Lady in Lace

This board was shaped in a factory with some of the deepest roots in all of Southern California surfboard manufacturing history.

The first place we went as 15 year old groms to get our firsts blanks and the rest of the materials to build our own boards. It’s an extremely functional shape that will never go out of style.

The Story Behind Lady in Lace

The style in which it was laminated is of great significance. First it was glassed, top and bottom with a bright white opaque resin that saturates the fiberglass cloth for that beautiful depth of color.

The real expertise came in when I decided to go with the Black-Lace, 3/4 deck path.

No one in the factory wanted to do it since it was clearly a difficult piece of fabric to work with so the owner had to step in. Brad Basham, R.I.P. was a true wizard with foam and fiberglass and he delighted in the challenge.

We went over his ideas on how he would laminate the lace, trim it to the exact shape I wanted, float some resin in between the areas where the lace went from thickly embroidered to non-existent so that there would be minimal air bubbles. I had bought all my building materials from him and picked his brain in the some 15 years prior but this was the first time I had gotten to design a board with him and see him in action in that storied laminating room.

No respirator, long hair, long beard, still with that twinkle in his eye because he just loved to work on surfboards. A true inspiration to a young board builder like myself. Artist and craftsman are similar in that you can really tell if they are happy with the product based off their body language and facial expressions. I could tell Brad was happy with how the board turned out and that he was proud to have a hand in it by the way he picked it up, hefted it under his arm saying, “Ohh, I actually like that little bit of extra weight from that crazy fabric you chose, it’ll really shine when the offshores are cranking!” – Coach Evan