Chris Hemsworth has a new surfboard, and it looks less like something you’d find in a rack at the local surf shop and more like something Thor might have stolen from a spacecraft.
The Australian actor recently unveiled a jet-black SJS Custom Rock n Roller, shaped by New Zealand-born, Gold Coast-based craftsman Scotty James. The futuristic-looking board is built in carbon fiber using Lucid Glassing’s vacuum-bag construction — a process designed to produce lightweight, responsive, high-performance surfcraft.
Take a peak at the reveal, linked here, and below.
The Rock n Roller is James’ high-performance twin-fin design, intended to be ridden roughly the same length as a conventional shortboard. Its narrow nose reduces swing weight, while a wide point behind center, triple-wing tail, double-concave deck and unusual spiral-vee/double-concave bottom are designed for speed, responsiveness and control. James describes it as a departure from traditional surfboard design — essentially “from the future.”
Hemsworth’s reaction was appropriately enthusiastic.
According to James, when he first pulled a carbon Rock n Roller from his van, Hemsworth immediately said: “Dude, this thing’s sick. I need one of these.” The actor also admitted he has “a terrible addiction to buying surfboards online.”
Related: Chris Hemsworth Surfs Better Than You (Exclusive Interview)
Relatable.
James himself has taken an unusual road to shaping. The 47-year-old Dunedin native shaped his first board at 14, later spent roughly two decades laying carpet and vinyl, then rebuilt his shaping career on Australia’s Gold Coast. Today, SJS Custom produces only a handful of boards per week, specializing in complicated hand-shaped designs, beveled rails, spiral concaves and premium glasswork.
Kelly Slater recently ordered boards from him, too.
And Hemsworth isn’t simply celebrity window dressing for the surfcraft.
He grew up surfing in Australia and still surfs constantly. In recent years he’s scored Restaurants in Fiji, surfed Kelly Slater’s pool in Abu Dhabi, visited Brazil’s Boa Vista wave pool, and traded waves with Slater back home.
Hayden Cox (of HaydenShapes fame) once summed up Hemsworth’s ability rather simply:
“Yeah, he rips.”
Now he has the spaceship to prove it.
Let’s see how that thing goes.
Related: Chris Hemsworth, Mick Fanning Surf Shark-Infested Waters (Video)
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