For as long as I can remember loving surfboards, I’ve been particularly enamoured with the gun shape. Not exactly the most useful board, unless you happen to charge huge waves on a regular basis, but still a board I always wanted to own. Perhaps to use once or twice a year, but mostly to enjoy on my wall as an enduring piece of art and surfboard grace. No other surfboard form equals the gun in the quality of its lines. My mentor, Cort Gion, is the first person I think of when I think of this type of board. Cort lived on the North Shore for 20 years, shaping boards for many of the best surfers of that era. His favorite type of board to build was the big gun. After ordering some special blanks for myself and my friend Lakota, naturally I brought them down to Florence to Cort for a real educational experience, and a heavy artistic expression session.
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