Wave Goddess Surfboards: June 2012

Wave Goddess Surfboards are the creation of Mike Clement who is based in Gloucester. He designs, builds and repairs surfboards for the sea as well as specifically for surfing the Severn Bore.

PROFILE

Mike Clement has been surfing for 45 years and riding the Severn Bore for 7 years. He grew up in South Africa during the sixties and seventies longboard-to-shortboard revolution. He learnt to surf in the city of Durban alongside the likes of Endless Summer legend Max Wetteland and world champion Shaun Tomson. He spent nearly 10 years living in Jeffreys Bay, within walking distance of his local break, Supertubes, considered to be the best right hand breaking wave in the world. He also had the privilege of meeting and befriending some of the world’s best shapers and surfers. The most significant of these was Miki Dora who lived with the Clement family for nearly 2 years. They then moved to Ireland where they spent several years in the surf town of Easky. In 2005 circumstances brought them to Gloucester in the UK where Mike discovered the unique wave and surfing community of the Severn Bore. It was also the Bore that inspired him to begin building surfboards. He regularly surfs the Bore as well as breaks in South Wales and Devon.

BOARD DESIGN

Like many of his surfing contemporaries, Mike became increasingly frustrated with the modern short board and its irrelevance to most average surfers in the predominantly average surf of the

. He returned to the longboarding of his childhood. He discovered noseriding and was taught the basics of cross stepping by respected Californian shaper and surfer Tyler Hatzikian. However Mike still missed the speed and maneuverability of the shortboard. Then 2 years ago he began to study the design principles of Bob Simmons, considered to be the father of the modern surfboard. Simmons boards are relatively wide, have parallel rails, wide tails and very low tail rocker. These design features combined with twin or quad keel fins provide a board that has incredible down the line speed, highly efficient glide, stability in the white water and highly maneuverable turning. He began to design and build short and long boards that not only functioned well in the sea but were ideally suited for surfing the Bore. The long wave of the Bore has also provided him with an ideal testing ground for his prototypes. He and his boards have been featured in the June 2012 edition of Wavelength Surf Magazine. He has also recently developed a working relationship with Tim Mason, one of the UK’s top shapers and the UK’s only qualified shaper of displacement hull boards. Tim is an authority on some of the world’s best surfboard designers and their boards including Bob Simmons and George Greenough and he has been helping Mike with the design of his boards.

CUSTOM & STOCK BOARDS

Mike has been making stock as well as custom boards tailored to suit an individual’s surfer’s need and ability. He has made a board for Steve King, current Guinness world record holder for the longest wave ridden. Steve recently surfed the board on

Brazil

’s feared and formidable river bore, the Pororoca. Mike also made a board for local bore rider Stu Ballard who was invited by the local government in Malaysia to promote their local bore known as the Benak as a tourist destination.

MATERIALS

Mike uses predominantly epoxy resin and polyurethane blanks which produce a very strong but light board. However he also has experience in working with other materials including polyester, XPS, composites, hollow wood construction and boat construction with epoxy and plywood.

ARTWORK

Thanks to the creative talents of his wife Jacki, daughters and graphic designer friends,
Mike is able to incorporate (for those who want it) appealing graphics into his boards from small logos to full length decals.

BOARD REPAIR

Thanks to the brutality of the Severn Bore on surfboards, Mike has gained a lot of experience doing repairs ranging from small structural dings and damaged fin boxes to snapped boards. He recently received a commendation from McDing Repairs in Hawaii regarding the repair of a snapped stand up paddle board. “That's a solid repair. I've done lots of Surftech, NSP and Boardworks repairs in the years I lived on Maui. Your repair would be good enough for any shop.”

BOARD HIRE

Mike hires out a selection of boards for use on the Severn Bore.

REPAIR & BOARD BUILDING TUITION

Mike offers instruction on basic ding repair and board building.

MERCHANDISE

A selection of Wave Goddess merchandise including clothing, wax, leashes etc is available on request.

WAVE GODDESS

The Wave Goddess refers to Sabrina, the mythical goddess of the River Severn in Gloucestershire who is responsible for creating the tidal bore.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:

Mike Clement

27 Carters Orchard, Quedgeley, Gloucester GL2 4WB

Tel 07748477904