Arts and Craft

Test pilot John Eldridge

2012-01-29T10:28:00.000-08:00

7'5" "Dirty Pin" Single fin with scooped deck for John Eldridge.

Design with John, inspired by the boards of John Wesley and incorporating a few things that i have learnt from the recent boards that I've shaped for Alex.

Artwork by John.

all fun.

More For Sale

2012-01-08T07:48:00.000-08:00

Custom Lok Box Twin Keels made by Rainbow Fins

with a good balance of hold and release these fins will liven up any twin fin

usually sell at £65 selling for £30 a set

#9 7'7" x 19 3/4 x 2 7/8

opaque white resin tint top and bottom

hand made smoked glass quad fins, glassed on.

used (e-mail for details)

£300

this is one of my own personal boards. it's a joy to ride and i'm reluctant to part with it.

9'0" x 22" x 2 5/8

Pink and black resin tint

2+1 fins included

used (e-mail Alexa at alexa_72@gmx.de for details)

super stylish and a great ride

£320

BOARDS FOR SALE

2012-01-05T13:01:00.000-08:00

I'm having a New Year clear out to make room for new shapes and have new and second hand boards for sale.

V-Fish 5'8" x 20 1/4 x 2 5/8

Brand New

Opaque cream resin tint top and bottom, inlaid fabric patch and double black and white pin lines.

Price includes a custom set of Glass keel fins

Usual price £510 selling for £310

Diablo 5'10" x 20 1/2 x 2 1/2

Brand New

Clear Glassing with a black resin Stripe.

Price includes a custom set of Glass Quad fins

Usual price £480 selling for £300

Diablo 6'2" x 21 1/4 x 2 1/2

Brand New

Clear glassing with a spray on the bottom

Price includes a custom set of Glass Quad fins

Usual price £480 selling for £300

Diablo 6'2" x 21 1/2 x 2 3/4

Used (e-mail for details)

Clear glassing

Price includes a custom set of Glass Quad fins

£100

Asym 7'0" x 20 1/4 x 2 5/8

Used (e-mail for details)

Opaque resin tint, pale blue deck and rails with sand bottom

Fins not included

£150

Please e-mail for more info, photos of any of the boards.

info@empiresurfboards.com

please spread the word to anyone that might be interested.

More to follow

2+1 for Nick Radford

2011-12-14T13:52:00.000-08:00

7'2" opaque white with cream spot

Vulcan

2011-11-21T23:21:00.001-08:00

9'4" Vulcan for Chris

winged shortboard

2011-11-21T10:33:00.001-08:00

Chris's 5'10" winged, channel bottom shortboard.
photo nabbed from his fine blog http://www.pikerust.blogspot.com/

Glider

2011-11-21T00:15:00.001-08:00

9'10" Glider for Mark

Super 6 for Alex

2011-11-13T11:31:00.001-08:00

New shape for Alex

Scooped nose Hull up front, down rail with spiral vee in the tail

Winged shortboard

2011-10-28T12:13:00.000-07:00

For Chris

Lumus

2011-10-28T11:56:00.000-07:00

Lumus for Liam

Lumus feedback

2011-10-02T16:05:00.000-07:00

Well it's been a long time but finally I'm able to report on the Lumus. After a few complications with the leg I'm getting back to fitness and able to surf pretty much normally again.

I've now surfed the board in a fairly wide range of conditions over the last few weeks ranging from completely awful where the Lumus made the most of what was available to really decent French beach break at about 4 foot...absolutely great!The board paddles and catches stuff well, accelerates quickly and makes it's way easily past flat/weak sections but still holds a line on steeper faces. When there is some power in the wave she flies...a real speed machine! Turns - not something I'm renowned for doing too many of - are smooth and effortless and the board is encouraging me to surf in different ways. Plus with a somewhat different shape, great glass job, resin tint and bamboo fins it's a real head turner and raising a fair bit of interest.

Surfed it again last night in fairly chunky onshore conditions. Even on the bigger drops the board was solid and comfortable when I thought the wider tail might move around a bit. On the odd waves that held up a bit the board really gets up and goes...we get a lot of second rate waves up here so something that makes the most of anything is important to me fir a fun session!

I'm extremely pleased I went for the Lumus...finally a smaller board that I'm really enjoying riding and not tempted to drift back to my big boards...may even be tempted by a sub 6 foot one sometime?

Many thanks for a great board and great service!

Best Regards, Roger

2011-09-27T13:03:00.000-07:00

Deskjockey Pres - Banff Point Jan 3rd 2011 from Darryl Roberts on Vimeo.

It's always great to meet the people that you have built boards for.
I built Darryl a Prophet a few years back and bumped into him for the first time at the Fish Fry in Crackington.
thanks for the Clip.

shapes

2011-09-25T23:33:00.000-07:00

9'10" Glider for Mark

6'2" Lumus for Liam

Vulcan

2011-09-19T11:03:00.000-07:00

9'8" Vulcan

Fish Fry

2011-09-19T10:59:00.000-07:00

Cassette feedback

2011-09-14T23:31:00.000-07:00

while exiting the water the lifeguards rolled up and were all over the board- "what's that, where d'ya get it- we seen ya out there on the nose every wave"

type thing- I'm starting to think we should have just sprayed the web address on the board, but then I wouldn't be getting to meet all these nice enquiring folk,

would I?

Hope your enjoying your time away- will catch up soon.

Ciaran.

P.s We spent the weekend up at Saunton and scored perfect waist high glass at mid tide on Friday- the board went sic!!!! Same thing there, bumped into a lot of the

local mal riders I know from competing up that way some years ago and there attention was soon taken up by the Cassette. One guy even had a go and paddled

back out grinning his head off- saying "this is the perfect Saunton board!"- I would have to agree.

2011-09-02T01:47:00.000-07:00

2011-09-02T01:34:00.000-07:00

2011-09-02T01:22:00.000-07:00

Returned

2011-09-01T03:53:00.000-07:00

We had a wonderful adventure and saw many beautiful things.

Here are a few of them...

Gone

2011-07-26T15:37:00.001-07:00

Got the van loaded and we're heading off adventuring.

gone for a month.

hope to return a little wiser, with some good memories and a nice selection of wines.

will be checking e-mails occasionally.

#9 for Graham

2011-07-25T14:38:00.000-07:00

7'2" single fin #9

it's always a pleasure to shape for friends.

thanks Graham, good luck and best wishes with the new adventure.

hope to see you there soon.

http://plimsollline.wordpress.com/

sometimes more is just more

2011-07-25T00:31:00.000-07:00

Dove

2011-07-23T00:03:00.001-07:00

7'0" Dove mid-length for Jamie

tint work by Jason at the Ocean Magic factory

Pair of quads

2011-07-19T14:44:00.001-07:00

6'0" for Sarah

5'6" for Paulo

Quads based on my Twinzer template and rocker.

Been playing with mud

2011-07-18T15:08:00.001-07:00

Lidded water jar

Hand built in stoneware

Jekyll feedback

2011-07-18T14:29:00.000-07:00

Hi Steve.

Well I finally got to surf the Jeckyl in some decent (ish) 3 foot waves down here. It went fantastically well and given that it's been probably 6 or 7 years since I surfed a shorter board in this country I was amazed by the ease with which it caught waves. Fast and manouverable but mainly fast...bloody fast. It's one of those rare boards that you can see the future potential of as soon as you surf it. Three hours of thrashing the weak southern summer water to a pulp and I still wanted to keep going. Splendid stuff. I gave it a friend for twenty minutes and he was knocked out by it ( and not just the looks of it although I regularly get stopped by people who love the finish of the board).
Anyway to sum up.
Great design works aesthetically and achieves it's function. A work of art and a marvellous mode of aquatic transport.
Many thanks.
Regards. John

Thanks John

New shape for Alex

2011-07-14T14:38:00.001-07:00

9'5" bon voyage

Plain and simple

2011-07-11T09:00:00.000-07:00

9'4" Cassette for team rider Ciaran McQueen

unknown

2011-06-24T09:25:00.001-07:00

Unknown surfer on an Electro.

Photo by Paddy Benson nabbed from the carve website.

if this is you or your photo give me shout and i can give you a proper credit.

9'5" for Alex

2011-06-20T23:54:00.001-07:00

9'4" Cassette for Ciaran

2011-06-20T23:51:00.001-07:00

9'4" Cassette for Ciaran

Shapes

2011-06-20T23:47:00.001-07:00

6'0" 2 + 1 for Tom

6'0" for Marco

The Sneaky-long

2011-06-12T12:47:00.000-07:00

Here is Alex's review of his new shape

8.0 aka sneaky-long:

8' x 22' diamond tail, bladed out rails, s-deck, 8.5 hull flex fin

The 8.0 is influenced by the late 60s period when longboards started to come down in size opening up a whole new way of riding the face of a wave. In partiular, Bob McTavish and Wayne Lynch were experimenting with a template called the 'fantastic plastic machine', thin rails, roll to vee on the bottom and a George Greenough flex fin. Its a really diverse board to ride, paddles like a longboard, gets in nice and early and cuts a lovely trim. Set with an 8.5 hull flex fairly high up the box and bladed out rails, it has multiple turning characteristics; powerful full rail arcing turns from the shoulder back into the pocket through to more tweaky quick snap from the boards hips. In 4ft plus stuff, its feels solid, reliable and super fast, smaller waves, treat it like log and sneak out some cheater 5s...

Rubber Band Racer

2011-06-08T14:44:00.001-07:00

Rubber band powered racer for Falmouth School.

Laser cut and etched.

lurking

2011-06-08T11:36:00.000-07:00

Nabbed from Guys blog "house of bonzer"

http://houseofbonzer.blogspot.com/2011/06/porthleven.html

new Long for summer

2011-06-07T12:37:00.000-07:00

The Cassette

9'4" cream opaque with orange circle.

Cassette

A flat, rectangular container made of plastic or lightweight metal that holds magnetic tape for audio or video recording and replay. A tape cassette is designed so that it can be inserted in a recorder and used immediately; it eliminates the need to thread a portion of the tape manually before starting the recorder. In a cassette the tape begins on a feed reel at one side and moves along guides through the record-playback mechanism, after which it passes on to the take-up reel on the opposite side.

Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008

Vulcan for Rich

2011-06-05T03:36:00.001-07:00

9'6" Vulcan for Rich

Halfway to the wilderness

2011-05-31T07:10:00.000-07:00

or rather halfway back.

Another photo from Ollie

Jekyll for John

2011-05-31T07:04:00.000-07:00

6'6" Jekyll with a resin tint for John

Diablo for Tom

2011-05-31T03:19:00.000-07:00

5'10 " Diablo with resin tint and tail block for Tom

Only a Polisher knows the feeling

2011-05-24T14:49:00.000-07:00

if i had to explain you wouldn't understand....

Rogers Lumus

2011-05-24T14:37:00.000-07:00

6'4" Lumus for Roger

I hope that the leg mends and you are back in the water soon.

Tied up

2011-05-17T13:11:00.000-07:00

Tacking on fins

Lumus for Dave

2011-05-16T15:22:00.001-07:00

6'0" Lumus with resin tint and hand made bamboo fins for Dave Vowles

Curves

2011-05-16T15:18:00.002-07:00

9'1" for Alexa

Boards for Ben

2011-05-16T15:07:00.000-07:00

Four boards heading for Ben of Archipelago in Jersey.

Electro for Dave

2011-05-10T15:12:00.000-07:00

Vulcan for Rich

2011-05-02T14:58:00.000-07:00

Fins

2011-04-23T02:38:00.000-07:00

Handmade bamboo fins

Welcome Alex

2011-04-15T16:22:00.001-07:00

Welcome to our new hull test pilot Alex Rowse.

details on the board to follow.

Up North

2011-04-11T14:46:00.000-07:00

a still sent by Ollie

Good memories

Second hand quad for sale

2011-04-11T14:21:00.000-07:00

Empire Surfboard Round Tail Quad, 6ft 2", Wood Fins

cgi.ebay.co.uk

Mark is selling his quad on ebay.

take a look here...

Off to Brittany

2011-04-06T23:36:00.000-07:00

have a great trip Chris.

Photo nabbed from http://pikerust.blogspot.com/2011/04/build-up-to-britanny.html

Electro

2011-04-01T14:35:00.000-07:00

6'8" Electro glide for Dave

Lumus Concaves

2011-04-01T13:53:00.001-07:00

6'4" Lumus for Roger in North wales

skeletons stand bare bones in the valley

2011-03-30T15:16:00.000-07:00

waiting for the slow churning progression of reanimation

here comes spring.

We jump for joy

2011-03-23T16:37:00.000-07:00

A gorgeous film of friends having fun.

Mark Dickinson riding a Empire Mode, filmed by Ollie Banks

thanks guys.

Longs

2011-03-22T16:12:00.000-07:00

Lumus Feedback

2011-03-22T15:31:00.000-07:00

5'4" Lumus for Chris Bisson

Hiya Steve,

Got three surfs on my 5'4'' Lumus this weekend and had a

great time. Everything about it feels good, paddles very well,

catches waves well and surfs brilliantly. Pivots nicely on bottom

turns, but still keeps it's drive and speed, grips nicely on turns

whilst still keeping it's speed.

Cheers,

Chris.

Custom Quad

2011-03-20T16:44:00.001-07:00

6'4" Quad for Sam

Mice?

2011-03-20T16:26:00.000-07:00

Why you shouldn't let your 18 month old daughter help unpack the shopping.

Vulcan

2011-03-14T16:30:00.001-07:00

9'8" Vulcan for Steve Griffin

"Raspberry" tint with knee patch and yellow band

thank you for the order Steve, it was a pleasure.

Shapes

2011-03-13T18:19:00.001-07:00

6'6" Jekyll for John

5'10" Diablo for Tom

6'0" Lumus for Dave

New addition to the family

2011-02-24T16:16:00.000-08:00

Bronte Wintercroft born 12/2/11

For Peru

2011-02-24T16:07:00.001-08:00

6'1" with three fins for Jacksons trip to Peru

Still cold

2011-01-30T06:48:00.001-08:00

Diversity

2011-01-30T06:27:00.000-08:00

I love shaping and the interaction with and variety of people, places and waves that i build for.

On Thursday i shaped a 9'8" Vulcan for Steve in Fife, a 6'1" high energy short board heading to Peru with Jackson of Finisterre and 5'4" Lumus for Chris up the road in Newlyn East.

Testing

2011-01-04T02:48:00.000-08:00

Test Flight for my new Lumus

Board: Lumus 6'0"

Burnt orange pigment with white spot.

Glassed on fins, wet sanded finish.

Average waves can be fun with good equipment.

Surfed a fading swell at Godrevy on Sunday with good friend Nick Radford and new friend Dan Crockett. Good fun all round.

Thank you to Mel of Splashography for sending the photos over.

If you surf in Cornwall he'll probably have a picture of you.

Take a look at his site here and keep and eye out for him on the beach.

Alaia for Alexa

2011-01-04T01:38:00.000-08:00

In the Autumn i was fortunate enough to be asked to shape an Alaia for Alexa.

wood is a wonderful material to work with.

Thanks for the photos Alexa.

you can see her blog here

chilly up north

2011-01-04T01:14:00.000-08:00

It takes a good deal of dedication to surf through the winter in Yorkshire.

cheers for the picks Joe.

Snow Sharks

2010-11-30T00:54:00.001-08:00

Corduroy Lines

2010-11-30T00:19:00.000-08:00

Empire Surfboards feature in the printed Autumn issue of Corduroy Lines.

Thanks to Simon for supporting UK surfing and for a great read.

if you don't already have it, you can pick up a copy here.

Complete

2010-11-22T00:30:00.000-08:00

6'0" for Jackson of Finisterre

6'0" x 19 1/2 x 2 3/8 thruster

http://www.finisterreuk.com/

Second hand Mode for Sale!

2010-11-11T01:51:00.000-08:00

9'3" Mode £380

9'3" x 22 1/2 x 2 3/4

Alexa is selling her Mode. this is a beautiful, functional board with a full resin tint, gloss polish and glassed in flex fin. the board is in excellent condition with only minor deck compressions. The Mode represents a modern evolution of a traditional noserider. This very maneuverable board with it's light and narrow nose turns quickly from the tail to keep you positioned in the pocket. It excels in knee to shoulder high surf, A light nose concave and kicked up tail provides lift and suction while the single fin and soft rails stop the board from drifting while you are perched on the nose. With pivotal turning, swift paddling and good stability on the nose this board is an essential addition to your quiver. this is a unique opportunity to grab a fantastic board at a bargain price.

you can either buy it through the shop here, drop me an e-mail or message Alexa direct here

any questions, just ask.

Fresh from the glassing room

2010-11-06T03:07:00.000-07:00

5'10" Resin tinted Lumus with handmade bamboo fins for James in Guernsey

Diablo

2010-11-04T08:56:00.001-07:00

6'2" Diablo quad for Nick Radford

true

2010-11-04T03:27:00.000-07:00

nabbed this from Dave at http://www.surfhog.com

i imagine that every shaper has had this conversation or something similar.

The origins of a design

2010-11-03T04:22:00.001-07:00

Raspberry and Sky Blue Lumus with bamboo fins for Joe

After much deliberation i have finally settled on a name for the four finned Bonzer “The Lumus”.

The Lumus represents a collection of ideas and inspiration that extend far beyond my own work.

My role as a shaper is to blend all of these ideas into a shape that has the performance characteristics that best suit how I want to ride. The result is the Lumus which although surfing is a subjective experience, is the most exciting board that I have ridden.

The Lumus is hyper drive fast generating speed from nowhere. With a bonzers precise control and dive it will carve big arcing turns with no loss of speed. It flies in the mush planing over the flat sections but still feels positive and comfortable in hollow powerful surf. If i had just one board in my quiver this would be it. i have never ridden any wide tailed board that will drive off the bottom as well as this. You can really commit, lean on it hard and push though the turn as the rail and fins take the load and keep biting, turning all of that energy into speed and distance. The Lumus really excels at fast, powerful, carving surfing across a wide range of conditions. it feels responsive but not twitchy and i find that lines that it draws perfectly suited to my style of surfing.

if you have any questions or comments please give me a shout.

info@empiresurfboards.com

6'0" for Finisterre's Jackson

2010-10-28T23:42:00.000-07:00

6'0" high energy thruster for Finisterre's Jackson

In France

2010-10-21T04:03:00.000-07:00

A couple of shots from Alexa and Mark's recent trip to France.

thanks for the photos.

In the glassing room

2010-10-20T00:06:00.000-07:00

Shelter from the storm

2010-10-19T00:49:00.001-07:00

Nick Radford sheltering from the recent winds on his Vulcan.

initial report:

"Loving the new board. The bladey rails give the board a nice trim and make it really responsive - feels smaller than a 9'8", and you can turn it around much quicker, or take a higher line than your average egg-railed log. I really like the compromise it creates between a traditional board, and something you can still push off the tail, yet retaining the all important nose-riding characteristics. Been riding it with the flex fin, which produces some nice carving arcs and projected bottom turns with the pintail. It's a slightly different trip on the nose from what I'm used to, but there's a sweet spot where you can feel a sort of stall and lift which extends tip-time."

the photos where taken by Dave of http://www.surfhog.com/

thanks to Dave for the shots and nick for the feedback.

Alexa takes 2nd in the Jesus Longboard Classic

2010-10-18T03:50:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to team rider Alexa Poppe who took 2nd place in the Jesus Longboard Classic at the weekend. hip hip hooray!

there are photos of the event on the 360 photography site.

http://www.360photography.co.uk/lightbox/index.php?module=media&pId=102&id=320409&category=gallery/SurfingGallery/CORWALL/POLZEATH/October%202010/Jesus%202010%20Longboard%20Classic/1.15%20pm&start=90/

Shiny things

2010-10-16T03:18:00.000-07:00

I've been making things flat and shiny for the good people at the Foam Asylum.

http://foamasylum.blogspot.com/

Polishing my way through a batch of Campbell brothers bonzers at the moment.

for more info on Bonzers from the master visit http://houseofbonzer.blogspot.com/

five fintastic

Nick's Diablo

2010-10-11T04:07:00.000-07:00

resin stripe by Jason of the foam asylum.

Nice things

2010-10-11T03:42:00.000-07:00

Know when you stumble across something that is really nice...

bamboo iphone case by Grove with art work by Damion Silver.

Thrusters

2010-09-29T05:34:00.000-07:00

6'2" swallow tail and 6'4" rounded pin for Marco

Welcome

2010-09-22T06:33:00.000-07:00

welcome to our family new team rider Nick Radford.

Nick's ride: Vulcan 9'8" x 23 x 3 1/8

For Nick I have reworked the Vulcan. pulled in the nose, straightened the middle and made it a little more hippie in the tail.

6'0" for Tom

2010-09-17T00:20:00.000-07:00

6'0" thruster for Tom with a free lap tint by Jason of the Foam Asylum and handmade Bamboo fins.

waiting for fins

2010-09-15T11:32:00.000-07:00

Stripes for Tom

2010-09-07T01:08:00.001-07:00

four fin again

2010-09-07T01:01:00.000-07:00

Four fin Bonzer for James

More bamboo fins

2010-08-28T10:09:00.000-07:00

Four fins for Joe

In the rack

2010-08-28T10:04:00.001-07:00

6'2" swallow tail, 6'4" round pin, 5'10" four fin quad and 9'8" Vulcan.

Tangerine Jekyll

2010-08-28T09:54:00.000-07:00

Epoxy/EPS Jekyll for Antony

Bamboo fins

2010-08-27T12:32:00.000-07:00

Bamboo fins for Tom's board.

2010-08-19T23:48:00.000-07:00

Yes

Images borrowed from magic seaweed

Four is the Magic number

2010-08-17T08:03:00.000-07:00

Four Fin Bonzer for Joe

Without Thought

2010-07-28T02:42:00.000-07:00

without thought trailer from Ollie Banks on Vimeo.

New work from Ollie and friends available from 1st August