History
Like many shapers, Tyler’s introduction to board building took place in the garage. It began when Tyler was in the third grade, and the craftsman demonstrating was his father. Tyler’s first surfboard was a six-foot, diamond-tail single fin his father built from start to finish. Little did he know, but his father’s approach to single-handedly crafting a board would become the cornerstone of his values as a surfboard manufacturer.
Tyler was born, raised and continues to reside with his wife and three year old daughter in the industrial town of El Segundo, California. Aside from his passion for surfing, Tyler’s family history of hot rodding inspired him to focus his knack for working with his hands and his attention to detail on rebuilding and restoring hot rods and classic cars. It was not until the two passions began to meld that his legacy of building traditional surfboards started to materialize. Immersing himself in classic cars led Tyler to wonder what surfing was like back when his projects were contemporary. As he began to study the history of surfing, his interest geared towards heavy-glassed single fins while the industry at the time was saturated with starch-white tri-fins. Tyler’s self-galvanized research eventually brought him to the late ‘60s: the beginning of the shortboard boom. Instead of seeing the industry’s shift towards the shortboard as a linear progression in the history of surfboard manufacturing, Tyler saw a fork in the road. He then began to set a course upon advancing the traditional equipment that had been left behind, and has since actualized his own progression of classic surfboard design.
After over twenty-five years of commitment to improving his skills as both a shaper and glasser, Tyler’s classic longboards are not only far from replicas, they are becoming iconic. Products of a completely unique evolution of design built up to the highest standards of quality, they are personally put to the test in the local breakers. Each Tyler surfboard is crafted with a simple, yet innovative, purpose: to empower the surfer to ride a wave in such a way he or she never thought possible.
Tyler is humbled and proud to carry on this tradition in the stateside birthplace of surfboard manufacturing and in the footsteps of household names such as Velzy-Jacobs, Bing, Greg Noll, Dewey Weber, and Rick. His commitment to a unique vision and lifelong learning is fueled by the belief that you never truly “arrive.”
Tyler’s story as a surfboard manufacturer continues to this day in the garage. Amidst his various projects in the works, including a ’41 Ford coupe, he takes on every task in forging single-finned beauties by hand. His course still set upon the uncharted road he created for himself.
