This post is essentially a shout out to Chris Hartop (aka Kit) who has been the sounding board that has kept ECHO on the straight and narrow in these formative first 18 months.
Who's out there?
As the idea of ECHO Surf Supply gained momentum, we trawled instagram and the web to identify creators, thinkers and builders who we really wanted to work with. The most forward thinking designers and makers who push the boundaries of surfboard design, performance and aesthetics and of course a desire to do all of the above in an increasingly sustainable way.
The ability to talk nonsense into the small hours over Zoom during a pandemic isn't a necessary attribute but was a credential we found appealing.
Falling off the Bandwagon
Kit is literally the alchemist of sustainable surfboard building here in the UK. Besides being the reason we first became aware of Polyola blanks, his encyclopaedic knowledge of sustainable design, coupled with insight into the community meant that he was the first shaper we offered a Polyola blank to - simply to see what he'd turn out.
Karmic Tango - No resin, no glass. Just good things built to go fast
Shaped from a 7'4" Polyola Blank, skinned with Paulownia and cor, then oiled for a Faux Urushi lacquer effect, it was also a happy coincidence in the naming of the board also brought our awareness to a poem written by Nikunj Sharma….
The wind's kiss turns
the ocean into a pilgrim.
See how it bows down
to the sand grains on the shore.
This is when a lone footstep
choses to go with the flow -
to meet the depths
with instinctive buoyancy.
Within a swirling realm
a blue stream recognises
an old sand grain - that
carries the mountain's breath.
Another traveler readies
to bless the shores as
karma hides the fruits
in an ocean's deep pockets.
Onto the next ...
We're so stoked on how this board has turned out. Karmic Tango encapsulates everything that ECHO and our featured products are about - eye catching and performance orientated design that tick the boxes from a sustainable materials perspective and won't scare folks off by breaking the bank!
We're looking forward to putting Kit's fine craftsmanship through it's paces during next month's New Waves Sustainable Fish Fry in Bude on April 1st.
Feast your eyes on Kit's incredible work or get in touch via Instagram @bandwagon_surfboards for more Gold Level Ecoboard surfboard design, or enquire about his building workshops.
We're also working on lining up another collab that will continue to push the boundaries of sustainable design - using varied materials, conventional and non-conventional shapes that really push the agenda that all round sustainable surf creativity performs to the same standard as the tried and tested but more toxic materials out there!