Al Merrick , founder and shaper for Channel Islands Surfboards, rose to fame in the early 80's as the shaper for Tom Curren.  Curren's surfing took the world by storm and with him the Merrick brand became world renowned. Merrick began surfing at the age of 10 in Encinitas and eventually went on to surf for Surfboards Hawaii.  After high school and a short stint at Palomar College, Merrick became inspired to pick up shaping through the influence of John Price and Dick Brewer.  Around this time the shortboard revolution and the move to Santa Barbara. It inspired him to experiment and refine ideas that were taking place at that time. After Curren came the best surfer to date in Kelly Slater who jumped on surfboard with Al Merrick propelling Merrick shapes into the 21st century.  Still renowned for his hand shaping abilities, he's adopted new techologies to help produce consistent shapes for the world to surf.  Now Merrick reserves hand shaping for his very best surferes to experiment and push surfboard shapes into the future.

   Over the last 38 years, Channel Islands has grown from a local grass-roots operation to a cutting edge organization, catering to the best surfers in the world. It started with hard-core surfing and quality in mind and these guidelines have brought us through three decades of constant change in the surf industry. Al Merrick, the founder of Channel Island Surfboards in Santa Barbara, Calif. Merrick has been designing boards for more than three decades, and is considered by many to be the best in the business. Al Merrick has some of the most famous surfboard shapes in the world. In recent years, he's moved to a production style where they are popping out blanks using a machine and sending these off to glassers all around Southern California.