on Craigslist. So if you see one, jump on it. EDIT / DISCLAIMER: I posted this before I saw the rest of the video. That slidey crap with those mini-fins is the bunk. Go to Mandala Custom Shapes dot com to get a better idea of this guy's skill.
Legit design theory and process... right down to the original "biomimicry" concept... ...polluted by gimmicky hipster packaging crap in an effort to sell it to the public, because Surfer Joe doesn't pay attention to what goes into building great boards. They have to be sold on it, because they're not informed enough to separate the wheat from the chaff themselves.
Interesting responses so far. I think the prices are completely outrageous, but hey, everybody has to eat if they live in nice San Diego County beach towns, right? I guess you're paying for something hand-shaped by an artist/craftsman. I'm a bit surprised by some folks that are yawning over this, etc. Not that it is wrong, but I would think they would look beyond the packaging, and consider the principles of this guy's shapes. Maybe they have just seen it all during another era, they know more than me, or are just set in their ways regarding whatever kind of shapes that "work" for them and the rest of the masses. Maybe this dude is on to something. I think the shapes might be reality checks for poor slobs like me that sit at a desk most of the day from Mon-Fri. Not everyone is 20-something, or active all day, a trust fund baby, or able to paddle a 25L volume board and catch waves successfully. Once people catch on to shaping these kinds of boards the right way, they might be more affordable for us common folks. Some of the shapes are kinda wack, but a few of them seem really cool and I would love to give them a test drive. I've owned a few comparable local shapes, but I'd like to see if these boards really are magic. I'm thinking Tomo shapes might be the closest thing to what Mandala is cranking out...Never ridden a Tomo though, although the Evo looks pretty friggen nice. Blah blah blah blah....back to work.
If you have so much time on your hands to devote it to riding those boards you are probably a hipster still living in mommy's basement at 32 years old.
LOL. With a waxed mustachio and skinny jeans whilst sipping on a almond milk latte with organic raw honey in it?
