The Boardroom Weekend Review
The Boardroom and the Icons of Foam competition occurred the weekend of May 17th & 18th, 2014 at the Del Mar Fairgrounds in San Diego, California. The Boardroom is a convention that is open to the public and features all those who create surfboards. Included in the weekend is the Icons of Foam which is a competition that invites six shapers to shape a board that they can only look at (no measurements) before shaping the board in front of fans for a specific amount of time. This year the honored shaper and board was Ben Aipa and his “Sting” surfboard in memory of Buttons Kaluhiokalani.
Bing Surfboards own Matt Calvani was the defending champion from the Icons of Foam from 2013 in honor of Terry Martin (see the time-lapse of Matt shaping at the bottom of the page). This year however Roger Hinds took the title with his rendition of Ben Aipa’s Sting. Roger seemed extremely stoked and appreciative for his win.
The convention played host to wide array of companies and personalities within the surf industry. Everything to do with manufacturing surfboards was under one roof. You had surfboard shapers such as Jon Wegener and Wayne Rich displaying their surf crafts along with companies such as Gordon & Smith bringing their many decades worth of knowledge to the show.
There was some amazing lamination on display by Lost surfboards. Although it’s not within the Bing Surfboards style we can appreciate the technical ability of their laminators. The stars and stripes surfboard had so many layers and technical processes involved to get the final look it was something to take note of.
Mike Lavecchia and Allen Anderson from Grain surfboards from Maine were just a few booths down from the Bing booth. Their hollow, all wood surfboards are beautiful works of art that also function really well for surfing. They’ll be back in San Diego this Fall to hold a week long class teaching people how to build their very own surfboard. Check their website at grainsurfboards.com for more info.
Shane Carpenter and her crew from Water’s Edge Physical Therapy and Wellness were also attending the convention. They provide physical therapy, surf specific fitness routines, balance and wellness training along with full body assessments to identify problems with your body to help design a fitness program just for you. Check them out at watersedgetherapy.com.
Encinitas based artist and surfer Jose Emroca Flores was also displaying his artwork at the show. After a successful career in video games and film he’s decided to focus solely on his own personal art and is making it happen. It has elements of surf inspiration but is not what you’d usually expect to see from a surfer/artist. His unique pieces were a welcome change to the backdrop of the event. Be sure to check out his art at emroca.com.
Of course we had Bing Copeland on hand signing books and Tom displaying his vintage Bing Surfboards collection at the show… at least part of his immense collection. It’s always great to have the original Bing Copeland sharing his smile and knowledge he has about surf manufacturing and surf history in general. Well worth chatting with him whenever you can.
If you didn’t get a chance to attend the event this year be sure to check The Boardroom website to see when and where the next event is at. It’s worth seeing what surfboard manufacturers are doing to create the boards we love to ride.
Also in Bing Surfboards Blog
THE DESTINATION IS THE DESTINATION
THE BOARDROOM 2023 COMPETITOR INTERVIEWS
Name, hometown, and surfboard brand.
Josh Peterson, hometown Virginia Beach (born) Haleiwa (currently living), and my brand is Peterson Surfcraft.
When and where did you start surfing? Describe your first surfboard.
I started surfing when I was about 15 in Virginia Beach, and my first board was an old funboard from WRV that was about 7’6” and had glass on thrusters and an insane airbrush.
