Tuesday, 8 June 2010

Jekyll for Steve Pilkington


6'2" Jekyll Quad with a stunning blue tint heading for Steve in the North of North East.

Monday, 7 June 2010

Paperwork time warp


Where's my evening gone!

North in the slow lane


I lent a Diablo and a #9 to Nick Radford for his recent trip with photographer James Bowden.
here is a link to James's photos:
http://jamesbowden.net/hebs.html

New Shaper biog page



In an act of shameful self promotion I've added a short biography to the website.
You can view it here:
http://www.empiresurfboards.com/Shaper.html

Thursday, 3 June 2010

New rubber stamped Board tags/Business cards




Got some new board tags sorted and they also double up as business cards. Two metaphorical birds with one stone. 

Claim your free tag with any Empire board purchase... 

Monday, 31 May 2010

Tail slide, high speed Jibe




Been enjoying the sunshine, waves and digging out my small wave boards that have been collecting dust all winter. i built this channel bottom Twinzer over four years ago and it is still the magic board of my quiver. for me it's as good as twin fin surfing gets. 

Friday, 28 May 2010

Cannonball

saw this on the Numb Skulls blog and thought that it is worthy of reposting. 
a short film about guys making the most of an otherwise wasted resource.



Cannonball from California is a place. on Vimeo.

Empire at Bathseba


Empire surfboards are now available from the good people at Bathsheba Surf in Perranporth.
If you are in the area, stop by and have a look.

Thursday, 27 May 2010

Postcard




I got a nice postcard from Nick Radford, i lent him a couple of boards for his Hebridean trip.

Tuesday, 25 May 2010

Dave's new ride


I had the pleasure of surfing with Dave Beckitt at the weekend, he also dropped by the factory to check out his new board. i've lifted this picture from his blog Numbskulls, (hope that you don't mind Dave.)

Was great to meet you and i'm looking forward to catching up when you collect.

Monday, 24 May 2010

Stack em high


Nick and Mark loading loading up for the long drive home.
I'm not sure that proton had this kind of aerodynamic addition in mind.

new home for the old Mode


My 9'8" Mode is heading for a new life in the north east with its proud owner Mark.
Thanks Mark, i hope that she serves you well.

Sunday, 23 May 2010

Mode for Fluid Concept






9'8" Mode with a double resin tint and a black band heading for Fluid Concept in the north east coast.

Wednesday, 19 May 2010

6'2" for Marco






Marco asked me to build him a high performance short board for summer, so applying my principles of speed and flow I've designed him this compact foiled out slice of foam. with increased surface area, efficient planing and decreased rail volume this board will fly.

Sunday, 9 May 2010

Tom's 6'3"





Tom and his 6’3” fresh back from the Mentwais.

Applying philosophies of flow, glide and speed to minimalist, high energy, close tolerance shapes. I’m working on a new range of boards that maintain these core principles but are design to turn squarer and ride vertically in the pocket. More to come…


thanks Tom for the photos 

Tuesday, 4 May 2010

Sheep surfing a Mode

The Mode is so easy to ride, even a sheep has no trouble trimming.



        

Tom and the boys from Finisterre messy about with a sheep at the beach.
(not that video, the other one..)

Monday, 3 May 2010

New on-line shop!


Please visit our new on-line shop at www.empiresurf.co.uk
There are new boards and a few bargains to be had.
Happy shopping...

a little bit of history (well.., history through the lens of the surf mags)


Nick has been having a clear out and was kind enough to send me a couple of his late seventies and early eighties magazines. there are some great articles in there including an interesting interview with Simon Anderson talking about his thruster design in Dec 81. i'll post a few photos over the next couple of weeks.

Monday, 26 April 2010

Volan Vulcan





9'6" Vulcan with Volan cloth and glassed on pivot fin for Dave of Bathsheba surf.

Friday, 23 April 2010

Newton for Nick





8'2" Newton with a two sided powder blue resin tint for North East Legend Nick Paden.

Thursday, 22 April 2010

Apertures



Three is the magic number for Mark


6'2" x 20 1/2 x 2 5/8 three fin for Mark Sankey

for interesting surf related articles check out his Blogg Rumbles and Scuttlebutt.

Busy Busy Busy....



9'8" x 23 x 3 Mode for Mark

Jekyll for Steve






6'2" Jekyll Quad for Steve Pilkington.
I'm really excited about seeing this one glassed up.