If you have read our previous article about Jimmy Lewis you will already know a bit about him so let me take you a bit deeper into his world.
This is a man who has a god given talent and feeling for board shaping. No computers telling you about rocker lines, it is all about feeling and feedback from riders. He doesn’t create a new model every year or change the graphics just to pump the market with new kit. He truly believes in changes only when absolutely necessary and that is why those changes are often unspoken and simple tweaks to net years model.
Last year we were chatting about the highly popular and successful M14 downwind board and I mentioned that it would be great if we could get a bit more speed out of it.
Comparing it to the SiC Bullet it is superior in delivering a more surfy feel and being super stable, but it lacked that speed and felt like it was pushing water.
Jimmys reply was very positive as he had been considering other similar feedback and was working on the rocker line so for 2014 we got a slightly flattened board that delivers all that was promised.
Many of the biggest names including brands like Starboard have come to Jimmy and worked with him to develop boards both custom and production models.
A man with more hours in the shaping room than most people have had hot dinners, Jimmy not only hands his boards out to test riders, but also gets on to feel them for himself.
Whilst designing the new Black and Blue Machine for his brother who is a serious old school surfer, Jimmy wanted to make sure less experienced paddlers could get on board a nose rider so he designed a bigger board that suited his own way of riding. His own admission is he likes to spend more time paddling than falling in waiting for waves so he increased the width and length.
Jimmy is the first to tell you he is a shape by eye guy. He is pretty unassuming and doesn’t shout about technology. This guys about a lifetime of experience. Just check this video and get a fell for the man himself.
