Rusty

Rusty is proud to announce Stu Shinn as a permanent fixture in our wake program by signing him to a three year contract. From taking home the coveted Move of the Year honors at the 5th Annual Wake Awards with his crushing Wake-to-Wake Backside Bigger Spin to capturing first place at the Tige Pro-Am, 2008 has been a tremendous year for Stu Shinn. With his limitless arsenal of tricks and precision technique, the future is boundless for this young Florida native and we could not be any happier to have him part of our team.

"I'm super stoked to have such an elite athlete like Stu on our program. Our goal at Rusty is to partner with the most innovative athletes on water and Stu definitely fits into our family!" says Rusty President, Charlie Setzler.

Look for more exciting things to come from Stu throughout 2009 and beyond!

Just warming up... click here to watch.

Rusty and Josh Kerr, perfecting Kerr's next high performance board

That is almost as preposterous of a question as, "Does Rusty still surf?" Of course Rusty still surfs and of course Rusty still shapes! He may not be the first car in the factory parking lot in the morning (he's gotta get his wave count), but he is usually the last to leave! Rusty is still in it for the same reason as when he started decades ago, to design and shape top of the industry surfboards. He spends his days designing new boards, fine tuning fins and fin placement, conversing with team riders and other expert craftsman, in the shaping bay, and in the water- testing his own creations. Not to mention, Rusty is constantly pushing the art and industry of surfboard building by experimenting with new materials, construction methods, and innovative designs...

So, in short, YES RUSTY STILL SHAPES.

Text and Photo: Brody

Nor Cal's bipolar schizophrenic weather hits again this week. I'm definitely not complaining with BBQ's, great waves, and sunshine becoming the everyday routine this Jan in Nor Cal, but is this normal? Well, as Rusty moves forward with a rad global cooling/recycle program and the thought of global warming in the back of all of our heads, I thought this was a fitting photo. Here's to making a change one trunk at a time!

-odog

Hunter Lysaught, captain of the Point Loma Nazarene Surf Team and major NSSA threat, decided to skip out on the rest of this year's season to venture off to Australia for a semester abroad on the Gold Coast. Although this was a tough decision for Hunter who, at the time of his departure, was currently sitting in 1st place for the College Mens division with a 1st and two 3rds at the first three events, the lure of Australia's perfect point breaks was too strong...

I stopped Hunter while he was grabbing a few boards at the factory the day before his departure. After we argued about the proper spelling of his last name for a few minutes, here is what he had to say:

My brother's used to call me "Huntwah" just to heckle me. I have three brothers and ever since I was growing up and surfing they gave me shit and made me tougher, but I wanted to stand out. So I kept surfing and wanted to get better, it was so addicting I just wanted to do it every day...

I am freaking amped! I leave for Australia tomorrow at 11:50am. I've got a 16 hour flight with free alcohol and five of my buddies from Point Loma Surf Team.

I've got three fresh boards for the trip... two 6'0"s and a 5'10". The 5'10" is my small wave board, it is a GTR; I have been riding that around here a lot, just the beach breaks and stuff, because it has been kind of a weak winter. It works pretty good in small, mushy surf. Then I have a 6'0" Redline, which is my standard shortboard; kind of normal days- chest to head high. Then my 6'0" thumbtail is for bigger, hollower waves- like blacks.

I am ready for South Straddy! Everyone says they don't want to do it because it is so sharky... but if I get eaten by a shark that is kind of a cool way to go! And if not, I get sick barrels on the other side!

I'll be in Australia for four months doing two major business courses and two GE courses at Bond University, but mostly, I am just going to surf.

I am going to keep surfing the NSSA events at home and I am going to try and enter a few of the Pro Juniors in Australia. Oakley is sponsoring a few events - so I will try and do those ones for sure. Some more Pro Juniors when I get home and maybe the U.S. Open this summer. Eventually, I would like to take a crack at the WQS...

Although, Hunter was looking like a sure thing for claiming the NSSA College Mens Championship if he stayed and he would miss the State Championships, he boarded the plane to Australia with no regrets...

Text By: Brody