Al Merrick Double Helix

Hmmm... it seems that there was a post on this forum a couple weeks ago that mentioned a AB3 event in NJ. This might be a great opportunity for some of you in the NJ area to ride some of these boards... it's coming up this weekend. The coolest thing about the AB3 is that you can walk up to one of a hundred plus assorted boards, talk to the shaper about the board, go paddle out on it and ride a few waves, then come back in and talk price and/or your custom dimensions. Its a great way to find local shapers and try their boards with out the fear of commitment.

I really recommend checking this out if you are in the NJ area, the ones out here on the West Coast are just the bees knees and I try to attend every one of them...

That post was from this thread

 

i own 2 high performance shortboard 1 is a al merrick flyer tuflite the other is a local shaper donw where i live named jimmy keith and all of his boards are epoxy. i to be honest like my jimmy keith as it turns better also it has parabolic rails and wont lose much speed off the bottom turn and just feels so much better than my flyer. my flyer yes they're strong and can take a beating but look at m flyer and it has battle wonds alot of them so they are not industructible, but the flyer just has to much float and doesnt seem to do good on east coast waves where as my jimmy keith does good on any size wave that we get. so i would defiently recommend getting an ec shaper.

here is the link to jimmy keiths website if you wanna check him out.
http://www.greenroomboardco.com/

 

I'm as down as anyone with local shapers....all of the eight or nine boards I own were made by shapers who i call friends, surf with, and live within an hours drive and really respect their craftsmanship.

But dont kid yourself...there are great boards and terrible boards being made by local shapers all over the place.

communication is key if you go custom.

 

Anyone can make a board these days. Hell i make my own and i live in Amish Country. is my quality up to par yet? nope. Is my surfing level high enough that i can use a performance board to all of its potential. nope. so i am fine with riding my boards till i know i can use a board of top quality.

you want to see his past work before you ask them to make you a board. ask people who have bought from the shaper before.