Chris Ruddy Surfboards

Shaper: Chris Ruddy

Location: San Diego, CA

About: In the summer of ’76 my dad got stationed in Hawaii through his service in the US Navy.  As a ten year old, I was living in the Navy Housing close to Ewa Beach on the south west side of Oahu.  That was all it took to get hooked.  Surfing and sailing were daily activities and I soon found i kinda liked this sport. A piece of scrap foam from Rick Irons’ shaping room on the north shore made it home with me.  I Shaped a miniature of what I was riding at the time.  6’2” swallowtail single fin.  Later in High School, I made it back to the mainland, where I was influenced by the best board shapers on the planet.  In 1986  I found myself learning from the likes of Skip Frye, John Holly, Joe Roper, and Hank Warner, just to name a few…

By 1988 I had a few boards shaped and I had the ability to glass a board from start to finish thanks to 3 years of repair work for Joe.  By 1990 I had shaped 100 boards.  In 1992 I bought a business license and started Ukulele Surfboards right here in San Diego.  Since then, I have shaped some 30,000 boards mostly under the Ukulele label, but i also had the opportunity to shape for Dewey Weber, Dive n Surf, Bear, Surf Ride, and Toes on The Nose to name just a few.

Today we enter our 30th year as a true family business shaping under the Chris Ruddy Surfboards label.  We have our own factory in Pt. Loma where we started out.  Here at our new facility, you can see the second generation family members polishing along with some of the best craftsmen and craftswomen in the industry working on our boards.  I personally look forward to shaping a custom board for you.  I think everybody can access the one of a kind experience of a custom made board.  They are affordable and we build them in just a few weeks after the orders are placed.