4 6 • Outlook 2022-23
WRV: Shaping surfboards to ride the waves by Danielle Puleo The Outer Banks has become a highly sought-after destination for surfers, providing perhaps the best surfing waves on the east coast. The sport has gained extreme interest from athletes around the world, now having reached an Olympic level. So, what is the most important factor while riding the waves? What takes a surfer to the next level? Most would agree it’s the vehicle by which a surfer transports themselves across the water. Situated in Kitty Hawk is a surf shop that has gained national, even international, recognition: Wave Riding Vehicles (WRV). Founded in 1967, WRV began as a surfboard manufacturing company out of Virginia Beach. Current WRV Kitty Hawk general manager Chris Williams said that the initial goal was to get high quality surfboards into the hands of east coast surfers. “It all started in the Virginia Beach area, which is where the company was born,” Williams said. “Naturally, the Outer Banks is a regular pilgrimage for the traveling surfer that wants to surf the best waves and the best conditions. People were driving down to OBX since day one looking for the best waves.” After the company got its feet off the ground, it opened the doors of a second location in The Dune Shops complex in the early 1980s. Once surfing gained more popularity and the culture grew, there was need for more space, so WRV moved to its current location on N. Croatan Highway in Kitty Hawk. WRV was originally founded by the Morris and Snyder families. The company changed hands when it was bought out by Les Shaw and Bill Frierson. The partnership lasted a few years, Shaw focusing on the business side of the
Danielle Puleo photo
Left: Ayden Painter sifts through a rack of finished surfboards waiting for new owners at the storefront in Kitty Hawk Right: Leigh Ann Britton, WRV factory director, and Chris Williams, general manager of WRV Kitty Hawk. company and Frierson interested in shaping the boards. Shaw bought Frierson out in the early 1990s; Frierson still shapes under his own label, and the Shaw family owns the company to this day. L.G. Shaw, son of Les, is the president of WRV. The label has come a long way since the ’60s, from a small board-making shop to becoming one of the largest surfboard manufacturers on the east coast. The brand has opened locations in both Hawaii and Puerto Rico,
with a dealer list that spans from Maine all the way down to Florida. The Coastland Times spent time at both the Kitty Hawk storefront and the board-making factory just over the bridge in Currituck and spoke with Williams and WRV factory director Leigh Ann Britton to learn more about the surfboard-making process. The surfboard starts out as a “blank,” a large surfboard-shaped canvas made out of high density polyurethane foam. A shaper will design the board; he will draw on the deck (the top portion) of the surfboard to
