Weird

Take Six shapers, give them a blank. A handplane and two hours to push boundaries and the nixon weird is the result...

- Sam Lamiroy

Nixon’s ‘the Weird’ event has been running globally for a few years now, and built up quite a following. The basic premise is to get some great surfers together and present them with a handful of super weird boards – and let them battle it out in a peer judged surf comp – where the winner takes all – and walks away with a fistful of cash!

The most recent iteration ran this winter on the North Shore of Oahu, Hawaii. All the boards were hand shaped by the legendary John Pyzel – who certainly took the weird board concept to a whole new level. Josh Kerr ended up winning the event – but really everyone was a winner – as the main focus is always on the fun side of proceedings!

The UK edition of the event really mixed things up a bit to also shining a light on the skill and craftsmanship that goes into creating these mind-bending dream sleds by partnering up with six of the most innovative shapers in the UK.

Gathered together at the new ‘Walters Surf’ in St.Agnes – a place where the public can come and try their hand at shaping their own board - they were asked them to get really creative with their own ‘weird’ craft. The challenge was to shape one of the six categories of board on offer from asymmetrical to single fins. The board they each had to shape was drawn out of a hat at random and they had just two hours with only their tools, skill and imagination to guide the way.

Once the boards have been shaped and glassed, in a few weeks time – a stellar crew of surfers will assemble at a secret beach location in the South West of England to try to figure out how to surf these six new creations and do battle for the £1000 cash prize. To see what happens there you’ll just have to stay tuned!

What did you think of the event, the concept and the vibe on the day?