Almond x Nine Lights
The word collaboration gets thrown around a lot... but this one is special—two skilled craftsmen each lending their talents to build something rad and unique. We teamed up with Jeff Beck from Nine Lights to build three 9'4 Surf Thumps in his EPS-core and Balsa sandwich construction.
Griffin shaped three identical, stringerless 9'4 Surf Thumps out of EPS foam which we took to Jeff Beck who specializes in a lively-feeling, perfectly-weighted, balsa wood sandwich construction. I have long-admired Jeff's work and the timeless aesthetic of a balsa wood surfboard.
Naturally, when cooking up a board to build with Jeff we looked to one of our all-time favorites, the Surf Thump. The Thump is a lively surfboard—for being a classic log—loosened up by the added curve in the outline and the little extra kick of tail rocker. The Surf Thump is a board we know well, and Griffin has shaped hundreds of times, so building one in a new construction was exciting both for what the board represents and the opportunity to put a new spin on a familiar friend.
Cameron and I popped in on Jeff midway through the building of these boards, to see how they were coming along and to get a better first-hand look at his process. 
