7’4 single fin made of solid agave cactus. Photo: Barry Snyder
Just like fingerprints on a rap sheet, no two are alike. Much like the surfboards I build. Barry Snyder Designs are not for everyone. However, they do appeal to people who appreciate a truly handcrafted product.
I pride myself in making surfboards that others can’t and I constantly challenge myself playing with things like agave cactus (the stuff grows in my yard), asymmetrical designs, different hardwoods, burlap fabric, layers of airbrush, colored resin, and a variety of fabrics. Don’t tell me it can’t be done!
I started surfing in the late 70s. Boards were getting shorter. High-performance surfing was in it’s infancy. The gap between skateboarding and surfing was getting narrower. Soon after that, I got my first surfboard gig with Dick Brewer Surfboards in Oceanside, California, working under the tutelage and skilled hands of Gary Linden, Dick Brewer, and so many more. I started with a broom in my hand. Before I left, 16+ years later, I had worked at every stage in surfboard manufacturing.
A couple of years ago, I began a new project. I started to cut up some perfectly good surfboard blanks. Cutting and re-gluing them into an entirely different shape than they were intended to be. I began to call these boards “dissects,” just like that frog you cut up in Biology class. Except I put them back together. For example, some started out as a longboard blank and became a gun instead. Others were a gun blank and became a fish.
It started as just a couple cuts. Then I began to cut them into as many as 18 strips. The blank companies glue just one, two or three pieces pretty regularly. That’s pretty simple. Now try 12 or more. I’ve moved the stringers from the center to the rail on some–also known as parabolic rails. Some I have split and curved. Others I’ve taken different foams and combined them together. It can be madness at times.
If you like handcrafted, unique, quality surfboards, take a look. Stop by. See and feel the difference. I would gladly put my skill set up against any other surfboard builders. After 30 years of doing this surfboard thing, I’m not the new kid on the block. I hope it shows.
