Best of the Beach 2018 Sports
Ian Blackmore’s iᐧbe surfboards have built growing loyalty among South Bay chargers. Photo courtesy Ian Blackmore. Photo by Rob Lee Mosquera Underground shaper Ian Blackmore Jamie Meistrell of Dive N’ Surf has been friends with Ian Blackmore since they were kids. Both of them loved surfing, and they often hit the waves together. But Blackmore, Meistrell recalled, was always interested in board design. He has since taken that interest and shaped it into iᐧbe surfboards, a burgeoning underground label serving South Bay surfers. Two things set Blackmore apart as a shaper, Meistrell said. First, he still tears it up in the water. And second, he has never been afraid to ask for help from veterans in the industry. This eagerness to learn has served Blackmore, a Redondo native, well. He takes his craft seriously, but remains humble. Told that he won, he was quick to credit other local shapers, including Pat Ryan, Don Kadowaki and Ry Harris. Blackmore recently took his education further afield, venturing to Hawaii to learn under the famed Matt Kinoshita at Kazuma Surfboards in Hawaii. That experience, Meistrell said, has taken his shaping “to a whole other level.” “Ian knows exactly what…
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