Shaping Change
‘Build Your Own Board to Shape a Better World’
Written by Anne de Zeeuw | Photos by Pommeline van Vliet (Saltyrootz)
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owadays surfboards are made of PU and EPS foam. This core, after shaped and tuned to a wave riding tool, is layered with fibers and resin to strengthen and make it resistant against the ongoing beating of the waves whilst surfing. It is the knowledge and craft of the shaper and glasser, which brings those two parts to life. It is a logical and natural process of building, which can also be applied to a person: where something is born out of nothing. The core of a person is his DNA, and experiences form the outer layers that come together to make a unique composition. So a good shaper of surfboards works close to nature to form good compositions, using his experience and knowledge to build something out of nothing. Dutch shaper Julian van Vliet, is one of those unique shapers that has built his knowledge this way, becoming the person he is today. What did it take for this Dutchie to convert passion into work, and experience into actions?
Julian started surfing in Holland when he was ten years old, and was instantly hooked. Before studying, he took off to shape his worldly knowledge some more by traveling the globe, taking in a variety of perspectives on sustainability and nature. When he came back to Holland, he studied water management, a perfect fit alongside his hobby of repairing boards. He ended up in the Dutch surf town, Scheveningen, which is probably impossible for most readers to pronounce. Also hard to believe, Holland has actual waves (we do!) let alone a surftown. This was the perfect place to start his ‘Ding Doctor’ at the F.A.S.T. ‘surf village’. In this surfer based community, he was free to explore his abilities on repairing and experimenting with shaping surfboards.
Julian van Vliet (Ding Doctor Scheveningen)
Johan de Niet
The Ding Doctor’s knowledge on the area of shaping surfboards had grown over the years, but he realized that it would take years to become a master shaper, especially in a country like Holland, where there is a lack of quality and quantity of waves and surfers. With the growing popularity of D.I.Y. and low quality surfboards in the world, he thought
of a plan that would enable him to gain experience and at the same time share his passion for surfboards with the crowd: a ‘shape your own surfboard’ clinic. This was a very innovative concept that gave the Dutch surf community a boost to form its own identity. Another part of that identity is a new shape he’s evolving specifically for the North Sea: the carver. From all this, the idea originated of Julian’s very own surfboard line, JY Surfboards that will be partially shaped with a self-build shaping machine. The best aspect about his endeavors is that he tries to work with as sustainable materials as possible by applying his current field of study, industrial ecology, to his work by translating natural processes into technological developments. He experiments shaping with innovative foam derived from nature and uses a ‘green epoxy’ to finish the boards with. Julian’s ideas about durability, shaping and the surfing lifestyle form its own ideology. His personality seems to be little affected by influences from outside. He takes in experiences and only extracts the valuable lessons he learns from them, staying close to his beliefs and core. This all translates strongly into his beliefs that he can make a change for the better in the world by making quality products that stand the test of time, but have little effect on the environment. With materials that are derived from nature and recyclable, he chooses quality over quantity.
Going back to the roots of surf culture and putting a whole lot of heart into it is what this Dutchie is all about. Julian’s Ding Doctor is where passion and work collide and they become a synergy that gives out energy, which is already a sustainable result in itself. When all the dots are connected, from his future plans to his current developments, he will for sure leave a good legacy for a next generation to build on. F
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