Johnny Rice

New for 2005 is Surftechs first board designed just for women surfers, the 8'8" Elite Wahine. In the Elite Wahine I've crafted a stick uniquely shaped for a women's body. Narrower,and with floatation further back than those boards designed for men, the Elite Wahine has a kicked up tail with a botton-V for quick turns. This board takes giant drops,and makes the fastest turns, angling female chargers down the line better than those generically designed mens boards.
Get the competitive edge you need for the crowded, testosterone laden line-ups. Buy the Elite Wahine a board you can get your arm around, and show the dudes the power of estrogen.

Bio-

Johnny Rice describes himself as "a true shaper" who likes to hand-craft a board from start to finish. So when he first considered getting involved with SurfTech, he was dubious. But while surfing at Cowell's recently he saw the grin on Nancy Chin as she slid past while riding one of Rice's 9' 8" Tufflite Elite SurfTechs. "I saw her face, and I'm a believer," Rice cracked.
Johnny Rice has been around, and around again. A Plains Indian by blood, he was born in Santa Cruz in 1938. He began surfing at Cowells in 1949, on balsa boards. "I was borrowing boards at the time, so I decided to shape one of my own. I got a hold of an old balsa wood Navy raft, took it apart and then glued up the four-foot balsa and shaped my first board. I did that in our garage here in Santa Cruz but it turned out awful and I later got rid of it."
Rice is 50 per cent Plains Indian and something of a wanderer. By 1954 he was down in Venice, CA, sweeping the floors of Dale Velzy's surf shop. "One day Velzy asked me if I wanted to learn to shape. That was how I really got started. He was a great influence on me."
Over the years, Johnny Rice worked for Velzy, Jacobs, Jim Kidd, Con, Rick., South Bay, Oceanside, Dick Catri and in the 70s he opened a surf shop in Guaruja in Sao Paulo State, Brazil. "I was one of the first to build boards in Brazil. Brasilians are very fun loving people and very enthusiastic about surfing. I made a lot of kids champions."
Rice has shaped "legions" of boards, including a lot of models with fancy names: Malibu Competition, the Black Widow, the Scorpion, V 360, Instrument and Renegade. For SurfTech Rice has designed a 9' 8" pintail that is more of a cruiser, and a 9' 1" that is more high performance. "The design of my boards are made a little thinner than most with a V in the tail" Rice said. "This is for faster turns. Recently Lance Hookano came over from Hawaii and we talked about the 9' 8" and he told me how stoked he was with it. That made me feel good, because I had worked with his dad on the beach in Waikiki, all those years ago."
  • 9'8" Elite Pintail 9'8" Elite Pintail
    N : 18 1/4
    M : 23 1/4
    T : 14 1/4
    Th : 2 7/8
    Fins
    Centre : N/A
    Side : FCS GX
    Board Review

    Designed for 2-10' waves. The Elite Pintail incorporates the classic performance design. Good noserider that turns on a dime along with a relaxed rocker making this board an excellent wave catcher. More info