Hello everyone and welcome back to our weekly installment of “What they Ride”. Today we have a long time personal friend of mine and also the shop’s, the ever enigmatic Vince Gunter.
With roots deep in Alabama, moto-cross and also St Augustine, Vince is quite the mix of good old fashioned redneck, business man(he manages a heavy equipment company in north FL) hipster surfer and musician. You never know what you are going to get from him and that is what I admire the most of this guy, he doesn’t care what anyone thinks(clearly)! Vince started back in 2008/9 as my intern at the shop. He was attending Flagler at the time, we had an internship program(indentured servitude) and he was one of the first ones assigned to me. I had never met him before but always saw this guy around town with a big red afro wearing bright clothing and immediately wrote him off as a two-four year Flagler kid that would move on soon. Little did I know that the goofy ginger kid would eventually become my intern, co-worker, roommate and one of the best people I had ever met. While Vince and I have changed over the years, his choice in brightly colored unconventional surfboards has not, as featured below..
surfer- Vince Gunter, 33 years old
height- 5’9.5”
weight- 168 lbs
Board- Neckbeard from CI Surfboards shaped by Mike Walter
5’5″x 19 1/4″x 2 5/16″, 26.9L, Futures five fin running Captain fin co medium Christenson quads
Vince likes to stand out in a crowd.
Trendy deck pad covers the dims but they are there.
“It wouldn’t be me without a dumb hat on”
Vince wrote his own write up on the board so here are his words, enjoy!
“The Neckbeard is a staple in my quiver and my second favorite CI board of all time. This greenie (baby Yoda) is Neckbeard number 4 for me. I always throw it in my bag when I travel and is my number one for most days in St. Augustine. Its about 5 inches shorter than my normal shortboard and quite a bit wider. Even though its been marketed as a small wave machine, I have found it to be quite versatile. I’ve ridden this in heavy beachies in Portugal (thruster) and here when its under chest high (quad set up). The full nose and flat rocker help a ton when its gutless and mushy but its not too squirrelly to surf in the pocket when the conditions improve.
In all my years as a Surf Station employee/retiree, I’ve tried countless “best small wave boards” and I’ve consistently found these little guys to be the best. Pick one up for yourself and see how much fun they are!”
CHECK OUT OUR CURRENT INVENTORY OF NECKBEARDS HERE!
this… this was my intern. (thank God for Facebook creepin)
