In recent years, the Alaia surfboard has gotten tons of press from the big dudes in the surf media. Rob Machado has been plugging away on these little finless wooden doors for "impromtu" photo shots and videos showing guys spinning and twirling along tiny peelers are standard fodder for writers and photogs on a weekly basis; however, not all press has been positive. Some are calling foul on Alaia surfboards, calling them nothing more than a finless fad and another attempt to make money off a niche market like the stand-up paddle movement of late. Check Post Surf for a sardonic (yet satisfying) rant on the Alaia trend. Whether you agree with Lewis Samuels or not, it's still pretty funny (with reference to Kurt Vonnegot, no less).

For me, surfing is ALL good. Finless, asymmetrical, retro, paddle-boards made of wood? Who cares? It's just another way to ride waves. Bodyboarders and longboarders...Bodysurfers and knee boarders. They're all stoked. Alaia boards actually look to have a steep learning curve and would challenge even the most skilled surfer. Who cares what they look like surfing. Is surfing about looks? Riding boards that challenge you and surfing sans leash and pushing yourself in difficult waves are all ways to become a better surfer. It's cliché to say that a truly good surfer can ride a barn door. Well here's the chance.

The Alaia board is essentially a thin, finless, wooden surfboard with no rocker. All reports are that they are super fast, but video shows that they are difficult to handle. I plan to get a hold of one soon and give it a go.

Surfboards are a work of art. No argument there. Energized by muse. Infused with individuality, hand shaped surfboards will forever drive innovation in form and function. From the early Hawaiian Olo boards to Tom Blake's hollow logs, George Greenough's kneeboards, Greg Knoll's big wave guns, Simon Anderson, Glenn Winton, Dick Brewer, Al Merrick, the list continues...

Some shapers were historically important, innovating technology or technique while others, fortunate to be shapers-of-the-moment propelled by the era's hottest riders, effectively garnered publicity and exposure. But who's to say those boards are any better than the multitudes? When you get down to the grit, a great surfer will rip on even a mediocre board shape. You know the old saying, "He can ride a barn door." It's true. Dora, Young, Rabbit, Curren, Occy, Slater would have ripped regardless of which shapers they rode. And those guys represent only an insignificant minutia of the world's great surfers. My point: surfers surf well globally on all types of boards.

Shapers in backyard sheds around the world are every day tweaking the status quo by degree, seeking to twist from the shoulders of past giants. But the common yelp among the fray concerns the pop-out surfboard, a duplicated (sometimes plastic) mold of an original shape. The complaint is that mass produced pop-outs are driving the backyard shapers out of business by flooding the market with low priced inferior surfboards.

Yeah, that's about right, but there are more surfers in the world than ever before, and they fall into two main categories: casual and intense. Casual surfers need cheap boards. They don't need custom high performance rockets pocked with nuance. The more intense surfer is looking for something that perfectly fits to his/her style or particular waves. So there will be markets for each. The backyard shaper will always exist because more intense wave riders will always want something more than a pop-out can give. And with the ever growing number of surfers in the world and the varying choices and tastes (as well as access afforded by the Internet), there should be a market share for everyone.

For this site, I review different boards monthly, sometimes weekly, and to be honest, pop-out computer shapes rip too. While mass-produced boards lack the satisfaction of dusting the foam off your freshly shaped stick and honestly score low on stored energy and flex, I have yet to run into a surfboard in the new era that inherently sucks in terms of performance and construction. With modern blanks essentially delivered with a shape already intact, most shapers simply scrape out the basic foil. Computers aid the more challenging specifications, so almost anyone can shape these days. Of course, there are regal craftsman, true artisans, who can demand high prices from pros and wealthy collectors, so they aren't complaining. While most call this the dark age for surfboard shaping, the argument could be made that this is the golden age where anything is possible, when technology and an "anything goes" mentality is driving surfboard design into an exciting new world, where only the most brilliant or insane ideas can separate the wolves from the sheep.

Here is a re-post below that has generated lots of feedback. It came to my mind as I watched Jaimal Yogis' video about his book Saltwater Buddha: a surfer's quest to find Zen on the sea. It made me think of the great stories that surfers experience in a life of riding waves and what motivates them. Is it a higher power, a noble cause, or a selfish pleasure? Maybe all of them...

This article is quite insane (in a good way). It falls into the surf philosophy, psychology, and spirituality realm. An adventurer journalist/surfer finds his spiritual compass after falling to chronic Lyme Disease. He speaks lucidly and convincingly on religious connections to surfing and how we get the benefits and lessons of the world's faith in the unknown by paddling out into the very real lineup. He hits on some cool issues. Let me know what you think in the comment link below. Is surfing a religious experience? Do we experience God in the ocean? Is it just a physical reaction to the physical world?

Ah...the Hollywood surf movie. Do you remember where you were when In God's Hands was released? Or can you recite any of Keanu's lines from Pointbreak? Probably not. But as you take a look at my list of some of the most memorable surf moments in modern celluloid, remember that this is really a tongue in cheek bit of fun with references to "modern" flicks. You wouldn't believe the grief I have taken for all the movies I left out. So to set the record straight, I am not referring to surf movies like say Barrels of Fun or Momentum or surfing masterpieces like The Endless Summer or Riding Giants. And yes, evidentally, I missed an era that some consider "modern" in which Gidget and Ride the Wild Surf were released. But I just needed a forum where I could say that North Shore: the movie rules! And there's nothing anybody can do to stop me. If you have a list yourself, go ahead and share it. We all want to hear.