Arakawa Surfboards
Shaper: Eric Arakawa
Location: Waialua, Oahu, HI
About: A third-generation Japanese-American, Eric was born in 1960 in Honolulu, Hawaii. At 10 years of age, he was taught to surf by his father at “Walls” in Waikiki on a 7’0 round-tailed Barry Kanaiaupuni mini-gun. By 1974, at the age of 14, he’d shaped his first board: a 5’8 round pin, out of his family’s Pearl City home.
Shaping boards remained a hobby until 1977 when Eric began shaping professionally for the up and coming Hawaiian Island Creations (HIC). After graduating from Pearl City High School and spending two years studying business at Leeward Community College, Eric decided to find a place for himself in the surfing industry and formed Island Classics Surfboards in 1982.
Shortly thereafter, he invented the Nose Guard and helped to establish SurfCo Hawaii, Inc., which evolved into wholesale marketing company with worldwide distribution of surfboards and surf accessories. Two years after taking Island Classics back to being an independently owned company, in 1995 Eric joined forces with HIC, now significantly established globally in the surf industry. He would shape exclusively for HIC, who in return purchased Island Classics and its licensees, thus freeing Eric to concentrate not only on design and shaping technologies, but also to spend more quality time with his young family.
Today Eric resides on the North Shore of Oahu with his wife and three children. He is still as passionate as ever about creating the perfect board for not only the top pros, but for anyone looking to improve the quality of their equipment for whatever the conditions or their abilities may be.
With over 30 years of experience and having shaped surfboards for over ten World Champions, Eric Arakawa is considered by many to be one of the finest shapers in the world. Used regularly by both local and touring pros, his boards have been ridden to countless victories in the Triple Crowns as well as WCT and WQS events worldwide. In demand throughout the globe, Eric has traveled to Australia, the U.S. Mainland, Brazil, Europe, Japan, Israel, Puerto Rico and the South Pacific to shape and design boards.
