There are hundreds of surfers in the world who build surfboards with varying degree of quality. Roger Hinds is a surfboard builder of the old school. The school where you learned how to do every aspect of building a board and could put it all together to create a functional work of art. Never the in your face shaper of magazine advertisement, Roger has managed to carve out a career underground for going on 40 years on nothing but his reputation for quality and integrity. Earning himself a title among his peers of board builders as, “ The thinking man’s shaper. “ Roger tells of a comment made to him once by Greg Noll that pretty much describes his shaping career. Greg said with his unique sense of humor, “ I admire any guy who can stand ass deep in foam and carve out a career. “ That would be Roger Hinds.

Roger’s early interest in shaping began and a youngster in the late sixties stripping long boards and shaping them into transition boards, but his real career began in 1971 when he was living in Hawaii learning lamination with Jeff Edward’s. He remembers the seventies being a time that experienced board builders would bring in young guys and show them the ways of building surfboards if they felt their heart was in it. Something rarely seen in today’s world of shaping.

Though he has been shaping all during his time as a laminator, it was laminating surfboards that helped give him his eye for rails and over all design. “ There is just something about glassing thousands of surfboards that gives you a different look than just carving foam, and I have glassed surfboards for most of the best from that era. I believe I glassed five thousands surfboards during that time, he said. “

The early seventies was a time when most of the world’s best surfboard builders were also some of the world’s best surfers and Roger had glassed for many of them. This gave him exposure to all the best shapes and advancements going on in surfboard building for years before he decided he wanted to shape full time on his own.

You couldn’t get a better school for being a board builder than to help put together surfboards for some of greatest there was of an entire era and beyond. I’m not sure an atmosphere like that will ever exist again. Remembers Roger, Those times were about fun, the surfers who built surfboards in the early industry were all about being friends and having a good time.

There was little if any animosity among board builders. It was much different than today, where most of today’s professional surfers have others design and shape their surfboards. In those early years, the best would design them and then go out and either prove the validity of the designs or fail and begin again.

It was and an exciting time to be a surfer. You either built the best surfboards and paddled out and proved yourself or you simply didn’t fit in. There was no grey area, the only proving grounds were in the water among the respected leaders. There were simply no smoke and mirror acts in the game back then. You had to walk the walk.

Rogers remembers one incident where he and Joe Camacho were sitting on the beach watching huge twelve foot Pipeline and deciding whether to go out or not. It was big and nasty, and walking down to the waters edge to go surfing on a board barrowed from Gerry Lopez was east coaster Ricky Rasmussen. Before you know it, a Ricky paddled into a huge gaping and warping monster right out of Satan’s ass and charges the beast like he was surfing Florida shore slop. Ricky’s comment upon returning to the beach was that the board really worked well to help him make that wave, but says Roger, “ The board had nothing to do with it, it was all soul. “ Ricky was walking the walk.

Even the early surf photographers were on it and had to be dedicated to make the grade. He remembers he lived with Aaron Change and Gary Terrell and word would get out that Shaun Tompson was out at Pipeline tearing it up and the guys were out of bed at daybreak, equipment in hand, ready to capture the magic moment. These folk like the shapers of the time cared about what they did. It was fun, but they wanted to be the best and give the best results. Because anything less simply wouldn’t be accepted.

Seeing those guys with that type of dedication or some guy like Terry Fitzgerald shape a board and then go out and destroy big sunset with it are images that remain with you. They shape your attitude and leave you with the spirit of demanding perfection from yourself.

Roger shaped all through the eighties also and remembers some of the design break through that came during that era as well, but said his busiest years came in the early nineties when the demand for high gloss and pigment dyed color work of the quality that was being done in the seventies came back into demand.

He was building boards for Russ K Makaha, Dewey Webber, Blue Hawaii and Country Surfboards. They needed a builder that could not only shape, but produce top quality, not industry standard color and glass work. Most of the old laminators were out of the game by that time and Roger now considered one of the best was in high demand. He had found a source for color that he had used in the seventies because that stuff from that era was superior to most of the stuff that was being sold in the market during the nineties.

The boards were turning out beautiful and an entire new era of color work, retro and polished surfboards was beginning to bud. Roger could do color work most of the other laminators of the time couldn’t do and these years would be a peak for him. He was being asked to do boards for the likes of Blue Hawaii and remembers some he had to turn down that he would have loved to do work for. Guys like Fredrick Wardy or Wardy surfboards being one.

As time went by, Roger ended up moving to California from the North Shore and setting up shop and remembers it being a bit of a shock when compared to Hawaii shaping. The atmosphere was more competitive among board builders on the mainland and it took him awhile to get situated and build a stable working environment. Since that time he has designed three blanks for U.S. Blank company and is shaping for notable north shore label Country Surfboards as well as Bear surfboards among others. He was also recently asked to reproduce boards for the anniversary of the movie, “ Big Wednesday. “

asked about what he thinks about the current state of board building in the world, he sees mostly positive, but some things that he believes give false impression of what it is to build a custom surfboard. With my surfboards, I now design the blanks, shape the blanks, laminate the board and completely finish it out by hand. When you buy one of my surfboards you are getting something I produced a hundred percent. To me a custom shape is something produced for a surfer who has come to me for my knowledge and skill in the art of building a surfboard. When I am through, the surfer has a board built in the old way, which is still the best way.The average board called a custom shape today is touched by a minimum of five people before the surfer is given his surfboard. From the shaper himself, to the laminator, on to the Hot coater, back to the fin guy, and finally depending upon the factory to the sander. Some that do their own glassing are not producing the quality that used to be acceptable standard among the old elites, but are still getting top dollar for the work.

Among Surfer/shapers whose work Roger admires are both a mix of the past and the present with Randy Rarick, Jeff Bushman, Gerry Lopez, Tim Stamps and Matt Calvani. When pressed as to why he chose those particular names, Roger re-states that to him, the best shapers have always also been good surfers.

asked about some of the modern technology Roger expresses an interest in some new epoxy resin he has been using that allows him to build boards much quicker with no yellowing like much of the other epoxy on the market. Roger experience with epoxy goes way back to his time as an open ocean paddle boarder in Hawaii. When asked about his basic philosophy on board shapes he quotes Terry Fitzgerald who said, “ I try and build surfboards that will go up the wave faster than they will go down the wave. “

That’ll do.