The Ride of the 🦋
Jon Garmendia did it again. The second time around winner of The Longboard Spanish Championship and winner of the expression session of the best shared wave with Alex Knost at Vans Duct Tape Invitational. This young surfer keeps quite some secrets under his belt that we are going to unraveled, starting by saying that he is not only a shaper, and a very good one at that, but much more indeed.
30is hours to finish a surfboard 100% hand shaped that demands care, attention to detail and solely two pair of hands that do the whole work from start to finish. Starting with the special selection of stringers, shaping, glassing, sanding … And yes, only a pair of hands: Jon Garmendia’s. The man, the brand, and the wings behind the butterfly.
You could think about what kind of relation could a butterfly and a surfboard have, and the answer has a name: Jon Garmendia.
This surfer from Zarautz, a little town in the Basque Country (Spain), is also a surfboard shaper, glasser and sander, that has just won for the second time around The Longboard Spanish Championship; winner in A Frouxeira de Valdoviño beach in A Coruña and in Salinas, Asturias riding one of his own longboard designs and creations. He was also the invited to take part in the expression session of The Duct Tape Invitational organized by Joel Tudor in Zarautz among 38 surfers and actually won it alongside Ale Knost for the best shared wave.
At the MexiLogFest (MXLF21), one of the musts in the longboard festivals arena, he got in the Top 16. Another victory for sure.
Not only that, he is a father of a beautiful baby girl and works part-time at the Spanish leader in furniture fittings manufacturing company as well. His hands are full right now with work at the company in the mornings and his passions: his family and, as he says, seeking happiness by shaping his own surfboards, longboards among them, and riding them.
So, afternoons would be the time when Jon puts the hat of Garmendia Surfboards and shapes his midlengths, twins, longs ..., while steals time during weekend mornings or dawns to surf himself, try his designs and keep improving shapes for those boards that fill, not only his demands, but also the ones that more and more want to ride one Garmendia Surfboard.