Cord rider Noah Lane is our man on the ground in Ireland, and back in November when he mentioned to head shaper Markie that he’d like a board for the coming swell, Markie didn’t fail to deliver. From the shaping bay to the sea, Noah’s new board was under his feet and into waves of consequence exactly a week after their conversation. Both the boys gave us a rundown on the idea, the process and the final outcome.
Noah Lane: Team Rider
How’s the new board?!
The new board is great! It turned out exactly how I’d imagined and it was a fun process.
Where did the idea for this particular board come from?
It’s specifically made for The Cliffs [Aileen's, the big wave that breaks beneath the Cliffs of Moher]. I’d had a shocking surf there a few weeks prior and I had this idea to change the board I was using and try something different. I took the idea to Markie and we pinged it around for 10 minutes on the phone and he translated that through his hands and into a surfboard.
Was it created with a specific wave in mind?
Originally the idea was to make it for The Cliffs, but it’s also a double up to try and surf here at Mullaghmore (*I’m actually looking at it right now!) when it’s a little bit smaller.
Tell us about the dimensions and design.
It’s a little bit wider up front to aid in paddling, and narrower in the tail as a standard step-up gun-style outline. It feels really nice under my arm and good to paddle. Straight away I knew it’d be easy to catch waves on. It did everything I wanted when I was on the waves.
Why the quick turnaround?
It came about because there was a swell incoming. I called Markie whilst he was at the London Surf Film Festival. I must have caught him when he was in a motivated mood and he was pumped to give it a crack. He turned it around in a week, which was pretty incredible. Markie was here exactly a week to the day that I ordered it. I was walking down the cliffs and surfing the waves it was made for in seven days, in a different country. It was pretty amazing. It was a really fun, nice experience.
Markie Lascelles: Head Shaper
How was it, building a board from start to finish in seven days?
Well, it’s always fun! It was actually five days really. Noah messaged me whilst I was at the [London Surf] film fest with an idea of a board for The Cliffs. I said yes, and I’d had one in mind actually. I then looked at the forecast and realised there was a nice chart for it the following Saturday, so the challenge was on. It was shaped on Monday, wrapped in glass on Tuesday, sanded at the end of the week, stuffed in the van on Friday night for the red eye express and went straight to the cliffs for a paddle out in minus 6 degree flawless conditions. But yeah, a little stressful for all involved!
Where did the idea for making a board in a week come from?
It never starts as an idea of making them in a week - sometimes forecasts are relentless though!
Was it created with a specific wave in mind?
Yeah, we made this as a specific Cliffs board, for Aileen’s. It’ll work in other spots for sure, but Aileen’s is pretty unique and we’re just trying to perfect a stick for out there.
Tell us about the dimensions and design.
7’2’’ x 19 3/4" x 2 5/8", with a vee in the nose and tail and a bit of single concave in the middle. It has more thinned out rails in the tail but a slightly wider outline for Noah on his backhand. Paddle up front as per, but more knifey.
See Noah’s one-week-wonder board in action at The Cliffs, shot and edited by Joao Tudella, below.
Main image by Megan Gayda
Film by Joao Tudella