Danish Design: July’s Wooden Surfboard Workshop Week

05 . 08 . 17

Chris and Rikke drove from Denmark to make their own surfboards with us last week. They took their time and made a road trip out of it, spending some time in the Champagne region learning about the craftsmanship that goes into the areas famous product, before arriving in Cornwall. Rikke is an industrial designer who is fascinated by process and seeking to balance the disciplines of designing and making, and Chris is a business consultant with a love of woodworking who was eager to spend a week creating something tangible with his hands. Building and shaping their own wooden surfboards came naturally to both of them and the surfboards that they signed off on Friday evening, different models but in matching timber lay-ups, were beautiful; Rikke had made herself a 7’2” Islet (a scaled down version of our popular 7’4” Island Hopper), and Chris an 8’0” Pieces of Eight.

“I had been on a work placement in Hong Kong, designing snowboard bindings. We were looking at taking a holiday and I realised that a workshop course was the same price as a month’s rent in Hong Kong, but that making my own surfboard would be a much more rewarding experience than staying on an extra month in the city.”

It was clear from spending the week getting to know Chris and Rikke that they were experience seekers with an affinity for craft. The Danes have a reputation as a design savvy nation, and Chris and Rikke reinforced that stereotype in the most wonderful ways. Living in Copenhagen they regularly do the five-hour drive to Klitmøller where they surf or kite-surf, and we’re excited to hear stories of the North Sea waves that they’ll be catching on their new wooden surfboards this autumn.