A surfer from Noosa's sun drenched shores obsessed with the dark world of gothic horror, Jai Lee's personal struggles and addiction to noseriding have twisted his creativity. Words: Chris Preston Photos: Thomas Robinson (pp 1&3), Andy Staley (pp4)and Dane Peterson

Highs and lows in Morocco. Photos and words by Dan Crockett.

Bing Copeland was a pioneer of the modern surf industry. In his excellent new retrospective, ‘Bing Surfboards – Fifty Years of Craftsmanship and Innovation’, Paul Holmes discovered what makes Bing tick. Words: Bing Copeland & Paul Holmes Photos: Courtesy of Bing Copeland

Four compadres take a New Zealand road-trip in search of lefts in a volcano's shadow… All aboard the good ship Peterson Threebeard with Dano, Purcho, Mud and Johnny.

Sean Mattison has a reputation as a designer, a coach, and a businessman. His competitive experience, retail background and knowledge acquired from testing hundreds of surfboards made him one of the most versatile surfers in California. Words: Rui Ribeiro.

Richard James and his brother Andrew recently finished shooting their first film, a surf trip of 30,000 kilometres along the west cost of Africa. Words and photos: Richard James


Directory

Empire

Let me begin by saying - We do not build "Retro" surfboards. The fundamentals of our design ethos are based upon taking the very best of surfboard design that was pushed to one side in pursuit of "lighter and whiter" more marketable product and blending that with contemporary design concepts.

Fluid Concept

Surfing Scarborough and the surrounding area, we love wild spaces. We are also extremely passionate about our surfboard shaping. We stock 100% handmade surfboards all of which are shaped right here in the UK.

Glass Tiger

Glass Tiger is a small company based in Falmouth, Cornwall, making hand crafted wooden surfboards with a lightweight foam core, and is run by me - Mark Roberts.

Gulf Stream

Since we opened our Woolacombe factory in 1993 almost 10,000 surfers worldwide have bought and ridden our boards. All are members of a relatively small but special community of surfers who have helped support our pursuit for excellence in the art and craft of custom board building.

Just Bonzers

Inspired by the surfboards of the Campbell Bros, Tim Stafford crafts his own take on this classic custom surfboard design in Cornwall, UK. EVO bonzer quads and bonzer 6 fins are his own boards of choice.

Revolver

John Isaac and his crew of hot dogs and hep cats at the Revolver Surf Emporium have their fingers firmly on the pulse of Kernow’s surf culture.

Royal

I am a small custom surfboard maker that started near Bude, on the north coast of Cornwall, England, now living in santa Cruz, California. I specialize in semi-traditional polyurethane and epoxy surfcraft. I personally do 100% of everything from hand shaping through the polishing.

Seed Surf Company

Seed’s ethos centres on quality, craftsmanship and style. Supported by discerning individuals since 2006. Every Seed surfboard is 100% handcrafted, glassed and finished in the shaping bays above Seed Surf Shop in Wadebridge North Cornwall.

Seven T

Makers of surf board covers and clothing. All our products are handmade and totally 100% sweatshop free & alot more love and thought has gone into them than all the other mass produced products out there.

Tom Wegener

Tom Wegener makes a range of wooden and traditional surf boards, including the much documented alaia board. He has outlets on the US East and West Coast and in Australia. You will often find him in the ocean at Noosa Heads, where he lives and works with his family creating intuitive and fine surf craft.

Trim

Boards and accessories from Bing, Jacobs, Andreini, Yater, Hobie, Wood, Blacker, Diplock/Phoenix and Squire.

Watershed

Watershed Surf Shop sells retro and vintage brands including Bear, Nine Plus, Carhartt, Levis, Nike, Vintage, Penny Skateboards and Z-flex. They also own the license for Gul clothing and surfboards. The store has an in-house cafe, so drop by for a cuppa whilst checking out their wares.