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Ricky Carroll wins classic competition
by Howard Swanwick
16/10/2007:// Florida shaper and craftsman Ricky Carroll took top honors Sunday in the "Tribute to the Masters Shape-off" competition honoring Mike Diffenderfer presented by Ice Nine Foam Works and Hobie Surfboards. The Floridian beat out five other master craftsman from up and down the California coastline and from as far away as Lake Michigan.
"I'm just very, very stoked. What a great competition," exclaimed Carroll upon receiving his first place check in front of the packed crowd of surfers at the Expo hall. "This 'Diff' was a unique board to replicate, and all of the other shapers did a great job as well. I had made Cheyne Horan a few boards with a similar bottom as this 'Diff' back in the Lazor Zap days, but the 'S' deck and classic 'Diff' rails really made this challenging."
Carroll beat out master craftsman, Marc Andreini, Tim Phares, Terry Martin, Jim Phillips and Scott Ray. Ray, who traveled all the way from the Great Lakes to compete amongst legends, was thrilled with the honor. "Just to be included with these guys is great," explained the Ray.
Over 4,000 surfboard lovers attended the two-day SACRED CRAFT Consumer Surfboard Expo. "We knew that there was a need to get the shapers and manufacturers in front of the surfers," explained expo director Scott Bass. "There has been a cultural disconnect within the surf industry. The attendance figures validated the existence of an expo like this. Surfers love surfboards, everything else is secondary. For the shapers and surfers to get together and celebrate the surfboard, to put the surfboard back into its rightful place as our cultural beacon, well, it was a wonderful weekend."
"I think it's a great thing," said competing Orange County shaper and legend, Terry Martin. "You know, at all the trade shows it's clothing, fashion, and skin, but really it all started with surfboards. Here everything is just surf-related, and it's neat to go around and look at everyone's work that you'd never see otherwise."
"I didn't realize there were this many shapers with such great ideas and great work around. This is great," echoed the legendary Mike Hynson, 60's surfing prodigy and shaper extraordinaire.
The packed expo hall witnessed lively discourse at the Akeena Solar seminars which included discourse on fins, foam, legends, shapers, new materials, and the future of the hard-goods industry. By far the most well attended seminar was given by artist Drew Brophy who gave a hands-on surfboard painting demonstration.
The 2008 Beachley Classic got underway this morning, completing Rounds 1 and 2 as well as the opening two heats of Round 3 at nearby Freshwater Beach in clean two-to-three foot (1 metre) waves
Layne Beachley (AUS), 36, has officially announced her retirement from full-time competition, effective at the end of the year
Former Exeter University student Josh Lewin first heat at the Ocean and Earth Pro in the Canary Islands has been delayed because the 2ft surf was deemed uncontestable
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