Click
here to see a sick
QuickTime video of aftermath test pilot Ty Cukr
I
grew up in a small town just south of Durban,
South Africa, I had decided to head for Southern
California. Partly to visit an old girlfriend
of mine and partly to test my board making skills
out in what I had considered to be the "Mecca"
of the surfing world. While some may question
this....the US produces more surfboards than any
other country or even countries combined worldwide
and Southern California has some of the best board
builders around. It
was an obvious choice for me, not only to test
my skills, but to also further my knowledge.
So when did you shape your first board and what
made you decide to try you luck with shaping?
I had shaped my first board when I was 15 years
old after a friend of mine had asked me to try
and copy it. Well I figured that if I had some
of the tools, and I seemed good with my hands…and..then
this couldn't be that difficult right? That moment
changed my life forever.
How did the board come out?
The board actually came out pretty good and after
I had laminated it and polished it by hand...I
was sucked in for life. I had never in a million
years thought that I'd end up making boards for
a living, but I guess after having a somewhat
successful fiberglass repair thing going out of
my parent's garage, which incidentally was started
only to keep my brother in the water with his
canoe-racing hobby...that somewhere I was destined
to be involved with fiberglass, in some way, shape
or form. When I look back on it I realize that
this was just a dream of a young surf kid
How many boards have you shaped over the
years?
I have shaped tens of thousands of boards, and
i am just starting to evolve into my own. I mean
that in the sense that after ghost shaping for
some of the biggest names in our industry from
various parts of the world, namely Safari surfboards
and Spider Murphy and being mentored by Peter
Daniels. These guys helped me have the vision
and board making skills I have developed today.I
had also ghost shaped for local label, Spyder
surfboards since Mid 1995 and owned the licensing
rights for around 6 years until moving on to start
my own venture,Aftermath surfboards Int'l.I have
and still continue to shape boards for some of
surfing's elite and this has helped carve out
my niche in this huge exciting market.
What is next for Ian Wright?
After having made some really bad business decisions
over here I have finally got all the "Monkeys
off my back" so to speak. I have a state
of the art facility where I can manufacture almost
everything in-house. I had started doing my own
label out of necessity and now some 2 years later
it has started to turn into a really exciting
business project for me. I hope to be getting
a solid WQS and WCT team off the ground . I have
licensed my Aftermath label out to long time friend,
Jim Mcgrath and with all his experience,couldn't
have asked for anyone better to head up the clothing
/skate company. I have finally managed to get
my web site http://www.aftermathsurfboards.com/
in operation and have launched an advertising
campaign in some industry magazines.
That is exciting stuff, it sounds like
your building momentum and getting much deserved
recognition. Are you ready for all this change?
Yeah, I hope so!! I have also managed to get myself
back to where I should have been years ago...and
that is to enjoy doing what I love "Making
boards". This industry has had its ups and
downs for me, but I feel that I have come full
circle in life and now finally can have something
to give back to this very cool and exciting industry.
I have so many cutting edge technologies at my
disposal now and I think it's reflected in the
quality of my product.
Please feel free to check out the board web site
at http://www.aftermathsurfboards.com
as well ashttp://aftermathboardcompany.com
for the clothing/skate company owned and operated
by Jim Mcgrath and join us on this cool journey.
Finally to all of those people who have supported
me and to those still to come..thank you...I'm
truly grateful.
Photos by Jennifer Dawson interview by Jennifer
Dawson, Ty Cukr and Scott Whitmer
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