Shaper Profile – Stretch Surfboards

William “Stretch” Riedel has been creating distinctive and innovative custom hand built boards for surfing, sailing, kiting, and tow surfing.  Born in Malibu, CA, he was taught to build boards by his father Mike Riedel, a shaper for Velzy Jacobs Surfboards in the 1960′s.  His multitude of craftsmanship and wave riding skills eventually landed him in Santa Cruz where a life changing windsurfing accident in 1988 left him with partial paralysis.  His enthusiasm for progressive wave riding continues daily with technological advancement, team feedback and a passion for building the best boards possible.

Go grab yourself a refreshment of your choice and enjoy the interview and photo gallery from Stretch Surboards factory!

NCS: How and when did you start shaping surfboards?
WSR: The first board I shaped on my own was 1978 in a gutted out horse stable in Gilroy.  My family relocated from malibu and then Canoga park and my mom was operating a vineyard in Gilroy when i decided to build surfboards for my friends and I.

NCS: At what point did you decide to make a career as a shaper?
WSR: It was about 1980 when I decided to make boards and try to make a living from it.

NCS: What is your favorite aspect of shaping? How about your least favorite?
WSR: It was all about the adventure and of course traveling and experiencing new waves and ways to ride them. From sailboards to surfboards, points to reefs, big boards, short boards, I was always on the go. When I broke my neck and became paralyzed I wasn’t able to experience it first hand like I used to.  I look to my friends, team riders and customers to get the experience and stoke. When I see them all fired up on something that I was able to help them achieve it makes the experience of building boards rewarding.

My least favorite aspect of shaping……….? Ummmm, I’m not sure I really have one. If you’re not stoked on what it is you’re doing with your life, they why would you do it?  Itching like crazy and getting fiberglass shards lodged into your eyelids from grinding carbon isn’t really that fun. I don’t really complain though. It kind of comes with the territory.

NCS: Who is currently on your team?
WSR: We have lots of guys who enjoy getting boards from us but our primary team consists of:

Nathan Fletcher, Josh Loya, Josh Mulcoy, Ratboy, Ivan Florence, Nathan Florence, Charlie Ramirez from Puerto Rico, Jared Mell is riding everything from fish to longboards, Peter Trow is kite surfing’s directional wave riding guru, Garrett Macnamara is a madman, Jamie Sterling holds it down from 8 foot pipe to gaping teahupoo and monster mavs, Zack Wormhoudt is a big wave norcal fixture any time the waves make your balls shrink, James Harold will do supermans and air reverses in places you never thought possible. seriously, like behind a boat surfing in a lake!  There’s tons of other people, whether you think notable or not that have gotten boards from us and done amazing things with them. The team is our family and our family is our team. Everything and everyone is working for the same cause and that’s the best wave riding equipment possible.

NCS: Is there a specific shape that sells really well?
WSR: It all kind of goes with the times. For a long time, the air board (which evolved into the loya and now called the “s-10″) was a big seller. Then that huge internet bubble had all kinds of surfers getting our “IT” model to get them in the water. The hybrid model (which turned into the mulcoy and is now referred to as the “S2″) was always the staple tri fin. the skate (or ratskate) has always been a popular model. Nathan came to the team in 2004 and it all skyrocketed from there. People would turn their heads at an unusual design hitting the mainstream and with someone like Nathan doing things people would never accept as possible and then doing it in eps epoxy which hardly anyone was doing made people pay attention to their equipment in a drastic way.  Let’s just say we do a lot of boards with even number fins on them.

NCS: How long does it take you to shape a board?
WSR: Depending on the model and what it’s intended for. I can do one in 30 minutes or it can take up to 3 hours.

NCS: Does your team influence your shapes?
WSR: Absolutely! If there was no communication between my team and I, the boards wouldn’t be what they were. Remember, I can’t surf anymore. I rely on these guys to push the progression and performance level. I’ve done lots of jobs and utilized many different skill sets in my life but  I’m not going to force feed something into my team rider’s hands if I didn’t believe in it.  There’s a lot that goes into a board… materials, construction techniques, quantitative data, foils, lift to drag ratios, buoyancy deflection, cyclical rates.  The list goes on and on. Part of listening to customers and team riders alike is sort of doing detective work.  You have to listen and observe and analyze then interpret what the rider is saying.  Being able to decipher what the surfer is doing is part of a shaper’s job.  There’s thousands of ways for a surfer to say that the board feels like it’s hanging up off the top on their back hand.  It’s up to the person designing the board to understand how and why.

NCS: I noticed that you are shaping wakesurf boards also… how did that come about?
WSR: Josh Mulcoy and Kevin Walsh (you know the artist?) came to me one day and said that they wanted to surf behind Josh’s boat.  There were already people doing it but it wasn’t full on surf style.  I got their input, looked at the wave the boat was able to create and went to work. the result was something that was able to handle the odd transition that the boat wave was able to produce as opposed to an ocean wave.  There’s a weird kink and the power the wave provides is different than what a surfer can expect.  To be able to match the feel and allure of ripping a wave behind a boat like you were in the ocean is a challenge.  It was all in the design of the board and from what people are saying, it’s unreal to be able to do so seamlessly.  It’s like cross training when mother nature decides to go dormant or get wind hacked and crowded.  Look at what those guys are doing behind the boat.  It’s nuts!

NCS: Is there anyone that you would like to thank?
WSR: My entire family.  Especially my wife Sandy.  Everyone who supported me because we were doing something real.  Everyone who thought Iwas a weirdo and everyone who thinks I’m just off my rocker.  It’s all fueling the fire.

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