Foam will be flying October 11th & 12th when the Boardroom International Surfboard Show presented by US Blanks honors legendary shaper and Icon of Foam Eric Arakawa. Eight shapers, including Surf Expo’s East Coast Shape-off champion Allen White, will honor Arakawa in a shape-off competition highlighting his legacy in the surfboard building industry.
Born and raised in Hawaii, Arakawa was taught to surf by his father at the age of 10 in Waikiki on a 7’0 round-tailed Barry Kanaiaupuni mini-gun. At the age of 14, he’d shaped his first board, a 5’8 round pin out of his family’s Pearl City home. Today with over 50 years of experience and having shaped boards for over ten World Champions including Hawaiian’s Derek Ho and 3X World Champion Andy Irons. Eric Arakawa is a designer dedicated to the innovation and advancement of performance surfboards. He has also been honored by the surfing media for his achievements, including Surfing Magazine’s Shaper of the Year in 2003.
“I am surprised but stoked to be honored at this year’s Boardroom Show,” said Arakawa. “I love the craft as much or more than when I started 50 years ago. I am looking forward to the Boardroom opening day in October. Aloha.”
Eight shapers will compete in man-on-man round robin heats and will replicate some of Arakawa’s incredible designs. “These shape-offs can get competitive, no doubt,” said Scott Bass, executive director of the Boardroom. “At the end of the day this show is about highlighting the designers, shapers, laminators, sanders and artists who build our boards, our sacred crafts. Honoring iconic shapers like Eric Arakawa through this competition is one way of doing that.”
The winning shaper will receive $2K and their name added to the Mike Marshall Perpetual Trophy. The second place shaper receives $500.
The Boardroom highlights the surfboard manufacturing industry with a gathering of like-minded enthusiasts who are drawn by an authentic love for riding waves and the crafts that move us along those waves. The show features a massive hall filled with the top surfboard brands including Rusty, Channel Islands, Patagonia, G&S, Dark Arts, and many others. The Boardroom features all the gear needed to get out and enjoy the ocean including fins, wetsuits, leashes, wax, travel bags and ancillary gear. In addition, there are exhibits, discussions, demonstrations, live music, art, surfboard giveaways, a surfboard collector meet-up and more.
“There is a demand by core surfers to meet with the shapers; the builders and designers of our sacred crafts,” explained the Boardroom’s executive Director Scott Bass. “The Boardroom highlights the utilitarian core of the surfing experience – surfboards and the people who build them. It is from this nexus that our culture flows.” Founded in 2007, Eric Arakawa will be the Boardroom’s 24th honoree.
For more information visit boardroomshow.com
