Eric Arakawa A
third-generation Japanese-American, Eric was born in 1960 to Albert and
Jacalyn Arakawa in Honolulu, Hawaii. At 10 years of age, he was taught
to surf by his father at “Walls” in Waikiki on a 7’0 round-tailed Barry
Kanaiaupuni mini-gun. By 1974, at the age of 14, he’d shaped his first
board: a 5’8 round pin, out of his family’s Pearl City home.
Shaping boards remained a hobby until 1977 when he began shaping professionally for the up and coming Hawaiian Island Creations (HIC). After graduating from Pearl City High School and spending two years studying business at Leeward Community College, Eric decided to find a place for himself in the surfing industry and formed Island Classics Surfboards in 1982. Shortly thereafter, he invented the Nose Guard and helped to establish SurfCo Hawaii, Inc., which evolved into wholesale marketing company with worldwide distribution of surfboards and surf accessories.
Two
years after taking Island Classics back to being an independently owned
company, in 1995 Eric joined forces with HIC, now significantly
established globally in the surf industry. He would shape exclusively for
HIC, who in return purchased Island Classics and its licensees, thus
freeing Eric to concentrate not only on design and shaping techniques,
but also to spend more quality time with his young family.
With over 30 years of experience and having shaped surfboards for over ten World Champions, Eric Arakawa is considered by many to be one of the finest shapers in the world. Used regularly by both local and touring pros, his boards have been ridden to countless victories in the Triple Crowns as well as WCT and WQS events worldwide. In demand throughout the globe, Eric has traveled to Australia, the U.S. Mainland, Brazil, Europe, Japan, Israel, Puerto Rico and the South Pacific to shape and design boards.
Steve Morgan started shaping surfboards before he could legally drive a car. After four years of practice, he opened his own surf shop in California at the age of 18. After some years went by, he left the shop to work with famed surfboard shaper Dick Brewer. The partnership lasted eight years, during which Morgan made his way to live in Kapa'i, Kaua'i. After witnessing Kaua'i go through the growing pains of commercial land developement, Morgan quickly made up his mind to call Moloka'i home. During his time on Moloka'i, Morgan had tried to shape boards from home, but found it economically unfeasible. "No bank ever thanks a surfboard shaper for his deposits" jokes Morgan.
After moving to O'ahu and the shaping facility at Hawaiian Island Creations, Morgan struck up a working relationship with the companies other shapers. Now, Morgan is officially HIC's third shaper.