Surf Expo January 2016 Preview
Surf Expo January 14-16, 2016 is gearing up to be a great show. The show floor features more than 2,400 exhibitor booths and buyer pre-registration has surpassed last year’s show, with nearly 12,000 buyers pre-registered to attend.
The show takes place in the North and South A halls of the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida. Buyers can still register at surfexpo.com.
Surf Expo, since 1976
Surf Expo celebrates its 40th anniversary in 2016, as the surfing industry’s largest and longest running boardsports and beach lifestyle trade show. The inauguration of the trade show in 1976 coincided with the establishment of pro surfing and a lifestyle that has captured the imagination of the world. To commemorate its 40th anniversary Surf Expo in January 2016 will be presenting an exhibition of Bustin’ Down the Door, a film that chronicles the rise of pro surfing and the emergence of the surfing industry over a tumultuous year in 1976. Shaun Tomson, PT Townend, Ian Cairns and Michael Tomson will be a part 
of the celebration.
East Coast Surfing Hall of Fame
Celebrating its 20th year, the East Coast Surfing Hall of Fame will hold its 2016 induction ceremony following the show on Friday. Inductees are Cory Lopez, Jason Borte, Rich Rudolph, Sandy Ordille, Joe McGovern, Phil Roberts, Hunter Joslin, Pam Hill Dick Rosborough and Sid Abruzzi. For the first time ever, a Special Recognition Award will be given, in honor of Duke Paoa Kahanamoku, credited with introducing surfing to the East Coast in 1912.
Florida Shape Off
Surf Expo is pleased to welcome the 9th Annual Florida Shape Off. This year will feature two key events:
The Florida Shape Off honoring Hobie Alter. Six shapers compete to replicate an iconic Gary Propper surfboard. Shapers include Gorkin Cormican, Keith Natti, Brian Wynn, A.J. Finan, Juan Rodriguez and Jim Hannon. Ricky Carroll and Mark Johnson will judge.
Master of the Masters Challenge, sponsored by Channel Islands Surfboards. Former Florida Shape off winners will compete to be the “best of the best” as they replicate The Channel Islands Proton board—voted 2009 Board of the Year by SIMA. Al Merrick will judge.
Prior Florida Shape Off Winners Go Head To Head To Replicate the Proton Board
Surf Expo announced a special edition Master of Masters surfboard shaping competition has been added to the the 9th Annual Florida Shape Off to be held at this week’s show, January 14-16, 2016.
The Master of Masters line up features past Florida Shape Off winners Jim Hannan, Mike Whisnant and Jeff Haney. The champions will compete to be “best of the best” as they replicate a Channel Islands Proton board. The Proton, a collaboration between Al Merrick and Dane Reynolds, is a go-to choice for surfers everywhere and was voted 2009 SIMA Image Awards Board of the Year. Each shaper will have one hour to complete the task.
Surf Expo Show Director, Roy Turner said, “We are excited to add the Master of the Masters to our Florida Shape Off and are honored to have Al Merrick and Channel Islands participate. Al’s designs have been so influential to modern board design and using his Proton model for the challenge will add to our new best of the best series.”
Scott Anderson, GM of Channel Islands added, “It’s great to see the energy around board building at Surf Expo. The original Proton being replicated is a complete hand shape by Al Merrick with an impressive amount of bottom curve. We are looking forward to seeing these craftsmen in action.”
The shaping will take place on Saturday, January 16, 2016 in the shaping bay on the floor of Surf Expo. Al Merrick will judge the competition. The winner will receive $1,000 cash and will be announced at an Award Ceremony at Noon.
About Surf Expo
Surf Expo is the global watersports and beach lifestyle tradeshow. Produced in January and September each year, the shows draw buyers from specialty stores, major resorts, cruise lines and beach rental companies from across the U.S., and more than 70 countries. Surf Expo features approximately 2,600 booths of apparel and hard goods and a full line-up of special events, demos, fashion shows, and annual award ceremonies. The show is consistently awarded by the tradeshow industry for growth in attendance, most recently the 2015 shows were named among TSNN’s Top 25 Fastest Growing Tradeshow for Attendance. For more information visit www.surfexpo.com. All shows are open to trade only.
About Channel Islands
Since 1969, Channel Islands Surfboards has been dedicated to performance and quality through hard work, innovation, and originality. Over the last 46 years, Channel Islands has grown from a local grass-roots operation to a cutting edge organization, catering to the best surfers in the world. It started with hard-core surfing and quality in mind and these guidelines have brought us through five decades of constant change in the surf industry. Located in a state-of-the-art facility just blocks from Rincon Del Mar, CI is a privately held organization focused on rider-driven product and manufacturing the best possible equipment available.
