Cheyne Horan is without a doubt one of the most influential surfers ever. A rebel who more than any competitive surfer (before or since) marched to his own beat, especially in surfboard design. His "Lazor Zap” boards, Keel fins, wide tails and "No nose” designs, combined with iconic sprays and powerful aggressive surfing, made him impossible to take your eyes off of. From the early to mid ‘80s, nearly every board you would see in surfshops had influences from Cheyenes designs. Both in shape, and sprays, as well as logos. Every shaper in California was spinning off his designs. And for good reason. They worked! Especially well in Small Summertime surf, from coast to coast. I watched him win the the first OP Pro, as a frothed out 13yo, standing on Huntington Beach, with 100,000 people, in 1982…and knew I wanted to be a part of it. Life changed forever. Now, more than 40 years later, Its an honor to be able to collaborate on a design with Cheyne. We created this board together, side by side in the shaping room, integrated his "Lazor Zap" design elements and flair into one of our most popular designs, the 1980’s influenced, "Rad Ripper”. What we came out with is the "RAD ZAPPER”. A modernized spin on many of Cheynes wonderful and radical, but user friendly design ideals. Wide points back, with wide tails and narrower noses. Flat decks, with soft thinned out rails and big beautiful beak noses. Deliciously deep concaves. Low fast rockers and plenty of foam all around. Starting with the Rad Ripper, we Infused Cheynes... Noticeably flat deck and unique, volume reducing rail shape. Carried the thickness flow, aggressively into the nose…and the tail. Ending with a pronounced beak nose and tapered tail foil. Moved the wide-point back, noticeably pulling in the “no nose" tip and widening the tail, dramatically, making for amazing small wave attributes. Added his signature double-bump soft swallow “Butt” tail, which helps controlling the radical, wide tail. Built his unique deep double concave thought he tail, which starts out soft, near the stringer, then graduates to an almost hook, out near the edge, rocketing water through the tail, while also lending some grab and bite, for control. Lowered the entry rocker, for old time speed and added a soft belly in the nose, to keep it free n loose, as well. Of course we came up with some fun collab logos, with a twist on his “Mermaid” graphic and original "Lazor Zap" model logo, but we've opted to keep the logos a bit smaller and clean. A pointed nose, performance board, designed for smaller surf, where you can stand on the tail and turn wherever you like, without running out of speed or floatation.All these elements make for a post modern small wave speed machine that harkens back to a past era, when boards were fast fun and easy to ride, but equally playful and statement making, in or out of the water.
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