Smorgasboarder_11_May-2012

ROGER HALL is a humble man. He frequently talks of such
great admiration and respect for so many shapers that at times I
wonder whether he realises how talented he actually is himself.
I mean, the man seems to be freakishly gifted.
His introduction to shaping though was quite different. You hear
of many taking to shaping only after years of surfing, but Roger
began shaping immediately, at the age of thirteen at the same
time as he first took to the water.
“The two went hand in hand by my way of thinking. Not sure
what was going through my silly head, thinking I could do it,
but I did.
“The thing that was instrumental in my development was
the fact that my father came from an engineering, fitting and
turning background so he was really good with his hands. If
he wanted something, he would make it. I, on the other hand,
was just a disaster. I am living proof that if I can do it, there is
hope for anybody.
“As soon as I expressed an interest he was right there keeping
an ever watchful eye on me. Pretty soon I would be yelling, ‘Dad,
Dad, I can’t get this fin straight and the resin is about to go off’
and he would tell me, ‘A little more to the left, that’s good.’ He
had such a good eye for it, particularly the curves.
“So I was lucky that I sort of had that guiding light right at
the beginning to keep me on track. Whenever it got too hard
he would step in with the right power tool or come in with
instruction. That really ensured I got going with it. Shaping
became a fanatical hobby.”
After making boards for himself and a couple of mates
Roger came across a board that would forever set him on his
‘alternative’ path.
“At the beginning I was into single fins and then very early in
‘72 or ‘73 I cottoned onto the fish thing. Twin keel fishes really
caught my eye, particularly when I saw photos of guys doing
those real fish turns around San Diego.”
As if it were fate, a guy from San Diego moved to the little
village where Roger grew up and brought his fish in for a ding
repair.
“I asked if I could measure it up - even though I didn’t really
know how to do it back then - and I stole as much information
as I could. I got totally obsessed with fish and pretty much have
been since.”
In a commercial sense though, fish weren’t big business
back then, neither were the longboards Roger shaped, but he
continued shaping them nonetheless. He’s always moved to
the beat of his own drum and not what was fashionable or
profitable. Eventually though, things turned in Roger’s favour.
Longboards became popular and so too fish. It was just as well,
because he was determined to do his own thing anyhow.
“My philosophy of building surfboards has always been to
make a few nice boards. It is just a passion at the end of the
day. I’m not interested in mass production. There’s lots of mass
production going on around the world and I think that is the
enemy of the heart and soul of surfing. I’m pretty old school
about that.
“I’m from the 70s and surfing wasn’t a sport. It may be now, but
that doesn’t mean we have to all behave that way. There’s still
plenty of room to surf for the reasons you want to. Surfing for
most of us is a passionate pastime. Shaping for me is the same,
even though it has become my business.”
may/jun 2012
35