Grain Surfboards announce 3 new classes for the coming year

Grain Surfboards is pleased to announce three new additions to their 2011 class schedule, which include Jon Wegener and Cyrus Sutton as visiting instructors.

For the past two years, Grain Surfboards has been inviting virgin board builders into their workshop to learn how to build their own wooden board from scratch. This year, the schedule includes three brand new classes expanding Grain’s offerings: early Hawaiian surf craft, body surfing hand-planes and a rapid-fire 3-day board-building workshop.

In the fall of 2011 Grain hosts Alaia pioneer Jon Wegener at their York-based workshop. For this unique workshop, students will have the privilege of spending two-and-a-half days with Jon Wegener learning about the traditional Hawaiian finless board known as an “alaia” (ah-lie-yuh). Students will be provided with the fast-growing “paulownia” wood to glue up their own blanks, cut their outlines, and under Jon’s skilled eye, shape the delicate arcs that create the magic of a simple, finless plank. On day three, each board will be oiled and ready for a one-of-a-kind surf session with the Wegeners who will bring their own personal quiver of alaias to try out. The class is scheduled for September 8th-10th, 2011.

After a day off, Grain will welcome the King of hand-made, Cyrus Sutton. Cyrus is the force behind Korduroy.tv, that other place on the web to learn how to make your own surf-craft. "Maine is such a pristine place and the guys at Grain are doing such great stuff,” said Cyrus who visited Maine last summer, “I'm really excited about this." In this one-day class, Cyrus will guide students through the process of cutting and shaping their own hand-plane. Use of edge tools, sanding and sealing will be covered as well as an in the water demo showing how hand planes can maximize your body surfing experience. The class is scheduled for September 11th.


“Jon and Cyrus both have the same passion as we do for helping surfers to build their own. Hosting them at our shop is another way to welcome new people to the experience while celebrating our collective passion for sharing, for surfing, and for craftsmanship,” said Brad Anderson, one of Grain's co-owners.

Starting in February of 2011, Grain gives “team-building” a whole new meaning. Teams of two students together build a single board with a Grain board builder directly helping as needed to keep on schedule. This class is designed as an affordable way to teach board building to anyone who either wants tips that will help in building a HomeGrown Kit at home, or is merely curious about how it’s done, whether they surf or not. This class is a great opportunity for couples, buddies, and family members. The 3-day Board Blitz will be offered twice in 2011, June 3rd-5th and August 5th - 7th. All the boards built in the class will be sold for the cost of materials which is around 20% of the cost of a new surfboard.

Grain will continue to offer their popular 7-day intensive workshop throughout 2011. The workshops include all materials, tools, and instruction as well as a near-gourmet breakfast and lunch. Each student leaves at the end of the week with a beautiful surfboard that they built with their own hands.


For the complete 2011 class schedule and more information, please contact:

Tyler Briggs
Grain Surfboards
60 Brixham Road
York, Maine
207-951-1820
pr@grainsurfboards.com

Board building class offered in Wales

Paul Leonard is a surfer / boat builder in Wales and just contacted me to let you know of a class he is organising next Febuary. He will be hosting a workshop with Rich Blundall ( Tree to Sea ). For more info check out the site : Treetosea.org

Venue: The venue for this workshop is a an old converted Victorian coach house on the west coast of Wales. The workspace is heated and has a sound-system, a large kitchen, toilets, a bar, and also provides an option to move out into an adjacent courtyard if it’s warm enough outside.

Grain Surfboard Building Classes

If you are looking for a class to learn the ins and outs of building a wooden board for yourself then there are a couple of ways to go. Grain Surfboards in York , Maine hold classes throughout the year . They run with a number of options and you build the boards right in their factory with the guys who work there with all the tools and gear you need to get the job done.

Here is a list of their classes for next year so you can plan ahead.

2011 Scheduled Classes
Nov 14- 20 2010…… Last available class for 2010, sign up now!

Feb 6- 12 …… Any Kit
April 10- 16 …. Any Kit
May 8- 14 …….. Any Kit
June 3- 5 …….. 3- Day Board Blitz
June 19- 25……. Any Kit
July 17- 23 …… Any Kit
Aug 5- 7 …….. 3- Day Board Blitz
Aug 21- 27 …. Any Kit
Sept 8- 10 …. Alaia class with Jon Wegener
Sept 11 …. Handplane class with Cyrus Sutton
Sept 18- 24 …. Any Kit
Oct 9- 15 …. Any Kit
Nov 6- 12 …. Any Kit

So you see they have a variety of options and special ones with guest shapers on hand as well.So not just their kits , but Alaia classes and handplane classes." The 3 Day Board Blitz is an interesting one as well .Teams of two students together build a single board with a Grain board builder directly helping as needed to keep on schedule. Giving the phrase “team-building” a whole new meaning, this six-person, three-team class is designed not to help you build your own board in class, but as an affordable way to teach the method for those planning to build a HomeGrown Kit at home, and for those non-surfers that are merely curious about how it’s done. Great chance to do something cool with a buddy or your sweetie."

Then there is:
Surfboard Builder’s Fantasy Camp
"Surfers can be loners – their ideal is a deserted break with no one out. That’s why we decided to offer a one-on-one class in board building and/or glassing. For a week or two, it’s just you at your own shaping stand with your own board builder guiding you through the process of building a board you’ll have forever. This is the only class where we will help you build any board in our line of kits and custom boards.

Fantasy Camp is also perfect if you can’t make dates in our schedule, can’t get into a full class, or want to share a really unique experience with just one other friend. So if you need some alone time, or dig the idea of being just another builder in our shop for the week, think about the Builder’s Fantasy Camp.

Any board, any time, your own builder. Pretty sweet."

So I think they have it pretty well covered .They have had people coming from all over the world, Japan, Mexico, Australia, Singapore, Norway and France to build boards.So if you want to take a break and travel then this could be right up your alley.

Check them out at :
Grain Surfboards