"A surfboard is a surfer's best friend," writes author and surf legend Rod Sumpter. "It's the apple of one's eye and a window to the surfer's future skill and achievements -- a ticket to the best show on earth!" Now Rod's passion for surfboard shaping has led him to team with board-building friends the world over to present this wonderful selection of new, hand-crafted custom surfboards, many featuring amazing artwork. Manufacturers and artists include Robb Havassy, Todd Proctor, Chuck Bassett, Drew Brophy, Hobie, Stewart, and Con Surfboards in the U.S., Josh Dowling, Len Dibben, and Steve Friedman Surfboards in Australia, Kimo Greene Surfboards in Hawaii, Rod Sumpter Surfboards and Seabase Ltd. (Hobie Surfboards Europe and Stewart Surfboards Europe) in the U.K. Sit back and enjoy as Rod takes you on an exciting tour of custom surfboards available today! Measurements and current values included. AUTHOR: Rod Sumpter was born at Watfrod, England in 1947 and spent his first informative beach years building sand castles on the south coast. He immigrated to Australia at age six - progressing from body surfing and surfoplaning to a redwood plank, and then, as surfing developed, to 10-foot balsa malibu long boards and ultimately foam-made boards. << Rod has won over seventy-five trophies during an active surfing career. He placed fifth and then seventh in consecutive World Surfing Championships and has surfed in over twenty-five countries. Rod is the only surfer in the world to earn three National Surfing Titles consecutively - winning the Australian National Junior Title in 1963 at Bondi Beach; the 1964 U.S. Junior Title at Huntington Beach, California; and the Great Britain National Title in 1965 at Jersey, Channel Islands. He has been the British Champion six times and the European Champion twice, regaining both titles after an extraordinary twenty-year gap. << During his long career at the top of the sport, Rod has surfed all kinds of waves, from the huge surf at Waimea Bay to perhaps the most unusual, the Severn Bore tidal wave that runs up the River Severn in England during the spring and autumn. After several half mile rides on the Severn Bore tidal wave, Rod rode the wave for six miles unaided, a recognized world record at the time. << Rod has also shaped surfboards at Hobie Surfboards in California, is an accomplished surf moviemaker and former staff photographer for Surfer magazine, and has won a gold television award for his water photography. He is also the author of Surf Art! Graphics and Memorabilia, 100 Best Surf Spots in the World, Surfing Hawaii, and The Perfect Curl. << In addition to working at Hobie, Rod has worked for Dale, Keyo, Scott Dillion, Surf Jet, and Bilbo Surfboards. He started repairing his own and friends' surfboards at age ten in 1957 for pockrt money when wipe-outsresulted in a ding on he rocks at North Avalon - picking them off the rocks, returning them to the owner, or suggesting immediate repair as water-logging would ruin balsa boards.<< Over 500 colour photographs
