Merrick, Al (1944 – )
Low-key surfboard shaper from Santa Barbara, California; founder and owner of Channel Islands Surfboards, and the boardmaking industry's dominant figure since the 1980's. Merrick was born (1944) in New Jersey, moved with his family to north San Diego County at age seven, and began surfing at 14. He moved to Santa Barbara in 1965, and was in the water at Rincon in late 1967 when Australian Bob McTavish introduced his newly designed short surfboard to California. The performance possibilities o...