OUR STORY

Chris’ words:  In the summer of ’76 my dad got stationed in Hawaii through his service in the US Navy.  As a ten year old, I was living in the Navy Housing close to Ewa Beach on the south west side of Oahu.  That was all it took to get hooked.  Surfing and sailing were daily activities and I soon found I liked the ocean lifestyle.

A piece of scrap foam from Rick Irons’ shaping room on the north shore made it home with me.  I shaped a miniature of what I was riding at the time.  6’2” swallowtail single fin.  Later in high school, I made it back to the mainland, where I was influenced by the best board shapers on the planet.  In 1986  I found myself learning from the likes of Skipper Fats (aka Sam Harwood), Skip Frye, John Holly, Joe Roper, and Hank Warner, just to name a few…

By 1988 I had a few boards shaped and I had the ability to glass a board from start to finish thanks to 3 years of repair work for Joe.  By 1990 I had shaped 100 boards.  In 1992 I bought a business license and started Ukulele Surfboards in San Diego.  Since then, I have shaped some 40,000 boards mostly under the Ukulele and Chris Ruddy label, but i also had the opportunity to shape for Dewey Weber, Dive n Surf, Bear, Surf Ride, and Toes on The Nose to name just a few of the legendary and iconic labels I’ve worked with.

Today we enter our 36th year as a true family business shaping under the Chris Ruddy Surfboards label as well as shaping hundreds of surfboards for Mono Wakesurfing each year.  After starting our own factory in Pt. Loma in1993 we’ve expanded and built several other factories. Our latest state of the art factory built in 2020 in Washington City, (southern) Utah. Only a few hours from the coast, Chris and his team are able to serve the Ocean surfers as well as surfers who surf wakes and wave pools. We use California’s best surfboard blanks and materials. Chris has found the best possible climate to manufacture boards year round. The mild winter climate and dry arid weather are considered the ideal in surfboard manufacturing. We continue to service dealers and customers in coastal California, Hawaii, Gulf Coast Texas, Florida, and the entire Eastern US. Here at our new facility, you can see the second generation family members shaping and glassing along with some of the best craftsmen and craftswomen in the industry.  I personally look forward to shaping a custom board for you.  I think everybody can access the one of a kind experience of a custom made board.  They are affordable and we build them in just a few weeks after the orders are placed.  Thank you for coming to our website!

Chris Ruddy

Chris at Sunset Cliffs