Claydon's handcrafted wooden surfboards ride the waves of innovation

Pete Claydon working on a surfboard in his workshop.An article in a surfing magazine introduced him to the concept of hollow wooden surfboards and as a furniture maker, and a keen surfer, he decided he could combine his two passions. The fact that wood is a natural product, as opposed to fibreglass, also appealed. He has started experimenting with other natural fibres like flax and hemp. Picture by Mead Norton

by Mead Norton

Pete Claydon loves surfing.

He also has a passion for woodworking.

Now the Gisborne resident has combined his two passions into one, creating some of the most beautiful wooden surfboards in New Zealand.

“I read some articles in one magazine in particular called the Surfer’s Path that had a big section on wooden surfboards at the time.

“And that was guys in America as a company doing hollow wooden boards,” Claydon said.

“They started off in the early 2000s after the Clark Foam Company closed down. So everyone was freaking out thinking, ‘how are we going to still shape boards’?

“And these guys, they came from a boat building background. And they were definitely an inspiration.”

Being a trained furniture maker, he was able to jump right into shaping wooden boards. But it wasn’t until he took his wooden board out into the line-up, that he was inundated with requests from friends to make them a board.

The process of building wooden surfboards is almost Zen-like, he says.

“It’s like a piece of furniture or a musical instrument where you start off with rough parts . . . maybe you have hand-cut the frame.

“But you have a table workbench full of components and piecing them all together, you have to follow the correct steps as you build them from one process to the other.

“You have to keep everything in check so you don’t get to the end and that sort of accumulation of error.

“And then you go into this very freestyle stage where you have the shaping. It’s a bit more organic and a bit more free flowing and sculptural.”

As for why these boards are different from standard surfboards, Claydon says it’s about the time that goes into them.

“They don’t come easy. So I think it’s that journey that you go on and then you have this sort of beautiful toy in the end that can last a lifetime.”

Another bonus for Claydon is that wood is a natural product whereas foam surfboards are not made from sustainable materials. He also experiments with other environmentally friendly materials to make his surfboards.

“Recently we’ve been playing with using bio resins. Also instead of fibreglass, using flax cloth or basalt cloth and even hemp cloth and things like that.”

But the biggest test of all is how well the wooden surfboards go in the water.

“I think people are actually quite surprised how well they surf.”

Other surfers agree.

“I feel the attention to detail and the energy he pours into them. It comes out when you ride them,” said long-time surfer Brett Summerlee. “They feel super-connected to the ocean.”

“Lots of surfboards don’t pay much homage to the environment there, you know.

“These kind of fit because they feel like, you know, the trees that you walk through on the way there or patterns in the sand or... they almost blend into the surroundings.”

Claydon plans to keep experimenting with different materials to produce the most environmentally friendly surfboard he can.

To watch Pete Claydon in action, go to https://youtu.be/g5e5nsw1JWs