Grain Surfboards is pleased to announce the opening of a new woodworking shop where anyone of any age can build their own wood surfboard under the guidance of experienced craftsmen. The new location is in Amagansett Village, outside of Montauk, New York on the East End of Long Island. Over the last decade, Grain has taught many hundreds of people – both surfers and non-surfers – to build their own surfboards, and now with the exciting addition of Brian Schopfer and Patrick Fleury to the crew at Grain-NY, the experience will be available to hundreds more living in and around the New York metropolitan area.
Grain Surfboards are built like boats – made from the ground up instead of carved from foam – so the process of building them is pleasant and filled with the sound of hand-tools whisking shavings from soft, scented cedar wood as the board comes into shape over a short three or four-day workshop. But wood surfboards are nowhere near as complex to build as boats and, with their years of experience, Grain Surfboards has developed methods that make it easy to understand what to do and how to do it, with excellent and attentive instruction that gives room for students to discover, but never leaves them hanging.
The opening of Grain-NY marks a new chapter for Grain Surfboards, and is an unprecedented expansion casually referred to as a “Stoke Expansion Plan” in a recent blog post on the Grain Surfboards website. “These workshops are personal to us – the process of making your own surfboard is just too rewarding not to share,” said Grain-NY manager Brian Schopfer, “and having Montauk’s world class breaks – Surfer Magazine’s number eight ‘Best Surf Town in the US’ – just up the road doesn’t hurt, either.”
Grain workshops have appealed to kids as young as twelve years old, to parent/child teams, newlyweds on honeymoon, retirees, decompressing business-people, neurosurgeons, drop-outs, those with no woodworking experience, and expert cabinetmakers. Ideal for corporate team-building, specialized workshops have been developed for design departments and executives looking for inspiring activities around which to pull their departments together with a customizable and memorable team experience
With classes traditionally held in the York Maine shop and, in recent years, on the road using specialized truck and trailer rigs on both coasts, Grain’s shown a dedication to bringing the experience to as many surfers as they can. Tuition always includes all the materials and supplies needed to build the boards, two meals a day, instruction, some laughs, and time with like-minded people who generally help and support each other throughout the course. Each student leaves with a completed surfboard ready for glass, and all the glassing materials and supplied needed. Some students leave their boards for Grain Surfboards to glass, others – made confident by glassing demonstrations and the extensive instructions provided – glass it at home.
Details:
Grain-NY Workshop
11 Indian Wells Hwy
PO Box 854
Amagansett, NY 11930
631-267-9283
About Grain Surfboards
Grain Surfboards is committed to promoting the benefits of building and surfing wooden surfboards and believes that wooden surfboards can have more impact on the surfing experience and less impact on the environment. All of the wood products used in Grain surfboards and kits are sourced from local mills and forestlands in Maine that practice sustainable harvesting. All wood waste from the production of Grain’s boards and kits is actively reduced and creatively recycled. Grain ships surfboards and complete surfboard kits worldwide and hosts workshops in which anyone can learn to handcraft their own wood surfboard. Maintaining personal connections with their customers has kept workshops a very personal experience for both instructors and students as is evidenced by the intentional eschewing of certifications or any “professional” training focus in their offerings as well as the frequency of returning students and a steady flow of unsolicited warm testimonials. Grain is co-owned and managed by Mike LaVecchia and Brad Anderson. For more information, please visit grainsurfboards.com.
About Grain-NY
The Grain Surfboards ethos is happily embodied at Grain-NY and workshops and products offered there carry the same guarantee of quality and commitment to sustainability that customers have come to expect from Grain. Grain – New York services Northern New Jersey, coastal Connecticut, and the boroughs of New York City from a former livery stable/art school that’s been renovated to a clean, comfortable, permanent workshop in the heart of Amagansett Village, just outside of Montauk, NY. Grain-NY is managed by Brian Schopfer and Patrick Fleury. For more information, please visit grainsurfboards.com/ny.
