I
In
Outliers
,authorMalcolmGladwell
positsthatakey
reasonpeoplebecomevirtuosos intheirfield isby
dintofrepetition—at least10,000hoursworth.
Meet legendarysur oardshaper
DickBrewer
,aposter
childforthetheoryifthereeverwasone.Brewer,76, iswidely
recognizedasoneofthe lastofagenerationofnotableshaping
guruswho,armedwithengineeringchopsandintuitivesurf-
ingknow-how,cameofageinthelate1950sandearly ’60sin
SouthernCalifornia.Hefashionedhisfirstboardbackin1956
inagarageinHuntingtonBeach,usingatemplatemadeby
earlyboard-designpioneerJoeQuigg.
Sincethen,Brewerguesstimateshe’sshapedaround
20,000boards.Andduringthosefivedecades,Brewer
“guns”(shorthandsurfing lingo forthe“elephantguns,”or
largeboardsthatsurfersuseto“hunt” forgiantwaves)have
continuallypushedtheenvelope insur oarddesign.Today,
whensurfingsuperstars likeGarrettMcNamaraandLaird
Hamiltongoridinggiantsat fabledsurfbreaks likeJaws,o
Maui’snorthernshore inHawaii, they’reoftenshredding it
onaBrewergun. In fact,McNamarawasdoing justthat
whenherodearecord-setting, 100-foot-tallwaveothe
coastofPortugal inJanuary.
“Dick isagenius—theThomasEdisonofsur oards,”
saysHamilton,whoowns10to15Brewerguns. “He’sre-
sponsible formodernsur oarddesign.AndDick taught
mostof thepeoplenowshapingboards, eitherdirectlyor
indirectly.Dickmakessomeof theworld’s fastestboards,
PROFILE
SUMMER2013
celebratedliving.com
78
The
BigKahuna
When theworld’selite surfers set out to ridemonster
waves, this
surfboardZenmaster
has their backs.
BYKENWYSOCKY
PHOTOGRAPHYBYBERNIEBAKER
