Sweet Surfing Network board dudes.
Cardiff-by-the-Sea surfers Scott Yankton and Matt Gelardo want to make the talents of Southern California’s board shaping experts accessible to everyone else in the world.
In 2006, they launched their Web site, Surfboardbuilders.com, as an extension of the retail surf shop that Gelardo has owned for the past 10 years.
The shop, Cardiff By The Sea Surf Co., opened a decade before Gelardo took over, and the name is set to change soon to Surfboard Builders.
Yankton says that Surfboardbuilders.com is an adaptation of the actual marketplace. The site offers a step-by-step selection process in which customers choose from 16 professional shapers and then customize their board.
Industry renowned experts Jeff “Doc” Lausch, Larry Mabile and Gary Linden are among the shapers offering services on the site.
Modifications include style, length, board specs such as nose type, thickness, fin setup and detailed color and design options.
“Retail is tough and competitive for surf shops. Also, all pro shapers are amazing craftsmen, but that doesn’t leave a lot of time for marketing, but it’s a rapidly changing world,” said Yankton.
Yankton noted that the pre-molded board industry is stocking the shelves at Costco and other large retailers with boards known as “pop-outs,” and the smaller surf shops are suffering.
A pop-out refers to any unshaped board that has been popped-out of a mold and duplicated. Typically imported from China, the boards can be purchased for prices between $150 and $300 at Costco.
Previously, Yankton served as chief operating officer for a technology company called Indian Gaming Services that he sold in February 2006.
Later that year, Gelardo and Yankton launched self-funded Surfboardbuilders.com with an initial investment of $200,000.
The company’s custom boards range in price from $485 to $5,000, and are sold internationally.
