Wayne Rich’s undeniable devotion to the craft of making surfboards has been molded through years of mentorship by some of the industry's greats. Now a master craftsman in his own right, Wayne is renown for pouring his extensive knowledge into designing and building incredible surfboards that pay homage to the past and his predecessors while simultaneously incorporating his own progressive nuances.
Wayne was born and raised in Hermosa Beach during the ‘Golden Era’ of South Bay surfboard building. Labels such as Bing, Rick, Jacobs, Greg Noll, Dewey Weber, Petrillo, Vardeman, Mobley, Dave Boyce, Becker, Pollard Glassing, Bay Cities Glassing, were all just a few blocks up the road from where Wayne lived. Wayne was introduced to surfing via Dan Bendiksen (Head shaper at Bing Surfboards) in 1967 and then he became his first mentor in the shaping room as well.
Wayne got his start working in the factories and then landed a job as the lead shaper at Jacobs Surfboards in the early 80's where he stayed for 14 years and worked alongside his partners Ray Lucke and Clyde Beatty. Wayne also managed to shape boards for Dewey Weber as well as working on his own label the WR Underground.
Wayne moved up to the Santa Barbara area in the 90’s and eventually started shaping in the room next door to Renny Yater in the original Santa Barbara Surf Shop. Wayne fell under the mentorship and tutelage of both Yater and John Bradbury where he really grew into the incredible shaper that he has become today.
