15 year old, Jake Halstead, throws down a huge power gouge to re-entry on his new Rusty Slayer. Also, check out some more photos of Jake in the January Swell photo gallery.
Photos: Brody
Jake Halstead Rips his “Slayer” in Baja
With the recent run of swell pummeling the West Coast, 15 year old, Jake Halstead scored on a strike mission to Baja and his new Slayer worked perfectly…
Jamie O’Brien’s North Shore Quiver
Check out this awesome Surfline feature that dissects Jamie’s quiver of Rusty shred sticks!
Lulu’s New Quiver
Newly added team rider Lulu Erkeneff just got a new quiver of Rusty boards, check out her first test drive! Check out more action on Lulu’s blog by clicking here.
What Happened to the C-5 Configuration?
“It’s a stretch to say it was my idea. What most of us do is borrow from the past and other parallel, applicable worlds to collect ideas, interpret, and offer up our versions of other things combined. The way to get good ideas is to get lots of ideas, and throw the bad ones away”
-Dr. Linus Pauling
If you scour the internet you will see plenty of past media and dialogue about the design.
The story of the tuna fins is true, but ultimately the design ended up being more closely related to a Twinzer than anything else.
When I worked at G&S in the early 70’s, one of the brands under the G&S umbrella was Bing. They had a license to do Bonzers. Mike Eaton shaped me one around 1973. If my memory serves me correct, it was a 3-fin version.
Sometime in the early 90’s the Campbell Bros shared their design ideas with me. Although their Bonzer design has stood the test of time and still has a solid following, I never really made very many.
Some of my more recent models such as the Hipster and Hustler do incorporate a subtle Venturi type concave with a somewhat conventional 3 fin configuration.
In 1989 Martin Potter won the World Title. He was sponsored by Blue Hawaii/Glenn Minami for surfboards. Minami worked with Will Jobson on the Twinzers which powered Pottz to many victories.
I think it was George Orbelian who put me together with Will. He came to San Diego and shared his design with me. I made myself one and was blown away at the difference in feel from a conventional twin fin. One of my shapers at the time, Stu Kenson, borrowed my board and wouldn’t give it back. I did make quite a few and paid Will a royalty for his idea.
Here is a technical explanation from the sailing world but has similar application:
Aero-Hydrodynamics of Sailing by C.A. Marchaj
I got distracted in early 2000 working with Curtis Hesselgrave on cambered (Vector) fins.
They opened a whole new world of performance that needed to be explored. I even made C5’s with all 5 fins having cambered foils. They worked great.
My focus eventually shifted to trying to get the cambered foils dialed. It was easier to understand what was happening with 3 fins.
So the simple answer to your simple question about the C5:
I still make them.
The fin relationships, relative cant, positioning, angles make or break the design. Just a few degrees off and it will feel like the parking brake is on. Get it right and the board will feel like it’s turbocharged and riding on little ball bearings.
There are other shapers out there that grasp the concept and make excellent versions. Stu Kenson and Greg Griffin to name a couple. I’m sure there are more.
Happy Surfing!
R.
Legendary Shaper Mike Croteau Passes Away
The surf industry has lost another industry giant with the May 4th passing of legendary shaper Mike Croteau. Mike passed away due to complications with his medication prescribed from surviving a successful brain tumor surgery on May of 2007. A Memorial Paddle out ceremony for Mike is being planned for Sunday May 24th Memorial Day weekend in conjunction the Santa Cruz Longboard Union Coalition Surf Club Contest at Steamer Lane, Santa Cruz.
A local of the North Shore Oahu, Santa Cruz, and La Jolla, Mike was known and celebrated worldwide for his innovative shaping genius that spanned over 45 years. A protege of Master Shaper Dick Brewer, Mike consistently created innovative, cutting edge progressive designs, yet freely shared his skills and knowledge with surfers and shapers on every continent.
Mike is survived by his wife, three grown children, three grand kids, and forth grandchild on the way. A Memorial Fund has been set up to help Mike’s family with financially devastating Medical bills.
Memorial donations should be addressed to:
Mike Croteau Memorial Fund
P.O. Box 1862
Soquel, CA 95073
Rusty Extends His Respect to Family and Friends:
I think the first time I put a Skil 100 planer in my hands and pulled the trigger, it was Mike’s.
The initial torque on the barrel freaked me out. I thought the machine was going to jump out of my hands.
Mike used to make all kinds of funny weird sounds and noise instead of real words sometimes.
I heard a harrumpfsnortgiggle come from behind me.
He was 6′3″ and looked more like a bodybuilder than a surfer. His reputation for being unpredictable and short fused magnified his physical presence. Probably 250lbs and zero body fat. Mike got this simple, bemused, delight out of my reaction.
He let me butcher the blank for a few minutes and then relegated me to a far corner in the shaping room.
I ended up with a 6′10″ swallow tail that I thought was way too thin for me. I have distinct memories of the board being incredibly difficult to paddle compared to my previous board. I also have vivid recall of how the board flexed and jumped out of turns. It was a lot of work to paddle and catch waves, but once up it was a joy to ride.
We would surf together at Wind n Sea and Blacks. Winter of 69/70 I was next to him when we had to push through a substantial north peak set. We didn’t have leashes then. I think I tried to turn turtle and got violently dismissed. He did a duck dive long before duck dives were invented. He simply tried to push his board under the breaking 6 foot wave. His board was probably about 8′0″, 20.5 wide, 3.75″ thick, spruce stringer, double 6 top, single 6 bottom. He made it through with the front half of his board.
The back half ended up on the beach. Physically unfazed but not very happy.
At Wind n’ Sea, he was at home in the power that back in the day was considered a North Shore Hawaii training ground. If his size didn’t get your attention, some of his antics would leave indelible and formidable impressions. He took bites out of unwelcome visitors rails. If you really pissed him off, he would simply take your board from you and knock your fin off with a palm heel and point to the beach. A little trick he learned from Fred Kenyon. Fred, a martial arts pioneer in Southern California and Wind n’ Sea local, had some how ended up as Mike’s surrogate older brother during his time in La Jolla.
Mike was 4 or 5 years older than me, but was already living a gypsy life. One afternoon I had to take Mike to the public library in Pacific Beach. He had a vision: his new surfboard label was to be called Mars Orange. He had checked out books with pictures of Mars. We looked at dozens of images and picked the best one. He had to have board laminates printed up with his new logo. I have no idea how many he built but some of the first Mars Orange boards were shaped in the Bridgeman garage. Another La Jolla board builder, Guy Hansen, spent quite a bit of time with Mike, surfing and creating forward-looking mind machines.
There were some incredibly futuristic endeavors. One board comes to mind:
A board with two 2′ holes in the mid deck, cut at slight backwards angle through to the bottom. These were meant to function as vents. The bottom had a long oval shaped concave that the vents opened into. There was a faring, flush with the bottom, which covered the front half of the concave and functioned as the vent exit. This Magic Carpet/hovercraft rode on a cushion of air.
His stay in La Jolla/Pacific Beach lasted a year or so.
He headed up to Santa Cruz. Later that winter we hooked up to surf. My family had moved to Carmel Jan 1970. I did my second semester of 11th grade up there. I’d surf Carmel Beach on the weekdays, surf permitting. Weekends, I would drive my fathers 1960 black VW Beetle to Moss Landing and beyond to Santa Cruz if necessary. One weekend I hooked up with Mike and we were driving around looking for waves.
At the time I was 6′4″ 210 (still growing) and Mike was 6′3″ and 250 lbs of muscle. To casual observers it had to have been hysterical to watch these 2 xxl people climbing in and out of a little black VW bug, with boards strapped on top, to check the surf.
Mike managed to get a little media attention in the early seventies. He shaped and modeled for an Agua Jet hollow, honeycomb, board design.
Crotanimal, was, by all accounts, indestructible. He ran into a farmer’s boundary chain, dirt biking at the Hollister Ranch. It would have cut a normal person in half.
Mike was in the hospital for a month. He lost 70 pounds. He healed, regained his strength, and kept shaping. Mike ended up spending time in Hawaii. As it was with most of us at the time, he dreamed of being connected to Brewer in some way, shape, or fashion.
I remember seeing Shaun Tomson on a board at Sunset that looked different, in a good way, from the other equipment of the day. It was a Croteau shape, sporting Mike’s Equipe target logo. Uberclean, minigun, with a low entry, blue rails, looking like a good fit. Shaun still has fond memories of this board.
Conceptually still valid.
Mike was obsessed with speed and power. He was a mad scientist and an artist. The boards he loved to build reflected that. Â Long, clean lines that always seemed to flow together from every angle.
I lost track of Mike later that decade. 30 or so years later we reconnected one morning at the Shores. He was just passing through. He spoke fondly of his son was still passionate about board building. As always, his head seemed to be brimming with ideas. He was driving north later that morning. That was the last time I saw Mike.
If I were to ever write a book about my life as a board builder, my time with Mike Croteau would be an early chapter.
Rest in peace my brother.
Rusty
Board of the Week: Stand Up Paddle
I’ve been building surfboards for 40 years. A couple of years ago I got the paddle bug. I had not really considered pursuing the SUP business but I’ve been having so much fun and I have so many friends that have asked for boards…
I am really all about custom boards. These are 3 models to use as a basic guideline. They are all shaped and glassed in San Diego. Primary construction is EPS core and Epoxy glassing. I also do composite work including various veneer skins, as seen with the bamboo veneer and carbon rails on the Free Glide.
Turn around time on a custom? You’ll be pleasantly surprised.
-Rusty Preisendorfer
Have a sneak peak at the SUP ad that will be featured in the next issue of Stand Up Paddle Magazine
Three Featured SUP Models::
Big Chill
(big yellow board)
12’ to 11’ 29.5 to 31 wide
4.25 to 4.5 thick
tail: Diamond or round square
fins: 2 x 1
for: Coastal cruising, flatwater,
larger surfers beginner to
intermediate
Free Glide
(wood grain board)
10’ to 8’ 28 to 29 wide
3.85 to 4.15 thick
tail: Diamond, round square,
or swallow
fins: 2 x 1
for: high performance
wave riding
LOL
(mint green board)
11’ to 10’ 29 to 30 wide
4.15 to 4.35 thick
tail: Diamond or round square
fins: 2 x 1
for: “all terrain”, lighter
beginners, heavier surfers,
cross-country surfing
Airline Surfboard Rates Have You Down?
Don’t stress… Rusty Boardhouse has your back!
This summer if airline rates are keeping you from bringing your surfboard to San Diego don’t worry, just come by the Rusty Boardhouse to test drive many of our surfboard models for less than the cost of bringing it on the plane. We have 6-0 through 6-4 shortboard models, 7-2 through 8-6 big guy shortboard models, 6-6 through 6-10 Piranha models, 7-4 fun shape boards, Big Guy Fishes, Longboards, and the all new Rusty small wave machines- the Dwarts, Toads, and Hustlers.
Five Day Rates starting at $150! This is a great value considering it costs up to $175 dollars one way (for one board) on most airlines now a days! Or if you would like to test drive any of these boards before buying one and you are in the San Diego area already, come on by… We will also put the $150 rental fee towards your board purchase if you decide to buy a Rusty Surfboard!
Rusty Boardhouse
2170 Avenida De La Playa
La Jolla, California 92037
(858) 551-0262
Board of the Week: The Dwart
The Dwart was created to be the board for 90% of the waves we surf. It’s been successfully surfed on aves from 1 - 10 ft and this thing rips! Its high volume design allows it to be ridden much shorter and it is fast, skatie, and highly maneuverable. Also, The Dwart is available with a 5 fin configuration that gives it even more range, being surfed as a quad or tri.
Recommended Sizes:
5′4″ X 20″ X 2.5″
5′6″ X 20.25″ X 2 5/6″
5′8″ X 20.5″ X 2 6/2″
5′10″ X 20.75″ X 2.7″
6′0″ X 21.25″ X 2 8/7″
6′2″ X 21.5″ X 2 8/7″
The DWART can be ordered with any dimensions
For more info head over to the boards page for more info!
