Unlike most shapers, Lanny Shuler didn’t spend any time sweeping floors and picking glass out of his shoes as some legendary board builders’ lackeys. His knowledge of board building came from his own experience riding, modifying and studying the shapes. Lanny did, however, grow up in Southern California, surfing all those famous spots during surfing’s coming of age. He was there-when longboards ruled, when boards got a foot shorter each year through the shortboard revolution, when thrusters hit the waves and neon puked all over the clothing-and is here now where old is new, but new is still newer. What makes Lanny unique is not quite so obvious at first, until he opens his mouth. At first glance a Shuler surfboard looks pretty plain. No in your face, over the top graphics with mid life crisis paint jobs. There is no hype here. Just a simple board that’s not so simple.

Lanny really isn’t a shaper. He’s more of an engineer and an architect rolled together. To him boards are machines with a purpose. It’s more than clean design and tucked rails. It’s about hydro-dynamics, precision lines and superior materials. Every point on the board has a reason to be there and a job to do, and nothing is there without a reason. Lanny sort of reminds me of Ayn Rand’s literary character Howard Roark. In the same manner, every piece of steel or stone had a purpose in his buildings. No gargoyles or gaudy facades, just the right materials to create the perfect utilitarian structure.

A shaper is born

Lanny was born in 1950 prior to the days of Beach Blanket Bingo in Southern California. At around seven years old his parents divorced and Dad moved into a bachelor pad in Seal Beach. All too typical to the parenting of the day, Lanny was given his first board so Dad could spend more time without the kids. A brand new Hawaiian built 9’7”, sans stringer and glassed with Epoxy. Being a gun it looked freakish next to the fat noseriders under the pier. Lanny quickly learned, while having a few mishaps of course, that getting his toes on the nose just wasn’t going to happen with this ride. The board earned the name “The Shark”, because of its appearance and ability to collide with others boards and emerge unscathed.

At ten years old, came board number two, a local So. Cal. longboard. On the day of its maiden voyage, one of the hottest locals (also a Hell’s Angel) believed Lanny had gotten in his way. To teach the youngster a lesson in etiquette, the Harley ride’n surfer chucked the new board onto the jetty smashing it beyond recognition. Lanny was already well versed in the art of glassing and repair because he’d been messing around with skimboards at his fathers boat shop for a few years. Having spent such long earned savings on his board the only option for this young surfer was to tackle repairing the big board. This board being so busted up, and with a fin that broke off every few rides, allowed Lanny to experiment, modify and hone his skills real fast.

Around sixteen, after having shaped a few boards and having had a number of years riding and analyzing others shapes, Lanny had an opportunity to hook up with a professional shaper and set up shop in Mom’s garage. Never wanting to be just the glasser/apprentice and craving to improve upon the designs of the pro shaper, he picked up a planer and started shaping. At this transitional time in the size and shape of boards, people were on the lookout for new styles, breaking from the “old” longboards. In his later teens with ten years of surfing under his belt, Lanny was charging ahead with new shapes. Always looking to improve the ride, Lanny experimented with with the most innovative ideas of the times, which in turn caught the eye of some renowned shapers.

Around the same time at which Lanny started shaping he also got into Transcendental Meditation, eventually becoming a teacher, and for the next few years advancing his skills in both arts in Orange County, San Diego and Hawaii.
 

“A guy that I saw around a bit told me almost every time I saw him how much he loved the board I shaped him. I assumed it was something a few years back until he brought it in. I was stunned, because it was from the early 71-72 boards!”

In 1971 he came to Astoria for a few months to help his father build a commercial fishing boat, but upon discovering Seaside Point on a record year, a few months turned into a many more. Imagine a year of what may have been the best waves the Point has ever seen, with just a few guys out. Along with that came board after board being designed purely for Oregon waves.

Back to the point

The next ten years were spent teaching meditation and building boards in Europe, Hawaii, Long Beach and Huntington Beach, with a stint in selling real estate in San Diego. When the market crapped out, the road took him back to Oregon to fish with Dad, and it just happened to be a miserable year fishing with more time spent surfing than on the boats. Heading through Seaside on the way to the point, Cleanline Surf Shop caught his eye. Upon walking in, Josh, the guy behind the counter exploded with “You’re Lanny Shuler!!! ” After a few minutes of chatting Josh asked if he would shape a few boards. Instantly the thought of getting back to what he loved so much overwhelmed him. Shaping for profit has never been Lanny’s goal, obviously because shaping boards can be a difficult and not very lucrative occupation, especially in Oregon.

One of those first 1982 Cleanline boards just recently came to Lanny by chance. A customer brought it in to get repaired, but walked out with a new board.

Always an innovator, Lanny got into the Sailboard explosion out in the Gorge making boards, and was a pioneer of new materials and new ways of production. Some of those materials included closed cell foams with more memory and resilience compared to traditional boards. “I was encouraged at every step experimenting with these new foams for surfboards,” he says. He continued with what was out there but wasn’t anywhere near satisfied with the foams. So after contacting Dow Chemical, they tried quite a few foams, but Dow was not able to meet Lanny’s specs. He eventually began to work with Owens Corning, and over about a five-year period has come ”close to what I really want:” A light density, high memory closed cell foam. (See www.shulersystems.com for specific information.) He was also able to develop a new structural design with anchor posts where the Epoxy resin gets down into the foam actually fastening the fiberglass to the foam. “The combination of these materials creates a board 30% lighter and 70% stronger than conventional materials.”
 

What I noticed, looking through the quiver in Lanny’s shop first off was the weight, or lack there of, and then how precise the boards look. As we spent some time picking up boards and discussing shapes, Lanny did a pretty good job keeping my brain from melting, even with all the techno jargon. The perfection and quality is completely obvious, from the card explaining in layman’s terms the materials, to his shaping room that looks more of operating room than a place for cutting foam. His tools include the standard shaper’s arsenal but with a few added items like a micro-caliper rocker gauge that goes to 1/100 inch.

Says Shuler; “I am not out to make everybody happy, just to make the best possible board for its intended use.” Lanny is an absolute perfectionist (a propensity for being displeased with anything that is not perfect or does not meet extremely high standards), not that anyone or anything is perfect, he just strives to make the most appropriate board for each individual using the newest technology. He also believes that boards will only get better through continued innovation and stronger/lighter materials.

Contact info for Lanny Shuler can be found in the Shops & More business directory located here (under the Shapers heading).

— By Ian Marshall

Ian Marshall is a born a raised Oregon surfer whose writing has appeared in
many action sports magazines and other publications. He's headed south (way south!) for a while, but you can check out www.lasolasdesanjuan.com for updates on his travels through Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador and Nicaragua. The final destination is San Juan Del Sur in Southern Nicaragua.