BIO: Pat Rawson

Posted on November 4th, 2009 in Blog, SHAPER BIOS by MILO

SHAPERS ROOM: Pat Rawson

Pat Rawson has been shaping surfboards since 1966, and manufacturing surfboards on the North Shore of Oahu since 1972. Rawson is well known for his contributions to modern Gun development in the early 80’s and onward, and in so doing was nicknamed the “Godfather of Guns”. Starting with his surfboard blank designs and gun rockers produced through Clark Foam, and validation through making pro quivers for half or more of the top 16 pro surfers visiting Hawaii for 10 years in a row established Rawson’s title. Tom Carroll, Mark Richards, Tom Curren, Gary Elkerton, as well as Hawaii pros: Derek Ho, Bobby Owens, Jon Damm, Sunny Garcia, and later, Kalani Robb, Bruce Irons, and Ryan Rowson. These were surfers that rode exclusively on Rawson’s boards in Hawaii. Feeling the need to expand his niche into other areas worldwide: Rawson started traveling extensively in 1997 onward, to places like California, Australia and later Europe, Peru, Brazil, and Central America. In 1999, Rawson moved his California production to San Diego, California, where he was influenced by fish gurus; Larry “Larmo” Mabile, Skip Frye, and others who were the developers of the early “post modern shortboard” fish surfboard design movement there. That strong influence inspired Rawson into producing his own ”S.U.V.” lineup, such as the San Diego Fish model, and his quads and other “alternative” board designs, for the Hawaiian local market, as well as his other worldwide markets around the surfing world. Rawson takes his shaping experience, quality control, and long standing work with professional surfers worldwide, to earn him the title of “The BMW of modern surfboard design”!