Eric Kurzbard is back on the Nosara Podcast and we go over tons of stuff in this jam packed episode. We cover his journey from east coast to California to Hawaii to Nosara & all kinds of things & events in between. Rich complains about shortboarding in weak surf, longboarders who don’t move around on the board. Eric explains his past, present & goals for the future.
Enjoy this hour with EK 3.0!
Julian Hoeing is successful by most anyone’s definition. He’s got a beautiful family and his professional resume includes designing for Lamborghini and Audi as well as Apple. However, Julian essentially walked away all of this to design surfboards and surf.
For those who may be unaware… It is extremely difficult to make money in surfboards. The margins are small, and there is a huge amount of competition. Regardless, this Austrian born designer and engineer who grew up skiing and snowboarding decided it was time for a change towards all things surf.
This podcast is one of my favorites in a while. I literally met Julian when we sat down for this episode and ended up making a new friend. He’s super funny (certainly by engineer standards anyway) and we covered all kinds of things.
We discuss surfboard design and go through a couple of his newer models, the time Kelly Slater reviewed his boards and shared some of his own, favorite waves and boards, some Nosara stuff, wave pools, and I ramble about how most everyone is riding the wrong equipment and tease Julian about yoga. But the main takeaway in this episode for me is how Julian left the definition of what most people call ‘success’ behind to live his life more based around what he really wants to do, which is all things surf.
PS – Many thanks to Denisse Lashley for introducing me to Julian and setting this up!
Most everyone around Guiones has already noticed the influx of a new brand of surfboard many of the locals are starting to ride… Storm Surfboards shaped by ‘Wild Bill’ who is originally from Florida. Bill is not someone you automatically assume to be a talented shaper when you first talk to him. He is actually pretty shy at the very first part of your relationship, but once you get to know him and he finds out your passionate about surfboards then he completely opens up. Bill is not your ordinary shaper by any means. He does not care about aesthetics or looking ‘cool’ per se or following the latest cutting edge board off some major manufacturer. Bill 100% understands functionality and fun are the main focus and builds boards for people accordingly.
Bill moved to Costa Rica full time a couple years ago but stayed very quiet about his shaping prowess until he learned the town, it’s people and the waves. Over the past 6 months or so he’s been dropping boards in the hands of local Tico’s in Guiones then on over to some of us gringos. The proof is in the waves as some locals like Chico Lopez have seen significant improvement since becoming a Storm board rider. 
Several other folks are joining as well:
At this point I thought Bill was a nice guy and all but by no means did I expect to truly love the board and ride it the majority of the time. As I type this towards the end of October 2018 I’ve only been riding my Storm for the past 60 days or so. Bill shaped me a fish with a quad fin set up I 100% did not expect to work… But it did.
If you’re interested in getting a custom shaped board from Bill I strongly recommend it. He is truly doing it for the love of it and enjoys the happiness his shapes bring far more than any monetary value. That being said… Always support your local shapers!!!
You can check out a couple waves from Chico Lopez, Nelson Acosta, and myself riding a Storm from a rare sunny day early October 2018:
Marco Pacheco is a Costa Rican surfer and shaper based out of Tamarindo. He’s made a couple different boards for me and I know he shapes for some of the other guys around here in Nosara like Seekret Spot Gelato Steffano, Secret Spot Fishing & Surf tours Vibert & Prove Nothing Zacc. The first board he made me is the green SUP in the lead in photo which I’ve ridden lots of different places in Costa Rica. I wanted something I could paddle to the outer reefs in our area with but still turn and noseride some. Marco didn’t want to put in a ‘sissy handle’ as he calls it and, to my initial surprise, wanted to utilize a quad setup. I quickly learned Marco has a very interesting take on fins, boards, and life in general.
The great thing about having a local shaper who knows the specific wave(s) you surf is they can build it specifically for you and what you need. Furthermore, if you’re like me and you fluctuate in weight a bunch it makes things very different for board performance. I’m pretty heavy at the moment so I asked Marco to make me my ‘Fat guy Guiones’ board and the only thing I asked was that it fit the wave style at Guiones… That’s just what Marco did for me on this one. This one ended up being a 10’9 with Marco’s hatchet fin system.
Here’s a couple of Rich giving Big Red a go at Playa Guiones:
I’ve actually taken this one into some barrels too and ridden a bit. I don’t have pictures of many but I remember riding in this one for a little while. I was very surprised how it handled in the tube. It can handle speed and hold a rail pretty good.
One of my favorite things about Marco is he’s always trying to help people out when he can. The lastest example of this is his project “Building Cundino’s Wall” which you can contribute to at Go Fund Me. Cundino is one of the original Costa Rican surfers who lives right at the point at Boca Barranca. If you’ve been there you probably have already met him. He is a classic guy and his location is worthy of being honored especially after all it has given to Costa Rica and those of us who surf here. Costa Rican surfing was born right in front of his house and Marco is trying to help keep this spot alive for Cundino and future generations.
Although our backgrounds and life experiences are extremely different, both Marco and I share a love for surfing and experimentation in riding waves. For this I am extremely grateful. Hopefully you get a chance to connect with him at some point and enjoy his wealth of knowledge not only in surfboards but participating in the ocean and giving back to others.