Steve Divita:

I am a shaper from VA Beach and recently donated a custom board at a Life Rolls On event. The person who won the raffle was gracious enough to give it to a friend of his who is a paraplegic and an avid surfer. I have no experience with designing and building a board for a paraplegic surfer and I know you have worked with Jesse and build his boards. The person I am shaping the board for has only surfed stock longboards off the shelf and I want to shape him a board that will really fit his needs. I would be more grateful than you know to have your input on the design of his board. You probably went through a lot of R & D to finally come up with a design that works for Jesse and I would love to incorporate some of the design aspects that the two of you have come up with and that work well for a paralyzed surfer. I know you are a busy person, but I would really appreciate any help you could give me on this board! Thanks and I hope to hear from you.

Al Responds, “For Jesse, we widened the tail so he could keep his feet on the board. We narrowed the nose and added more nose rocker so he wouldn’t bury the nose as easily. We also thinned the rails down for more sensitivity as he turned with his elbows.”