Mark Rabbidge // Hand Made - video
In this paean to individuality, Mark Rabbidge riffs on the links between, creativity, style, and custom artwork - both cars and surfboards. The stunning coastline that Rabbidge calls home provides the backdrop.
For those unaware of Rabbidge, he's been making boards for half a century, first at Brookvale on Sydney's Northern Beaches but for the last twenty five years he's been on the NSW South Coast. He's married to 1990 World Champ Pam Burridge, shaped boards for many 70s and 80s pros, including Tom Curren, who he shaped a 6'6" that Curren famously rode on his first trip to J'Bay. Like George Greenough, he likes to pull shit apart and found out how it works, then put it back together in bespoke ways. A technique he applies to everything from internal combustion engines to finless surfboads.
Check his Instagram account for more of his work.
Comments
Great film the man is living the dream
Brilliant!
Good to see Mark being mentioned in the same context as George Greenough. George may have left a larger mark on surf culture but they both share a similar unyielding philosophy to hand made craftsmanship.
Very enjoyable. Should be more vids like these.
Well filmed and edited too. I was almost expecting a Patagonia logo to pop up at the end.
Bloody Awesome Rabs, hope you don't mind, me calling you that. Great to see your ingenuity and stoke is full on still. love that surf jalopy. JUst bought a one off custom mal 9:1, sure I didn't make it, but its a one off and you have just given me another torch to watch burn now while I am in my early twilight years of surfing. great mate keep it real . cheers
Old blokes rule, Marks philosophy is spot on. Being authentic is a challenge as it goes against the grain of general society but when achieved its such a comfortable position to be in. Keep innovating Mark and I would like you to shape me a board one day...?
Mark's Insta account is a feast of ideas sculpted in foam and fibreglass. Check it out. Incidentally, Cory Russell also made mention of one of Mark's innovations in a recent Boarding School article. Mark's rail channels (see pic below) work on a similar principle to Greenough's edge board - there's that association again.
In Cory's words: "If applied correctly the rail channel theory has plenty of merit. The channel reduces the rail’s buoyancy and also provides a more direct path for the water to follow when the board is on rail."
Full article here.
"I used to go down the tip with a spanner. I'd come home riding a bike. "
Call me old, or outdated but don't tell me the simple life Mark leads and the whole package with home location, cars tinkered with and overall lifestyle, isn't what we all dream of.
From grey old farts like me to avocado smash eating hipsters.
Give me that before the dream chasing, slave to the dollar, face buried in an app life any day.
Go you!! Mark.
Great stuff ... living the dream and showing how. That film was taken in a bloody great spot on the Aussie coast - its a gem.
Very well made, fantastic
Legend.
Is Mark's 6'6 the board Curren rides on his first Jbay wave?
Keep seeing on the net he also rode a 6'11 quad at Jbay.
Perfect combination of top rider,wave and shaper
Just picked up a rather nice 7'0" flat deck HB board Mark shaped back in the late 80's. Gonna go good the next decent swell!
Is the video still available? I can't see it on this thread.
Beaut, thanks udo. I did a duck duck go search but didn't know which vid it was. Cheers.
I had a number of boards made by Mark and they were brilliant from short
high performance boards to big wave guns rode them all around the world.
He made one board for me wasnt quite right we went over it Mark explained
to me why it didnt go as planned in deep detail made a another one with the
slight changes and wow did it work. Absolutely fascinating talking with him
a scientist in surfboard performance great guy. True LEGEND
Handmade - That's a wonderful little movie and Mark to a tee!
I had Mark make me two boards, 7'10' Egg & 6'10" FatBoy Fish. They were brilliant, bespoke brilliance. Of course, I offloaded them and regretted it the minute they went on that other fella's roof racks. He's a genius, and a heck of a nice bloke to boot.
The best surfboard shaper in Australia