Oh man, where do I start with this one… I finally had an opportunity to sit down with one of my oldest friends here in town, the candy kid himself.. Chris Ropero. When I moved to St Augustine in the early 2000s Chris was a skinny little ripper who would come in the shop on his way to Zander Morton’s house and buy about $3 worth of candy everyday, hence the nickname. His obsession for candy was very ironic considering today he is a fitness professional and one the best surfers on the east coast yet somehow still has all his teeth… 😉
Chris and I have lived together, traveled together and been friends for nearly twenty years already and one thing has remained consistent.. his man crush on one of the greatest board shapers ever, Timmy Patterson. Even when he would get free boards from other shapers Chris would still order some Pattersons to keep them in the quiver so when the opportunity arose for Chris to become the east coast brand ambassador in 2019, he jumped all over it.
Thanks to Chris we now proudly offer TPatterson surfboards at the Surf Station. Today’s feature is one model he has been perfecting with Timmy for the last few years called the New Sun. Enjoy and stay tuned for a full quiver overview with Chris coming in the near future!
Tourists love him too. Photo: P. Willard
surfer- Chris Ropero, 33 years old
height- 5’10″
weight- 165- 170lbs
TPatterson New Sun, 5’6″x19 1/2″x 2 5/16″ 26.5L with FCS2 tri fin set up using AM2 large
Chris has twin girls who love to draw all over his new boards and drew him these twin hearts, awww.
Words from Chris on the New Sun:
“My favorite all around shortboard. I can’t get away from it and dont want to! I have traveled with it and surfed it in small waves, good waves, soft waves etc. It is everything I want in a small wave performance board. It’s my go to and what you see me riding day to day around town. The full nose catches waves easily and the pulled tail allows it to hold in a wide range of waves. This design gets me excited to go surf and I feel like it brings the best out of my surfing.”
photo: P. Willard
This model is a tuned up version of the older Rising Sun model allowing it to be ridden more aggressively in a wide variety of conditions. Think more rocker, lower volume rails and a tighter tail than its predecessor which allows for more progressive surfing in average sized beach breaks. It still maintains its forward volume with a wider nose allowing it to be ridden shorter and maintain down the line speed off the take off.
Works backside too! photo: P. Willard
Check out Chris’ fitness class on tenth street Monday thru Friday at 7am! All welcome(and yes I need to go..)!
CHECK OUT OUR ENTIRE RANGE OF TPATTERSON SURFBOARDS HERE
