Ian Wright
Click here to see a sick QuickTime video of aftermath test pilot Ty Cukr
Ian, thx for taking time out to talk with us, lets start with..where you’re from and what brought you to the states?
I grew up in a small town just south of Durban, South Africa, I had decided to head for Southern California. Partly to visit an old girlfriend of mine and partly to test my board making skiffs out in what I had considered to be the "Mecca" of the surfing world ill Whilst some may question this....the US produces more surfboards than any other country or even countries combined worldwide and out of this Southern California has some of the best board builders around. It was an obvious choice for me , not only to test my skills, but to also further my knowledge.
So when did you shape your first board and what made you decide to try you luck with shaping?
I had shaped my first board when I was 15 years old after a friend of mine had asked me to try and copy it. Well I figured that if I had some of the tools-And I seemed good with my hands…..then this couldn't be that difficult. Well that moment changed my fife forever.
How did the board come out?
The board actually came out pretty good and after I had laminated it and polished it by hand...I was sucked in for life. I had never in a million years thought that I'd end up making boards for a living, but I guess after having a somewhat successful fiberglass repair thing going out of my parent’s garage. which incidentally was started only to keep my brother in the water with his canoe-racing hobby...that somewhere I was destined to be involved with fiberglass in some way shape or form. When I look back on it and realize that this was just a dream of a young surf kid
How many boards have you shaped over the years?
I have shaped tens of thousands of boards, I'm just starting to evolve into my own. I mean that in the sense that after ghost shaping for some of the biggest names in our industry from various parts of the world, namely Safari surfboards and Spider Murphy and being mentored by Peter Daniels that these guys helped me have the visions in board making skills I have developed today. I have shaped boards for some of surfing* elite whilst working over here and this has helped carve out my niche in this huge market.
What is next for Ian Wright?
After having made some really bad business decisions over here I have finally got all the "Monkeys off my back" so to speak. I have a state of the art facility where I can manufacture almost everything in-house. I had started doing my own label out of necessity and now some 2 years later it has started to turn into a really exciting business project for me. I have been getting a solid WQS and WCT team off the ground which will soon be released. I have got a great clothing line as well as a footwear line coming out thanks to a great clothing partner. I have managed to get my website http://www.aftermathsurfboards.com/ in operation and have launched an advertising campaign In all the Major industry magazines.
That is exciting stuff, it sounds like your about to gain allot of momentum and much deserved recognition, are you ready for all this change?
Yeah, I believe so, I have also managed to get myself back to where I should have been years ago...and that is to enjoy myself doing what I love, This industry has had Its ups and downs for me. I feel that I have come a complete circle in life and now finally can have something to offer back to this very cool and exciting industry. I have so many cutting edge technologies available to me now and I think it shows in my product.
Please feel free to check out my website at http://www.aftermathsurfboards.com/ and join me on this cool journey. Finally to all of those people who have supported me and to those still to come..thank you...I’m truly grateful.
Photos by Jennifer Dawson interview by Jennifer Dawson, Ty Cukr and Scott Whitmer
