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‘He’s The Best There Ever Was’: How Dick Brewer Changed Surfing Forever

Originally posted on SURFER | By August Howell | Last updated Sep 3, 2025 1:54 PM ET

How does one describe Dick Brewer? The eccentric, methodical and innovative surfboard shaper based on Kauai was the preeminent surfboard shaper in his day. At one point, wrote the venerable Matt Warshaw, “Virtually every notable surfer of the 1960s and ’70s rode Brewer’s boards at one time or another. Paid for his boards, in fact, when other marquee shapers were groveling for the chance to hand out free sticks to the surfing elite.”

Yet even three years after his death and decades after the peak of his career, his work remains recognizable and influential. After film festival screenings last year, The Shape of Things – The Dick Brewer Story, a documentary examining Brewer's legacy and personal life,is now available for purchase on Amazon Prime.

The film is directed by three-time Emmy award-winning cinematographer Bob Campi and includes interviews with some of the biggest names in surfing and shaping, including Al Merrick, Gerry Lopez, Laird Hamilton, Garrett McNamara, Mark Richards, Kai Lenny, and Jock Sutherland. We must also tip the cap to screenwriter Jim Kempton, the executive director for the California Surf Museum and a former editor and publisher of SURFER Magazine.

Brewer’s vision and hands pushed surfboards into shorter, lighter and faster realms. His crafts are perhaps best known for their success in big, powerful waves on the North Shore of Oahu. His timeline is remarkable. Consider: He built Buzzy Trent a gun for Waimea Bay in 1962 and made Laird Hamilton's tow board for Jaws in the 1990s. Talk about longevity. Even Al Merrick, the man who mentored Tom Curren and Kelly Slater and built Channel Islands Surfboards from the ground up said of Brewer, "I just think he's the best there ever was."

But Brewer’s path was anything but linear. Watch The Shape of Things hereto see all the twists and turns.

This article first appeared on SURFER and was syndicated with permission.

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