Four Fin Bonzer

All contemporary board designs have a strong lineage and are the sum of everything that has gone before. As shapers we are in the privileged position of having a rich of history to draw on.

Surfing Magazine Feb 89

Jekyll for Antony

Epoxy/EPS Jekyll with two sided tangerine orange pigment.

6'0" for Tom

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

#9 for Jon swan

#9 for carving up Moroccan points

7'1" x 20 x 2 5/8

Regenerated

Feedback from Marco:

I love the board. Great waves and the board is a flyer. Will Probably want another one for weaker waves but she was fast. Fins held in, turned sharp and had plenty of drive. Tuckingmill was three foot and glass today. Gwennap on Sunday was sick and a naughty little left slab was firing in the arvo! Arms ruined. cheers Stevie. I think we have found a great shape and style of board to tweak for the future.

This message has been edited to protect the innocent.

The Adventures of Portland Bill

Bill of Portland

Brewing Tea

Newton for Russell

Russell stopped by yesterday to pick up his Newton. it's always nice to put a face to a voice.

Thanks again for your order Russell, I hope that you enjoy the board.

8'2" x 22 x 2 3/4 Newton
Translucent blue tint with opaque light blue bands.
Quality control by Lottie

In production: Dave's five plug

Not long now....

In production: Russell's Newton

Jekyll for Steve Pilkington

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

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

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... 

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. 

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.

Postcard

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

#9 for Jon

7'1" #9 for Jon Swan.

Newton for Russell

8'2" Newton for Russell Brown.

Empire in the Surfers Path

We have some vehicles in the board guide of this months Surfers Path.

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 

Idless woods

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..)

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.

Volan Vulcan

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