Kumu Love

This is one of the first boards I made myself when I decided I wanted to learn more about surfboards & design, and work with my dad. It's shaped from a log of 'Pink Floss" (pic top left) and I created it over about a month period, working at it on and off with dad casting his eye over proceedings. It's an ancient hawaiian finless design called a kiko'o and is inspired by the kiko'o boards Tom Stone is making in hawaii. The pics above show the board at various stages of completion.

I decided to call my board 'Kumu' which means 'teacher', as my motivation for making this board was to possibly experience something similar to what an ancient hawaiian might have experienced hundreds of years ago... and I was eager to learn. Since then I've surfed it at solid Bells Beach and Raglan NZ, as well as riding it in the Maldives. It's been a lot of fun.

To me, there's something inherently beautiful about a finless wood board... in the way they look, the simplicity of the outline and foil, and of course the grain patterns in the timber; but also in the way they move through the water. The wood has a natural resonance and feels alive on the wave. Kumu feels at home when the waves get bigger and more powerful, sucking to the wave and holding trim through sections.