Head Shaper:

Jerry O'Keefe

Behind the Brand: Dewey Weber’s contributions to the surf industry are hard to match. He was a world-class surfer, known as the “little man on wheels” during the late-’50s and early-’60s hotdog era. Afterward, he transitioned into a leading surfboard manufacturer, a superb designer, and an incredible promoter and marketer. He founded Dewey Weber Surfboards in 1960, and 2010 will mark the 50th anniversary of the company, which is now run by Dewey’s son, Shea, in San Clemente, CA. “We make high-end surfboards,” says Shea Weber, the company’s president. “We’re known for our quality and craftsmanship, but we build everything. We’ve specialized in longboards for the last 15 years, but we also have a pretty well rounded line of retro shortboards as well. And lately we’ve been building quite a few modern shortboards. On top of that, we’re also manufacturing a decent amount of SUPs and we’ll be launching a couple of epoxy models with Boardworks in 2010.” All these projects are overseen by Weber’s head shaper, Jerry O’Keefe, who began shaping at the age of 11 in 1975. Acquainted with Grubby Clark, O’Keefe’s mother took her son to the Clark factory where Grubby gave Jerry his first blank. From then on, Jerry was hooked. “I’d say I’ve been most notably influenced by the work of Terry Martin, Al Merrick, and Rusty Preisendorfer,” says O’Keefe, who has been the head shaper for Dewey Weber Surfboards since 1998.

About Weber's Most Popular Models: “We just released a new longboard that Jerry designed with Darren Eudaly, one of our team riders,” says Shea. “It is called the Planer and it has been a huge hit with our customers, team riders, and my Japanese distributor. The Performer and the Stylist, which are traditional single-fin longboards, are also really popular. Like the Planer, they’re designed for classic longboarding in 1- to 4-foot surf and they work really well. They paddle great, turn insane, and noseride for days.”

Shop Talk: “We have 50 years of experience and branding,” says Shea. “But we have a relatively young crew, which means we appreciate our history and our roots, but we’re also definitely looking to the future. And we pride ourselves on customer experience—that’s why we’re here.”

What’s the most important thing to have in your surfboard at the end of the day? “Quality and functionality. Here’s why: Nobody wants a board that doesn’t work, takes forever to figure out, or that falls apart.”

Are there any trends out there right now that you’d like to see continue? “I’d like to see the trend of educating the consumer continue to grow. Most of our customers that buy boards at full price don’t know much about how they’re made. As a board-builder industry, we’ve done a really good job at undercutting our competitors and devaluing the products we make. Then we sit around and complain about not making any money. If our customers continue to learn about all that goes into building a surfboard, then ultimately we will see the perceived value increase. This would hopefully lead to a more realistic price structure, which would help stabilize an industry that has been operating on subpar margins for decades.”