In the lastest effort to secure the future of hand crafted surfboards, a San Clemente shaper Byrondesign has penned a well crafted response to the latest issue of Surfer Mag. In it, he calls out Al Merrick, Matt Biolas, Timmy Patterson, JC and others for giving the finger to the industry that gave them what they have.

The basic tenets of surfing: talent rules the lineup and revere thy shaper are failing due to the soccerification of surfing. Serious waves are clogged with beginners who think the lineup should be like any other rule enforced sporting field and boards should be bought at the Sports Authority. The only thing we have going for us is a small, but growing movement founded by guys like the Popout Bandit and The Godfather who reminds us that The Kids Are Alright and that Surfer Labor should be respected.

Update: Soccer is great, I play all the time. Beginners are great too. They just need to tap into the decades of culture (and magic within) vs. expecting it to fit their previous experiences, then everyone will be stoked!

The last two are pretty funny, because it’s obvious Nathan isn’t riding a popout in a popout ad. You can tell because whoever photoshopped the F4 on the photo forgot to remove the shapers sig and dims. Via JP.

I love surf forecast websites. I check them all the time. I use them to plan the weeks meetings around swell, tide and wind conditions. I check the cams for a general direction to travel in and even to see how specific spots are breaking. I figure the big name spots are going to be crowded no matter what web cam or surf report is covering them and I deal with it. I even support them to some degree, in that I view their ads.

Friday morning however, one report company crossed the line. Surfshot.com went out of it’s way to call out a little known reef I surf a few minutes walk from one of the breaks they report on daily. Apparently this has been going on for a while now, as Surfshot is starting to mention all kinds of out of the way breaks in San Diego. When a friend enlightened us to this latest transgression, everyone at the glassy, roping break voiced their anger. It’s the kind of bad will toward a company that starts with one person and spreads to others, and Surfshot needs to realize it.

The idea that any company would sell out a break that may be surfed by tons of people, but is truly frequented by a only handful of regulars, is inconceivable. How exactly does the grom that gets paid 8 bucks an hour to take those photos decide to go out of his way to mention the spot? How does the guy that publishes the report not think to himself, “self, I should really leave that bit of the report out”. How does the owner of the company not have a set of rules about which kind of breaks can be reported, and which ones can’t?

Surfshot… display amazing surfing in your mag, employ surfers, provide a service to local businesses. Make all the money you can. But please, have a conscious about your surf reports. It’s the one thing you do that affects us immediately, every single day and without leaving us any choice in the matter.