Still Stoked Longboard Skates For Surfers

The Landsurfer Story - Chapter 1

This entry relates to: [ Skating ]

Friday, May 14, 2004

It was in the Autumn of 1997 that I first got the idea of the 6foot board. I had tried the 'plank' at Dig's in Woolacombe, which seemed to me to be too stiff and narrow for serious landsurfing. So I came up with a board that was possible to lie on and pop up on. That basically meant 6foot long and 1foot wide, and that could only be achieved if there was a truck able to take it.

Some early Landsurfers from 1998

The Landsurfer was born due to the obsession I had with sea and tarmac and thanks to the Independant Truck Company, without which it wouldn't have been possible.

The first testing grounds were Gloucester streets and Brighton proms. I'd already become a bit of a lone longboard freak in Gloucester and when I started skating Brighton, I got a lot of stares and a few astonished surfers not knowing whether to take me seriously or not.

I could tell James at Ocean Sports didn't really know what to say, but he encouraged me anyway. Then Stephen Pope turned up outside the shop, asked for a ride, and proceeded to demonstrate how to walk the board on tarmac. He asked "Donny, can I be a team rider when I come back from Oz?" I said "You bet", and in July 1998 he turned up just in time to ride the hill at Widemouth at the first Bude Downhill.

Stephen and Old Red, Widemouth Bay 1998

I had nine months to develop the Landsurfer, get it right and launch the pro board. Next chapter will introduce my main skating buddy Matt "Buffalo" Hammersley, Tom, Danny and the Leeds Stokers.

Posted on Friday, May 14, 2004 at 13:46:19