Don\'t Mess With Texas!! When one thinks of Texas, one would usually imagine Rodeos, square dancing, and a bunch of crazy drunk chicks partying on South Padre Island for spring break. But, although its coastline is very inconsistent, Texas produces some really fun surf that has the potential to breed some very talented surfers. Heck, even Chris Ward has some Texas in his background. As of now, Catalyst San Clemente has three team riders that grew up surfing Texas, who relocated to San Clemente for various reasons. CJ Bradshaw, Jake Herdell, and Matt Risley gave up everything in Texas, except the crazy drunk chicks, to ...Full Story
Brandon Ragenovich Catalyst team rider Brandon Ragenovich lives a good life. He surfs during the day, and serves at a distinguished italian restaurant by the name of Sonnys by night. When one sits down at a table to eat at his family owned restaurant, Brandon treats you like you're the only one there. You would never know that your waiter is one of the best surfers in Orange County. He takes care of you so well that you feel compelled to leave him a good tip. But, if you see Brandon in the water...you should be asking him for tips instead. Or, as most people do, just sit back and take notes. Well I guess you don ...Full Story
Chris Ward in Surfing Magazine! If you have seen this months issue of Surfing Magazine (it's actually labeled February 2011), you would have noticed by now, that along with an absolutely nuts cover shot, Chris Ward is featured in a 12 page article/interview about Losts forthcoming film "Ward Stories". The article features some Ward stories directly from Chris himself that will blow your mind. And it's just a sneak peek of what to expect from the movie "Ward Stories". Although the interview took place here in San Clemente, the pictures in the article document a trip that Chris recently went on with Mason Ho to Barbados, in wh ...Full Story
Gorkin wins 2010 King of the Peak! Well known ...Lost team rider Aaron "Gorkin" Cormican claimed the title of Sebastian Inlets "King of the Peak" recently by doing what he does on a daily basis....slashing and boosting. This win was one small step for Gorkin, but one giant leap for ...Lost, as this was the second year in a row that the contest was won by a ...Lost team rider. (Eddie Guilbeau took the title last year) Gorkin is by far one of the best surfers to ever come out of Florida, and this title was something he has had his eyes on for years. Congratulations Gorkin, on this well deserved title...."King of the Peak"! ...Full Story
A surfers common interest. So there are all kinds of surfers....power surfers, flicky surfers, air surfers, big wave surfers, small wave surfers, old surfers, young surfers, contest surfers, free surfing soul surfers, surfers that work more than they surf, unemployed surfers, surfers that spend more time shopping and eating with their girlfriends than they do surfing, surfers that would rather get wasted with their friends than go surfing, surfers that could give a crap about work, girlfriends or partying and just want to surf their lives away....the list goes on and on. If there's one thing all of these surfers have in ...Full Story
KINGSTON 13 Saturday Oct. 2nd! Kingston 13 band will be playing at the OC Tavern this Saturday, October 2nd. These guys always put on a good roots reggae show, so don't miss it! Not to mention our boy Matt "Tex" Risley (proud owner of way more ...Lost surfboards than all of our employees combined, and more than most team riders) will be playing the keyboard, standing out amongst a group of hardcore Jamaicans. The show will also be featuring "Blaze Mob" and there will be a secret special guest appearance. So get down to the OC Tavern Saturday night and feel the irie vibrations of Kingston 13! ...Full Story
Finally.... Finally, a surf magazine that covers Orange County. OC is home to many, many under rated surfers and happenings...so it is nice to see a magazine that brings this talent pool to light. Ghetto Juice Magazine has published two issues so far, both exposing the known and the unknown surfers and companies of OC. If you haven't seen the mag yet..come get a copy from Catalyst and check it out! The magazine is free to top it off. ...Full Story
JP\'s Birthday Party Pics!! Our new found friend who lives to downhill skate, Juan Pablo, turned 31 last Friday. We decided that this was the perfect excuse to get Raw Helmet to play at the OC Tavern and rage the night away! JP was recently added to the ...Lost roster as a team rider of the ...Lost surf/skate boards, and for a good reason. JP charges down hills on his skateboard, most of the time going above the speed limit designated for cars...check him out. http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/video/video.php?v=1572280357489&ref=mf ...Full Story
AJ!!! Here's a photo of Catalyst San Clemente team rider Adam "AJ" Goldstone pulling in to a barrel at a mysto spot in Southern California that never really breaks like this. AJ doesn't really do contests as far as we know...but we don't care what AJ's doing, as long as he's pulling into shacks like this whenever he gets the chance. This is AJ doing whatever he wants...which is exactly what we all should be doing as surfers...whatever we want. ...Full Story
The Boys.... When someone uses the term "the boys", most people think of a group of guys that hang out together, surf, skate, party together, or perhaps a boy band like New Kids on the Block, or Blink 182. But although these 2 Catalyst team riders do surf, skate, and party together....they certainly do not partake in playing horrible music together. But they do shred at everything else...mostly surfing and partying. Dave "Daveyboy" Lovato and Nick "Nickyboy" Valverde have been friends since middle school and each rip at surfing. Both being born in San Clemente, Ca. and learning to surf at an early age, the ...Full Story
Kingston 13 Party Pics So the party went off. Kingston 13 played some of the best reggae music the crowd could've asked for. Alot of people showed up while a ton of drinks were served and devoured by the thirsty friday night crowd. Reggae band, strong drinks, your bros, and some hot chicks....does a party get any better?? Maybe, but not for the crew that was there on Friday night...we had a blast. Needless to say, Matt Risley and Kingston 13 will be rocking the OC Tavern again sooner than later. ...Full Story
Kingston 13 Friday Night!! Come to the OC Tavern this Friday if you want to get down to some live reggae music performed by our buddy and team rider Matt Risleys band "Kingston 13". They will be playing with "Blaze Mob" (Garth Dennis of Black Uhuru/Wailing Souls Kids) and a special guest appearance. Matt Risley used to play in "Part One Tribe", who had two songs featured in the bonus Indonesia section of the ...Lost movie "5'5 Redux". Matt has been riding ...Lost surfboards since he lived and surfed in Texas years ago. He moved out here to southern California with a beat up old round nose fish quad, but now has a quiver ...Full Story
PARTY!!! So we decided last night that we should throw a Lost/Catalyst rager at the shop....so we're having a rager today that starts at 2pm. There will be plenty of food and drinks for you to fill up on while watching Raw Helmet play to a ...Lost catalog shoot going down in the parking lot. If we don't see you today...you blew it. ...Full Story
Colin Deveze Qualifies!!! Colin Deveze qualifies for what you ask? Well, he took home the win at the Rip Curl Grom Search in Huntington Beach this past weekend for the boys 12 and under division...thus qualifying for the Rip Curl Grom Search National Finals, which will be held during the WCT event in Puerto Rico this October. Colin took down Jake Marshall, Jacob Davis, and Kalani David in the final by scoring an 8.5 and a 4. Colins 8.5 was the highest score of the final, earning him the 1st place trophy. In the article about the event that Rip Curl posted (http://ripcurl.com/index.php?aid=4214) they had this to say abo ...Full Story
Return of Metal Pitts Today started off as a pretty mellow, quiet morning at the shop. Noah Alani and I were checking out some boards when we heard White Snake blasting from a car radio in the parking lot. I knew right then that Catalyst team rider Jimmy "Metal" Pitts was back from the unknown realm of heavy metal he's been residing in for the last year or so. Or as some might say, Jimmy's been on a heavy metal bender. Jimmy came in to check out some boards to replace the Mason Ho trade in that he has been riding for the last 2 years. The only problem is that we do not have any Mason trades here at the shop....and ...Full Story
Catalyst stickers up north.. We recently met a surfer from Santa Ynez, Ca. named Matt Morgan. Matt is 41 years of age and has been surfing competitively for 35 years. We're stoked to have Matt representing for us while surfing waves that most of us have only dreamed of surfing since the book "Surfing California" was published. Matts sponsors are Catalyst, ...Lost, and DVS. ...Full Story
Corey Landvogt Brews... Corey Landvogt is a Catalyst team rider. We all know that. But what most people don't know is that he has been brewing his own beer wit his friend Gyl for the last 6 months or so. Their beer is called "SC Brew Southern Crown"....brewed right here in San Clemente at Coreys house. I recently had the pleasure of drinking a couple of these beers and needless to say, they tasted great and got me buzzed. Corey and his partner have received many compliments on all of their brews so far and they will be brewing more beer for the masses in the future. We will update you on where to get this tasty mind ...Full Story
A Few New Photos.. Here's a few new photos of Chucky Rigano, Casey Landvogt, and new Catalyst team rider Jake Wetzel. Go to our team page to see more of these guys and the rest of our team. ...Full Story
Where\'s Wardos boat???? Well, our parking lot has been used for a few things so far...employee parking, a skate ramp, parties with punk bands playing to a mosh pit full of local surfers, and what now you ask? I guess it's a harbor. That's right, our parking lot is now Chris Wards personal harbor. I guess if that's how far we have to go to keep our sticker on his board then that's what it is. To see the story behind this piece of work check out this link.http://www.surfline.com/surf-news/chris-ward-lives-to-tell-about-his-wild-ride-with-the-coast-guard_41266/ ...Full Story
Colin Deveze..2 finals, 1 weekend. 2 NSSA Explorer events were held this past weekend (March 13th and 14th) at the San Clemente pier. Our youngest team rider Colin Deveze made the finals in the menehune division in not only one, but both events! Colin took 4th place on Saturday and 2nd place on Sunday. Not to mention the 8.0 and the 9.0 that he posted in one of the earlier heats on Sunday. ...Full Story
Catalyst Deerfield So, we opened a new Catalyst in Deerfield Beach, South Florida. The new shop is looking good and the locals are stoked to be able to get ...Lost in their home town. There is a rad surf scene in Deerfield and a crew of talented locals that are more amped to surf rain or shine than you would expect from a place that is much less consistent than our wave spoiled west coast. The new shop has a variety of surf and skate supplies along with a great selection of ...Lost clothing and accessories. If you're ever in South Florida stop by the shop and check it out. The shop is located right up the street ...Full Story
ASR Madness "What did you say? Wednesday and Thursday? Really?" That was pretty much everyones reaction when they found out that the biggest party weekend in the surf industry was moved to the middle of the work week. What was the ...Lost solution to this problem you ask? Buy endless amounts of beer, hire a few pretty girls to pass out energy drinks, and party harder than any other company at the show! As you can see from the pics, ...Lost had the right idea. Who cares if it's not the weekend! Let's rage! ...Full Story
Watch where you\'re going! We have all been there before. While paddling out some guy who doesn't know what he is doing is coming straight at you as you scratch to get out of the way while the guy misses your head by mere inches. Some people just don't know that surfboards can do serious damage. My theory is that if you do not know how to control your board, then surf away from the crowd. No surfer wants to admit to themself that they are dangerous in the water. But the fact is that some people just are a bad accident waiting to happen. Our team supergrom Colin Deveze was recently the victim of another surfers ignorance ...Full Story
...Lost party in Costa Mesa! ...Lost is throwing a party this Friday, February 12th at the Tiki Bar is Costa Mesa. We'll be showing the latest ...lost videos - What Really Went Wrong and 5'5" Redux, as well as some never before seen "raw" clips that we've been gathering over the last year or twelve. There's also going to be live performances by Pistolero (currently nominated for Best Metal Band for the OC Music Awards) and Wulfbane. Free ...Lost giveaways and ...Lost Energy Drink specials all night. If you don't go home with someone at least you'll could go home with some free stuff. Doors open at 8 PM.
The Tiki Bar is ...Full Story
New Catalyst security guard! Well, she may look like a mellow girl who wouldn't notice you pulling a fast one, but Nikki has eyes in the back of her head. Despite countless other instances, two times that Nikki caught someone in the act come to mind. The first was when a customer tried on a few pairs of shoes. When he was finished, the hoodlum tried to walk out of the shop with a new pair of shoes on his feet. When Nikki made it clear that she knew what was up, the hood took off running. Nikki immediately ran after him and tackled the poor guy down the street, and got the shoes back. Probably not the safest thing for her ...Full Story
Massive Storm Surf Hits San Clemente Heavy downpours, crazy winds, closed piers, and even a tornado warning? This can't be San Clemente. Well, atleast something good comes out of all this. WAVES!! Just looking out from the shop you can see waves connecting all the way in from the reef a half mile out. If it cleans up sometime over the next few days we could have some all time surf at the beach breaks in San Clemente. Check this photo of a wave showing us all why the pier is closed at the moment. Photo: Matt Deveze ...Full Story
Raw Helmet! Raw Helmet is a local highschool band who has played at multiple Catalyst parties. They always put on a good punk rock show for the crowd. This article was originally written to promote a show that Raw Helmet was playing on January 23rd at the Beach Hut in San Clemente, but when their school and the police got a glimpse of the shows flyer, the show got canceled and the boys were suspended from school. RAW HELMET! ...Full Story
Our Dysfunctional West Coast Team We have no WCT riders on our team...and we're proud of that because if we did, we wouldn't have any money for beer. Therefore, this is the team that we somehow convinced to rep for us in San Clemente with our budget that consists of shop discounts and, well, shop discounts. ...Full Story
...Lost movie premiere in Newport Beach So the "What Really Went Wrong" movie premiere really went right last night at "Ten Waterfront" in Newport beach. The night started off pretty mellow with a few party animals actually acting civilized while eating sushi and having a couple drinks. By around 8:30pm the place started jumping as the drinks kicked in to gear....as well as did Chicken Willey. Chicken performed his 2009 version of the infamous tune "What is really going on", which was basically the old version that we all know with a few cocktail induced changes. Once all of that madness was over, the movie premiered for the crowd. ...Full Story
Matt Biolos: Surfing Magazines Shaper of the Year By Andrew Lewis - SURFING MAGAZINE
Portraits by Steve Sherman
"Who gives a shit? Does it really matter? Really?"
That's Matt Biolos' take on who should be named 2010 Shaper of the Year. It’s July, somewhere in the backyard of an East Coast cantina, as far from the SoCal hype machine as you can get without a passport. And with a single glance around the scene, it's clear that he's right. Here, at a midsummer “industry party,” the crowd is actually 50 college kids playing corn hole – not what it sounds like, but nearly as fun – plus some shop owners, reps and random players. This is a ...Full Story
...Lost makes the finals in 2 events at Huntington Beach The Jim Beam Tag Team Championships along with the FCS Manufacturers Cup went down this weekend with both ...Lost teams making the finals and placing a respectable 4th place in each event. The ...Lost team for the Jim Beam event was: Brandon Ragenovich, Jason Miller, Mike Mauer, Ryan Simmons, and Chucky "Buzzer Beater" Rigano.
The ...Lost team for the FCS event was: Ryan Simmons, Trevor Traut, Brandon Ragenovich, and Jason Miller. All of the competitors had a blast surfing and cheering on their team mates. I guess the Jim Beam girls prancing around the contest and the after party made for a g ...Full Story
Eddie Guilbeau crowned for 2009 Catalyst team rider Eddie Guilbeau took the title this year as the "King of the Peak" at Sebastian Inlet, Florida. Eddie won the contest with a varial above the lip. ESPN is impressed as you can see in their article about Eddie.....I mean the contest. http://espn.go.com/action/surfing/blog/_/post/4641264
We are proud of Eddie over here in San Clemente. Although Eddie lives in Florida and is a regular at Catalyst in Melbourne Beach, the King still manages to walk out of our shop with something free every time he is in San Clemente. So we're claiming a small percentage of him for ourselves ...Full Story
Join ...Lost Surfboards and Catalyst on Facebook ...Lost Surfboards and Catalyst have decided to show all of you what we are both all about on the social network "facebook". Check us out to see new updates and such things as Nikki getting proposed to by random strangers. There is only one ...Lost Surfboards, but two Catalyst pages. Catalyst San Clemente and Catalyst Melbourne Beach. ...Full Story
Surfer/Sander Joe Wood passes away. Joe Wood, long time sander of ...Lost surfboards passed away this morning (10/21/2009)while surfing Upper Trestles with his nephew and protige, Cody Bahl.
Joe Wood, in all of our opinions, was the best surfboard sander that ever lived. Joe has been sanding ...Lost surfboards since ...Lost was started in 1991 or 1993. Joe has been sanding behind Catalyst since long before we opened. Back when this shop was "San Clemente Surf Company".
Joes stomping grounds were Huntington Beach and San Clemente, CA.
We will all miss Joe dearly. He will be in our hearts and memories here at Catalyst f ...Full Story
NEW FST TECHNOLOGY AT CATALYST So by now just about everyone who surfs has heard of Firewire surfboards. Most of you have probably even tried one out. Maybe you went down to a demo to check one, you borrowed a buddies, or maybe you even bought one. But I bet you haven't ridden one of the NEW ones designed by Matt Biolos of Lost Surfboards. That's right- ...Lost surfboards has partnered up with Firewire and their "FST" technology to create some pretty insane new boards.
If you haven't tried one of these new models yet, you seriously need to get on the ball. Head on down to your local Catalyst store and pick one up ASAP!
.. ...Full Story
...LOST REDUX IN STOCK NOW!!! The new Lost surfboards movie starring Chris Ward, Aaron Cormican, and Mason Ho putting sub 5’ 6” boards to their limits. Also featuring sections from Shane Beschen, Kolohe Andino, Dane Reynolds, Jordy Smith, Ryan Carlson and Ol’ Mr. SL9er himself.
...and for the first time ever seen - Cory Lopez and Ian Walsh at a spot that could instantly change your definition of “the perfect wave”.
Buy it in our ON-LINE Store NOW!!!
...Full Story
Pinky's first window was at Catalyst, his first canvases were on the walls of Catalyst, his first run of tees hung on our racks, and now Pinky's famous (kinda). He's done windows across the U.S. and Hawaii, as well as signings, art shows, and has his own line of ...Lost clothes, both girls and guys. And we must not forget Pinky's real start: Placebo Surfboards. Pinky's the genius (kinda) behind the TV monsters and the "Nothing Is Real" campaign.
...LOST SHAPES IN THE MEDIA Australia's Lee Stacy has been working with ...Lost Surfboards, putting out shapes that our riders seem to like, as the photos show. As always, there's been no shortage of Mayhems appearing in recent mags. Click "more photos" to view. ...Full Story
WWWD? What Would WARDO Do? IS MY BOARD DONE YET? What do you do when yours isn't? Complain? Yell at Nichole or Chucky? If you're like Chris Ward, you go in the Catalyst board room and pull a Lost surfboard from stock. But what if the exact size and dimensions isn't there? Then, like Chris, you improvise. Wardo's 5'9 SDIV wasn't ready on the morning of 5/22/08, as he had hoped, for the 'CT event in Fiji. But, there was a 5'11 double bump swallow SDIV with pinched rails that Chris decided would be perfect for weaving through Fijian tubes. Look for Chris to post 10s as he did at Teahupoo on a Catalyst stock board.
WEARE\'S WARE? Long-time Mayhem-shape rider David Weare won the 6-Star WQS event in his hometown of Durban, South Africa. In the man-on-man final with David was San Diego's Austin Ware, riding a board Matt Biolos made for him, which was glassed and sanded here at Catalyst. So think about that the next time you come in here whining about the resin smell. ...Full Story
WHERE CATALYST STUFF ENDS UP... W/VIDEO CLIP Pro surfers can be a forgetful sort. They mean well, but they often need a little help with odds and ends. And that's were Catalyst Surf Shop comes in.
Hey Gorkin, forget to bring a fullsuit to California for the WQS Lowers event, held in April when the water's hovering around, say, 56 degrees? No problem! Swing by Catalyst and grab an O'Neill Psycho 2 and you'll feel like it's New Smyrna in July.
What's up Cory? How've you been? Oh, you're going to Cabo to shoot photos? Sure, grab a couple of the newest O'Neill wetsuit tops, rashguards, etc... Wait, aren't you shooting photos for, um,
James 'Chilli' Cheal has added several models to his '08 quiver, including the A2 Curve, which is the template usually being ridden when you're watching 'CT guys going looney at Snappers.
The CN Curve draws from Chilli's original curve and outline, but with the every day surfer in mind. Still very much a high performance surfboard, but a bit more forgiving for non-WCT mortals and less-than-ep
...LOST SURFBOARDS 2008 VIDEO BREAKDOWN We broke down the 2008 catalog into board model sections with separate clips of Matt Biolos giving his descriptions and surfing footage. We also transferred the files to clear, tight, hi res versions of the youtube clips previously only available for viewing. Click here, to see our handywork. ...Full Story
VIDEO CLIP: TREVOR SAUNDERS HB PRO JUNIOR Catalyst team rider and occasional rider of ...Lost surfboards pulled off the rack (including one magic XTR Ward model), Trevor Saunders, was in form throughout the Ezekiel Junior Pro division of the Vans Pier Classic presented by Jack's at the Huntington Beach Pier held March 26-30.
Trevor posted the second highest score of the Pro Junior, a 9.6 in the semis. The highest was by Tanner Gudauskas, a 9.7.
Trevor also had the second highest heat total of the Pro Junior, a 17.35, which he posted in the semis. He posted the ninth highest combined total as well, 15.25, in the quarters.
JASON MILLER =5TH AT VANS HB PRO The 2008 Vans Pro Presented by Jack's, a WQS 2-star, commenced on Sunday, March 30th in Huntington Beach. Catalyst rider Jason Miller out-styled the field (including those in the final) on his way to an =5th, or 3rd in the semis.
Matt King had his advancement through the quarters on lockdown, that is until Austin Ware got the 4 he needed to move into second and bounce Kinger into 3rd.
Other guys ripping on Mayhems include the aforementioned Austin Ware who went on to the final, Luke Davis, Blake Jones, Ted Navarro, Devon Tresher, Matt Keenan, Ryan Briggs, Andrew Doheney, Brandon Guilmette
CLIP OF JIMMY METAL PITTS Check out this clip of Catalyst team rider Jimmy Metal Pitts surfing to some mean Judas Priest. We thought it appropriate to include the lyrics toJudas Priest's tribute to Metal Pitts along with his clip:
Judas Priest - Metal Meltdown
Something's calling; In the night; Electric madness; Roars in sight
Heat is rising; Blazing fast; Hot and evil; Feel the blast
Out of control; About to explode: It's coming at ya
Here comes the Metal Meltdown; Run for your lives; Can't stop the Metal Meltdown; No-one survives
Raging fury; Wired for sound; Nitro bombshell
Shak
Andrew won his Round of 128 on the SD-IV as well. Looking smooth, fast and on rail, Andrew is the only competitor riding a four-fin. (Richie Collins might be on one too, but we're not sure.)
Photos and video soon.
Go to http://www.vans.com/vans/events/pierclassic08/ to watch live.
10 MINUTE CLIP OF GORKIN, WARD, SLEIGH, AND CORY RIDING PLACEBOS Placebos are made with Flexlite surfboard technology, which is a composite molding process specifically designed for surfboards. Composite boards originated with windsurfboards; Flexlite took into consideration their years of trial and error with the technology, while tweaking it to create the flex needed for performance surfboards to, well, perform.
Flexlite consists of an EPS foam core with a high-density PVC sheet foam wrap for durability. For proper flex, the PVC tapers as it extends to the rails.
In this ten minute clip, Aaron "Gorkin" Cormican rides the Gorkin Quad, Ward and Sleigh r
More of these guys: Tom Curren, Trevor Saunders, Nate Yeomans, Adam Melling, Yadin Nichol, and your friend's mom were getting shacked and shoved while you were doing your other friend's ugly mom.
You probably finished watching reruns of Gilligan's Island, and came to the conclusion that Gilligan was the smartest one on the stupid island, and it was him who was pulling both Ginger and Maryanne. Just look at the picture; Ginger and Maryanne are totally hanging all over Gilligan. And look at the smug look on his face. After all, it is GILLIGAN'S Island.
You were probably watching reruns of Gilligan's Island, wondering why no one was banging Maryanne or Ginger. Maybe you came to the conclusion that the Skipper was too fat, Gilligan was androgenous, and that if the Professor was so friggin' smart, he would have talked those two (the girls, not Gilligan and the Skipper) into a three-way within the first week of landing on that stupid island.
CATALYST GROM TAI STRATTON Tai Stratton put in a good showing at the Salt Creek stop of the WSA, finishing 3rd in the 11 and under division. Look for Tai to take that momentum into the next contest. ...Full Story
Benn Dunn, CJ Hobgood, and Julian Wilson have all advanced to Round 3 on boards shaped by James 'Chilli' Cheal. James is a friend of ours, and we have the deepest selection of his boards in the US.
'08 Chilli Models:
A2 Curve: Tried and tested by the world's best on both the WCT and WQS, this rocker is made for high performance surfing. A low entry rocker flows through a longer, straighter middle section, which creates all the natural speed you'll ever need. Increased lift in the tail rocker enables you to put the board an
THE SDIII BREAKDOWN W/VIDEO CLIP Some of the Catalyst guys who surf like pros (in their heads) have been riding the SDIII religiously over the past six months. We ride it 2" shorter than our standard shortboards. Where the SDII has a relaxed, flatter rocker, the SDIII has significant entry and tail rocker, allowing it to be extremely responsive for tight-radius turns in the pocket. A bit of extra width in the mid and hip regions allow for ease of speed generation in gutless surf. Basically, when you're at T-Street, you can hop across the flat sections to the little bowl sections, and, once there, be able to do a half-decent t ...Full Story
The Comp-4: Sometime last year, one of our employees who thinks he can surf asked Biolos if he could get a Whiplash with a quad set-up. Biolos responded that he's been making them for a while and they're called the Comp-4, to be released in the '08 line (true story).
The Comp-4 is a high-performance shortboard with a rocker template in line with the Whiplash. It has a lot of holding power in big hollow surf, which is its forte (Ward's 10 at Puerto in the X-Games was on one). It also performs well in surf in the head-high range. The tracky nature of a quad causes it to want to be ridden w
2008 ...LOST SURFBOARD MODELS IN CATALYST We spent the better part of a day recently at the ...Lost Surfboards warehouse cherry picking the best of the best. When it was all said and done, Chucky had sixty new boards to log, sticker, and organize.
If you've been by the store lately, you most likely watched the video below in our boardroom while getting buzzed on resin from the surfboard glassing going on in the next room.
We'll have copies of the DVD for you to take home and study soon. Until then, check this out:
GROM SHAYNE NELSON WITH SOME NEW PHOTOS Huntington Beach High School and Catalyst team rider Shayne Nelson has been lucky enough to log some travel time over the past year, including South Africa, the Mentawais and Hawaii. ...Full Story
Attacking the waves with reckless abandon were the fine young gents of the Youth Division. From the first heat to the finals, these lads were blowing up with huge hits, 180 reverses and little barrels.hit Local San Clemente standout and long time CSF competitor Trevor Thornton ripped his way to first place, followed by SC friend and neighbor Jeffrey Mircheff, with Jesse Johnson of Dana Point taking third.
THE REAL STORY BEHIND THE CHRISTIAN FLETCHER AD The board Christian is holding in this Kooka, we mean RVCA (tell Alex Knost we said hi!), ad is a 6'6" ...Lost XTR Parabolic SDII with the logos photoshopped off by the marketing geniuses at RVCA. We know this because Christian got it at Catalyst the day before he left for Bali, where the photos in the ad were taken.
We, as well as a lot of customers, will have a hard time forgetting that day, as Christian's hand was as big as a balloon due to a spider bite. He was on painkillers and antibiotics, creating an interesting speech impediment. He offered his well-meaning advice to board shoppers
...LOST IN NICARAGUA ...Lost Surfboard riders Chris and Shane Selfridge and friends got shacked in Nicaragua recently on their ...Lost board from Catalyst. ...Full Story
CHILLI COMING TO CALIFORNIA - GET A CUSTOM BOARD SHAPED CHILLI COMING TO CALIFORNIA - GET A CUSTOM BOARD SHAPED
Press Release from Hotbatch Surfboards
You now have the opportunity to get your own custom Chilli Surfboard shaped by the legend himself, James Cheal!
Shaper to the stars James “Chilli” Cheal will be coming to California for 1 week and will be shaping a limited amount of custom boards sometime around the end of January.
Chilli is here to promote his new expanded line of boards which includes the pro model “A2”, his always popular performance shortboard the “CN” along with the new “Chilli Quad”, “Chilli Fish” and “Step Down” ...Full Story
Catalyst heard from someone's brother's girlfriend's sister who works at ...Lost that Carlson called and said Mason surfed the expression session nude and then ran up the beach with his shorts on his head. Thank God someone brought some excitement to an otherwise lackluster World Juniors. (We probably wouldn't say that if one of our riders made the final)
Pablo Pablino won for the second time, while Tonino Benson placed second. For complete results go to ASPWORLDTOUR.COM
Photos courtesy of ROBERTSON/ASPWORLDTOUR.COM
1/3/08
Mason Ho won his first round heat against Hawaii's
An underground local at Uppers; if you surf there, you know who he is.
Jason Miller doing a few turns at Lowers.
Luke Davis doing a few airs at Lowers.
Brandon Ragenovich turning and tubing around SC.
Shot by NickHead and Gavin.
Editing by NickHead Productions.Catalyst heard from someone's brother's girlfriend's sister who works at ...Lost that Carlson called and said Mason surfed the expression session nude and then ran up the beach with his shorts on his head. Thank God someone b
...LOST CHRISTMAS PARTY ...Lost Clothing took over the Galaxy in Costa Mesa for a Christmas celebration the other night. Catalyst didn't realize they weren't exactly quote-unquote "invited." Luckily, we had Santa Chicken with us, which helped us look legit enough to pass through the door people.
Metal Skool rocked the 80s while ...Lost employees rocked the open bar. Click 'More Photos' for proof.
12/13/07: It's not completely official yet, but it looks like Chris has his re-qualification bid pretty much on lock-down. Yesterday, Chris posted a 9.0 and a 9.07 to knock out a very in-form Shane Dorian in what was the highest scoring, and most exciting, heat of the event thus far.
Today, Chris beat Pipe-specialist Gavin Gillette by riding some Backdoor foamballs in windy, tricky conditions.
How many don't care what result they need in that last event to requalify?
Yup, you guessed it: at least one, and it's San Clemente's Chris Ward. The surfer's surfer, Chris is far more concerned with getting tubed than World Tour points. Even more, he's not shy about it.
Chris don't lie. See for yourself.
And about the photo: What's REALLY Goin' On in Chris' head in Hawaii? photo by Tupat
The following words and photos courtesy of www.FutureSnowboarding.com
Lucas Magoon is no longer broke.. and he's got $10,000 in hard earned cashola to prove it.
The 3rd Annual Beanies & Bikinis Rail Jam went down on Saturday, November 24th at Mission Beach's Belmont Park in San Diego. Participated in by over 40 competitors and comprised of a three feature, Jack Murphy designed jib setup (down box, down-flat-down rail and straight rail), the SoCal snowboarding proved entertaining and a welcome dose of snow act
JASON MURRAY PHOTOGRAPHY AND DREW BROPHY ART SHOW AT SALON BLEU Former Surfer Mag photo editor, Concussion Skateboarding Mag publisher, prolific freelance surf photographer Jason Murray and neo-surf art imperialist Drew Brophy teamed up with Salon Bleu in San Clemente to put together a fun night of food, drink, culture and all around hipness. ...Full Story
Other guys were on 7'4 through 8'0s in Cory's heat at Sunset, and Cory won riding his 6'10 Mayhem Mini-Gun glassed and sanded right here at Catalyst. Ward's currently in his heat on, you guessed it, a ...Lost Mayhem Mini-Gun.
DEC 15TH: SANTA CHICKEN AT CATALYST! Who needs the crappy mall-Santa when we have SANTA CHICKEN? Bring your ungrateful brat to sit on Santa Chicken's lap. Your kid might start off crying, but once the brat's buzzed from Chicken's whiskey breath, there'll be no more tears a la Johnson And Johnson.
Stop by for bands, booze and broads, 'cause it's Christmas time at Catalyst!
NEW CLIP: GORKIN NEWEST CATALYST TEAM RIDER Aaron Cormican, aka Gorkin, has joined the Catalyst ranks. He used to hang out in San Clemente often, but has settled in to his hometown of New Smyrna, Florida.
Our Melbourne Beach, FL location will probably be trying to claim him as their rider, but they can suck it. Listen up guys, Gorkin's international and we'll claim whatever rider we feel like claiming. Oh, and you still have redheaded step-child status until another Catalyst opens.
We poached the following verbage and video clip off the ...Lost site:
November 27, 2007. HIRED, FIRED, RE-HIRED. Aaron Cormican is back on.
Biolos' friend in Japan hand made a small run of fins. The few sets that are in the U.S. are only available at Catalyst. They are a fiberglass/honeycomb construction and available to fit both FCS and Future fin box systems.
According to Biolos, these are the best fins in the country right now. They are based on his favorite templates, construction, and are hand-painted.
Trying to shop for some jerk who has it all? We can guarantee the aforementioned ungrateful jerk doesn't have a set
We're trying to scale down our tendency to have fun at Chucky's expense, so we'll only tell you about one of Chucky's misfortunes:
Chucky waited impatiently for several months for his new quad shark to arrive. When it finally did, he had to stare at it every day while at work for weeks as he saved to pay it off.
The day finally came that Chucky was able to afford his new board, and it just so happened that there were waves at Lowers. It seemed Chucky's luck was fi
These go for $35 to $70 and make perfect Christmas gifts. You'll look like you emptied your wallet on your chick, but actually saved enough money for that mini-gun you've been drooling over for Black's this winter.
VIDEO CLIP: HIGHLY AMUSING COLLAGE OF THE KILLER DANA PINKY ART SHOW Catalyst showed up at Pinky's art show at Killer Dana in Lake Forest recently. For those of you who don't know, Pinky is the man behind the TV-monster art on the Placebo surfboards. He also freelances t-shirt designs for ...Lost, as well as others. Check him out on our artist page, or go to www.PinkyTaylor.com, www.Placebo1.com or www.PinkyPop123.com.
Brought to you by the fine people at Nickhead Productions.
Catalyst heard from someone's brother's girlfriend's sister who works at ...Lost that Carlson called and said Mason surfed the expression session nude and then ran up the beach with
WEIRDO SKETCHES NICHOLE IN BAR Nichole has a lot of fans and admirers, from 10th graders who think they have a shot with her to local homeless dudes who shower her with gifts (and by gifts we mean flowers pulled out of the dumpster next to the flower stand across the street).
It seems that her fan-base has expanded to pen-wielding creepsters in poorly-lit watering holes. This piece of art was delivered to her on a napkin.
There are a few aspects of the sketch that Nichole isn't too happy about. See if you can find them. Click on 'more photos' for a better image.
PINKY ART SHOW WRAP-UP Catalyst showed up at Pinky's art show at Killer Dana in Lake Forest recently. For those of you who don't know, Pinky is the man behind the TV-monster art on the Placebo surfboards. He also freelances t-shirt designs for ...Lost, as well as others. Check him out on our artist page, or go to www.PinkyTaylor.com, www.Placebo1.com or www.PinkyPop123.com.
Don't forget to click on 'More Photos' for a shit-ton-o-fun.
Highlights include Timmy Curran's airs and backside tube, Cory Arrimbede's air reverse, Losness' super-tight top turns, and Matt Keenan breaking his Xanadu while duckdiving, only to have a friend run to his car, pull out his Mayhem, paddle it out to him, and then get a left and pull a couple big turns.
Check out Ratboy's rat-flop. We're not making fun of him, as he rips four waves after the flop. Sorry Rat, but it's a classic one. Catalyst shared some good ones with Rat o
ART SHOW 101 The recent art show we put on featuring Mike Losness and Christina Scannapiego was our first attempt at being truly artsy-fartsy. As many of you are aware, we're pretty good at buffoonery. But we're trying to expand our horizons, and since one of the owners of ...Lost and Catalyst is an artist (Matt Biolos), and ...Lost Surfboards is known for being art-forward, it only made sense to put on an art show. We made a few mistakes, which, hopefully, we'll learn from.
Here's a list of do's and don'ts we compiled.
Actually, it's a list of don'ts. We're still working on the do's part..
Many have responded to Chucky's statement with something to the effect of 'Chucky, you've never had a clip in any surf video, ever.'
Of course, Chucky refers the reality-impaired nonbeliever to the Chuckumentary.
The only problem with Chucky's logic is that there is one copy of the Chuckumentary in existence.
And it's sitting in his room...
Chucky now has a legit clip, and we can all be sure it will make the next Chuckumentary, due for release mid-November, just in time for the holiday shopping madness. Reserve your c
Catalyst went to Oceanside recently to cheer on friends in the GvR etnies contest presented by ...Lost Energy Drink.
Highlights include Timmy Curran's airs and backside tube, Cory Arrimbede's air reverse, Losness' super-tight top turns, and Matt Keenan breaking his Xanadu while duckdiving, only to have a friend run to his car, pull out his Mayhem, paddle it out to him, and then get a left and pull a couple big turns.
Check out Ratboy's rat-flop. We're not making fun of him, as he rips four waves after the flop. Sorry Rat, but it's a classic one. Ca
CHUCKY IS IN TRAINING! Whether Chucky named himself "Chuckiluppo" (after Mark Occhiluppo) or it was given to him remains an unsolved mystery, but we can all rest assured knowing that Chucky most definitely wants to be Occy. First the nickname, then the release of the Chuckumentary (blatant ripoff of the Occumentary), next the fake Australian accent after a few beers, and now the onion incident. Chucky heard that part of Occy's training is eating a raw onion daily. We're not sure who planted such a ridiculous seed in Chucky's perfectly round head, but we'd like to shake the hand of the rouser, as said seed blossomed ...Full Story
We're featuring the art of Mike Losness and Christina Scannapiego. We're also trying to pull together some food, music, beverage, and other stuff that you'll like.
3 to 7pm at Catalyst, on the corner of Pico Ave and El Camino Real in San Clemente; 949-492-5721
OLD VID CLIP OF BRETT SIMPSON Brett Simpson was down at Lowers recently ripping, as per usual. The waves in this clip are all from a single session.
Brett often rides Mayhems, as well as Timmy Pattersons, Hamishes, and many other boards. He carried a shitload of boards down this particular morning, and our video guy was too hungover to pay attention to what he was riding and when.
That hungover video guy is none other than Nick "NickHead" Horobec, made (not really) famous by the Catalyst story titled "What's Wrong With Nick Horobec." Take notice of the intentional segment of Brett showing his T
MORE PEOPLE RIDING ...LOST AND OTHER BOARDS WE CARRY We keep over 300 of every ...Lost Surfboard model in stock at all times. We also carry Placebo, Chilli, Mark Richards, Cole Firefly in FlexLite and Aviso, all ...Lost Aviso models, Cordell Aviso models (soon in FlexLite), and tons of spoiled pro team trades
...Full Story
DRAGON MYSTERY TOUR/CATALYST BBQ THIS WEEKEND! After two successful stops of the Dragon Mystery Tour Of Surf in Encinitas and Santa Monica, the 3rd and final showdown happens this Sunday, September 30 at Trail One in San Clemente. The event is a uniquely formatted expression session, where surfers sixteen and under surf for Dragon and Adio's pros. The surfer who performs the best will receive a "huge" contract from both brands for flow for a year.
The winners of the first two events include Cooper Jones from Encinitas and Josh Stone from Santa Monica, who ripped their way to signing on the dotted line. Who's next? Just get down to Tr
Bums make the store stand out; no matter what, they are always around spray painting the ramp and fixing stuff that should be in the dumpster. They also flatter Nicole by bringing her flowers.
DESCRIBE YOUR SABRE SALES REP:
I guess my Sabre rep is pretty cool, but he would be a lot cooler if he put the shades I can rock in my store. I like the ones that fit a weird shaped short bus head!
Johnny Thunderfoot has trouble telling the difference between Peter and Tom Curren (even though Peter's goofy and Tom's regular, not to mention many other defining characteristics), but from here out, he can just remember that Peter's the one who dresses up in a suit, tie, and duck mask. And Curren's the one who doesn't.
We would give credit to the photographer, but What a Duck! magazine didn't bother. We're pretty sure it was shot by Jesse Wicker.
IT\'S AUTUMN YEOMANS, NOT ASHLEY! Ashley, uh, we mean Autumn, dropped us a line to let us know that her name is Autumn, not Ashley Yeomans, as we called her in a previous art editorial. Sorry Ashley, uh, we mean Autumn...
Apparently, there's some talent running through that Yeomans DNA, as Autumn is the younger sister of the sort-of-above average Nate Yeomans.
NOW IT\'S TIME FOR... CHICKEN\'S VOTE All kinds of stupid shit is always going down, and someone needs to document it. And Chucky wants Chicken to host it. Email us newsandevents@catalystshop.com and vote Chicken back in the coup! ...Full Story
Shaper Night is being postponed for various reasons. Feel free to call Nichole at the shop tomorrow to find out why. 949-492-5721
BUT, we will have Chicken Willy BBQ-ing, homeless dudes getting wasted and talking nonsense, and groms buckling themselves on the skate ramp.
Oh yeah, we had posters made out of Chucky's centerfold and he'll be here signing them!
September 14th from 5pm til whenever, Matt Biolos, Mark Richards, James Cheal (Chilli), Herbie Fletcher, Cordell Miller, and Cole will be on hand to talk tech with the public. Hopefully, we'll find a band
DRAGON MYSTERY TOUR ENDING AT CATALYST! The Dragon Mystery Tour is a way for unsponsored kids 16 and under to showcase their skills in an unconventional, un-judged format and (maybe) get sponsored.
The San Clemente event is September 30 at 7am. See www.DragonMysteryTour.com for more info.
But this picture that is in the Boost Mobile Pro insert in the October 2007 issue of Surfer Mag suggests otherwise. It appears that Shortbus is a grom Kelly fan like any other...
Shortbus fun fact: that's Wardo's leash around his neck.
Ignore the dates on the flyer, we just haven't gotten it together enough to make a new one, or even change the dates of the old one. We're too busy making fun of Chucky: putting others down makes you feel better about your own shortcomings. Try it! It really works.
We're filling up Thunder's truck with new boards with blems from the ...Lost Surfboard warehouse to sell cheap as shit, uh, we mean economically sustainable, cost efficient, and non-wallet-anorexi
CHUCKY AS...CENTERFOLD?! Chucky may be a lot of things, but no one ever imagined he would be in a chick mag as a centerfold. No one except his girlfriend, Sheila, who submitted the studly pic. Sheila, a.k.a. Chickilupo, didn't have this to say, "Chuckilupo is one fine piece of ass. All you hussies out there better step off, 'cause he's my fine piece of ass." In case you, the stupid reader, didn't catch the 'DIDN'T have this to say' part, we completely made up that quote.
There have been many real quotes in response to the unlikely sight:
...LOST ENTREPRENEUR In the July 2007 issue of Entrepreneur Magazine, there is a profile of Caroline Graeff containing an image of her holding a ...Lost surfboard. She's profiled for her launching of Imagine Marketing Agency, an action sports marketing and PR firm based in Manhattan Beach. Her sales in her first year were over $300,000, an impressive feat to accomplish no doubt.
The article titled "Action Pact" by Sara Wilson states that "It takes skill to sell to a youthful segment that often rejects commercialization, but Graeff has the right touch." By "has the right touch," does Sara mean the sweet long
VIDEO CLIP: CATALYST/...LOST ENERGY DRINK SKATE JAM The first annual ...Lost Energy/Catalyst Skate Jam went off on Saturday, June 30 and, quite possibly for the first time in Catalyst history, we put on an event without getting in trouble. Chad Shetler handed out $1,000 (with $615 going to Adam Dyet) in cash during the Best Trick Contest thanks to ...Lost Energy Drink, Fallen, and Hoven.
Edited by Chad Shetler
Click "full story" for clip and "more photos" for, well, you get the picture (hopefully...)
...............................................
SICK NEW CHUCKY SEQUENCE! The pic to the left is what Chucky's referring to when he compares his turns to Occy's. Click 'More Photos' to see the Chucky turn he SHOULD be referring to! (Note: Occy is not very good at riding bicycles.) (Note about the note: We completely made-up the Occy/bicycle thing.) ...Full Story
Join us for the ...Lost Energy best trick contest, this Saturday June 30th here at Catalyst. There will be a huge street course and mini-ramp in the parking lot and Pat Duffy giving out Benjamin's for bangers! You can bet the tall-boy in Thunder's hand that there will be plenty of good skating going on.
Joining Pat Duffy are ...Lost team riders Paul Machnau, Kyle Berard, Danny Fuenzalida, Adam Dyet and many more... With 10% to 25% off all skate product in the store, ...Lost skate team pro demo, free BBQ, and a huge product toss
FALL \'07 BOARDSHORTS AND TEES ONLY AT CATALYST! We have a bunch of tees and trunks that are in the Fall '07 line in stock. These styles are currently exclusive to our store, so come check'em. There currently aren't photos on the ...Lost site of them, so we're gonna have to make Chucky and Shortbus do a not-so-professional photo shoot. Stay tuned! ...Full Story
NEW CATALYST MODEL If someone figured out how to combine Ginger and Maryanne's DNA, they would most likely spawn something that looks a lot like everyone's favorite counter girl, Nichole. She's our little girl-next-door, but with a little ginger and spice thrown in. It's also probably pretty safe to say that in this analogy, Chucky represents Gilligan. So does that make Thunder the Skipper? And who will represent the rest of the characters?
Regardless, Nichole is cute, so we've decided to make her our new model. Here's a few images of Nichole modeling some Fall '07 pieces, which will be available sometime in A
SOME MORE NEW CANVAS Chris Maslow of Slow Inc and Scott Metzner of Metz Designs brought by some new canvas recently. Enjoy. Mike Losness is due to bring some stuff, so stay tuned.
Canvas to left is a two-piece titled "Raining Bombs" by Metz.
HE\'S BIG, SCRUFFY, AND HIS DEMEANOR CAN BE EDGY In the June 2007 issue of Surfer Mag there is a feature article titled “Turning The Corner” written by Chris Mauro. The article is thorough and well written. Our only real criticism is the misspelling of Biolos’ name as “Biolas.” Biolos is referred to and quoted through a good portion of the article:
Matt Biolos is strutting through the dusty halls of his San Clemente surfboard factory feeling pretty good these days. He’s got an endless supply of blanks from a number of imported brands and start-up companies hoping to capture some of the business Clark left open. While lingering the hall
The Catalyst building was constructed in the mid 20th century. Its original use was a church, thus the long narrow shape. It was later turned into a print shop and was filled with old school Heidelburgs (vintage printing press). Finally, in about 1970, Steve Boehne leased the building and put the first Infinity Surfboards shop and board factory in there. This lasted a couple years until Rick James and the infamous James Gang took over and the name changed to Rick James Surf Shop. Rick James is the former Greg Noll employ
If you missed the sale, you're bumming! We sold about 30 of the 50 boards that we robbed from the ...Lost Surfboards warehouse. People that showed up, got hooked up!
Also, a big thanks to Aaron Checkwood and the rest of the crew at Dragon Optics for coming down and throwing down a fat bbq.
Boost big, break your board, come get a new one!
HAWAII MOTO/SURF TEAM RIDER KAI PATTISON UPDATE Kai Pattison is a soft-spoken, humble kid who grew up surfing and riding on the North Shore. We don't carry moto stuff, but Kai surfs better than half our team (sorry Thunder and Chucky) regardless of moto being his focus.
Some recent results:
Surfercross 2006 Moto 1st/Surf 8th (6th overall)
2007 2nd Place in Hawaii state championship points standing (125 open)
2007 Maui championship 125 open 3rd place
2006 Kuaui championship 125 intermediate 2nd place
Race classes: 125 Intermediate,250 Intermediate, 4 stroke open non pro.
NEW SKATE SECTION UP AND RUNNING We recently brought in the not-so-legendary skateboarder (but he skates pretty well) Spencer to be the Catalyst skate expert. We also have a skate demo with Chad Shetler and Pat Duffy planned for sometime soon. ...Full Story
COUPLE NEW GROM PHOTOS Groms should be seen and not heard! We like Trevor Thornton (pictured left) and Shayne Nelson because we don't have to hear too much out of them, when they do speak they are polite, and they always say thank you...oh yeah, they surf pretty well too... ...Full Story
Jesus failed to rise to the occasion in Heat #2 of Round 4 of the repercharge in the Boys Under 18 division. Trevor Saunders took out Jesus Chacon of Venezuala by a healthy spread of 11.66 to 5.06. Unfortunately, Trevors run at a medal stopped in the following round, where he went down to Tim O'Connor of New Zealand and Teale Vanner of Australia.
Original Article:
Catalyst team rider Trevor Saunders is currently in Portugal contributing to the USA Team cause. We were excited to see Trevor advance through the first round of the Boys Under 18 divisio
TWO NEW B TEAM GROMS Benn Gerhard and Trevor Thornton now ride for Catalyst. Max (Shortbus) and Thunder (pictured left) are our only 'A Team' riders, so being on the B Team should be taken as a compliment! Both are from San Clemente and surf in the NSSA Open division. Trevor is 12, quiet and polite. Benn is 16, not-so-quiet, sort-of-polite, and has a ton of personality/character. ...Full Story
SHORTBUS GETS PERFECT 10 AT CHOPES! Well, actually, his board did, but without him on it. Peru's Gabriel Villaran was awarded a spot in the Teahupoo Trials. A day or two before Gabriel was flying out, he was in the shop and in need of a board. It just so happened that the mini-gun Shortbus (Max) ordered had recently arrived in the shop. Luckily for Gabriel (and Shortbus), Max couldn't pay for his board, and Gabriel was off to Tahiti with proper equipment. So proper, in fact, that he won two heats, scoring a perfect 10 along the way. It might be safe to assume that this will be the closest Max ever gets to scoring a 10 at Chopes! ...Full Story
NEW ARTIST INFILTRATION San Clemente has talent oozing out of every orifice. We just wish we had more room for all of it. Here's some work from some of our more recent finds.
The image to the left is titled "Freedom" and is by Surfline.com Women's Editor Christina Scannapiego.
THE SURFBOUT IS FINISHED; CJ OWNS FINAL ON QUAD You probably know by now that CJ Hobgood won. In case you didn't know, he deserved the win. CJ rode a quad to his obvious victory, while Dayyan Neve, Gabe Kling and Shaun Ward were the three on three fins taking up the bottom three spots in the final.
The general consensus amongst our customers concerning what to ride in junk surf, quad or thruster, has been consistently a 3 to 1 ratio of tri-loyalists to quad-enthusiast. The WQS final (with 3 out of 4 surfers on the WCT) a few miles from our shop only served to solidify the split in opinion ratio.
For those of you lucky enough to not have been here, the 1st Annual Official Unofficial Surfbout After-Party was a huge success--and a huge mess! Maybe it had something to do with us failing to ask the city if it was okay for us to build a half-pipe and a stage and book 5 bands (including Mower, which is borderline death metal) and pack the parking lot full of people (who used all of our neighbors' parking).
Since we ended up with a list of 13 citations, this year, we're replacing the half-p
We're not sure if Riley Metcalf is actually a shop-rider or not, but he does drop off all his used boards and ding repairs. He won his first heat convincingly, posting a 7.17 and a 7.33 for a heat total of 14.50. To put it in perspective, second posted a 4.50 and a 4.17 for a heat total of 8.67. Maybe he's got some good karma from bringing us all that food! (hint hint teamriders!)
Catalyst friend Pete Muscio won his heat as the only surfer posting a double-digit heat total.
...Lost rider Ezra Sitt advanced.
Friends Ryan Briggs and David Giddings (following an im
GROM TEAM RIDER SETS THE BAR San Clemente's Riley Metcalf is a relatively new addition to the ...Lost/Catalyst program. Not only does the 14-yr-old's surfing raise the ante for local groms to step to, but so do his manners. Always polite and grateful, it is clear where he got it from. His mom recently showed up at Catalyst and the ...Lost Surfboards warehouse with trays of food from Sonny's Pizza, much to our surprise. Team riders take note! ...Full Story
The little one-story building at 1755 N. El Camino Real has served as a gathering point for some of the surfing world's top talent for decades. The tradition carries on as shop regulars Kolohe Andino, Leilani Gryde, Mason Ho, Dave Ward, and Riley Metcalf are recognized in Surfer Magazine's Annual Hot 100, which comes as an addition to the May 2007 issue.
TREVOR SAUNDERS AND SHAYNE NELSON FINALISTS AT NSSA HS CHAMPS San Clemente High School senior and Catalyst team rider Trevor Saunders surfed like he was in a 'QS event through the NSSA Interscholastic High School Championships recently. He also sported a meaner 5 o'clock shadow than Chucky, at 28, can seem to muster. In a league of his own, he easily took the win, capping off a stellar NSSA season.
The Cinderalla-story of the event is that of Huntington Beach HS freshman Shayne Nelson. Surfing for HB's 'C' team, he made it all the way to the final, finishing 4th. This grom is a power-surfer and is just beginning to come into his own.
KOLOHE GROWTH SPURT BENEFITS LOCAL GROMS! Freak-grom Kolohe Andino grew a couple inches overnight and outgrew a bunch of his boards. Now Catalyst has eleven of them. Both Mayhems and JS's, ridden and unridden. They are all between 4'11 and 5'0 with glass-on fins and are priced to sell. Groms, you want a board personally shaped by Biolos or JS with extra care put into it? Now's your chance! ...Full Story
CATALYST TEAM RIDER JASON MILLER IN QUARTERS AT 2-STAR IN HB! Jason Miller of San Clemente has noticeably stepped his freesurfing up a notch over the past year. He is now channeling that progression into solid results on the WQS. He got 5th in an event in the Canaries, and made it through his fifth consecutive heat at the Vans Pier Classic presented by Jacks in Huntington Beach. photo courtesy surfline.com ...Full Story
AFGHANISTAN Michael J Baker orders custom from Afghanistan and comes home to sick new ...Lost Surfboard!
We got a phone call from SPC Baker while he was stationed in Afghanistan to, of all things, order a custom ...Lost Surfboard! He called a few times to check up on the board (and artwork) during the six months he had left in Afghanistan, and was always very thankful for us keeping him updated on his board's status. When picking up his board, he dropped off the pic with him holding up the ...Lost Energy Drink can in his Humvee. He signed it "Thanks for everything. You guys were one of the things that
Two-piece band In The Flat Fields played in the Catalyst media room (soon to be part skate section) recently. Everyone was blown away at the sound two half-drunk derelict/dorks could belt out.
They played their first set around 7pm, and it turned out to be a relatively small (~25 people) family affair. The pictures tell the rest of the story...
WHO IS THE REAL TOTO? Dog, toilet, really crappy band, or surfer? Sebastian De Romana of Peru is a long-time ...Lost team rider and a relatively new addition to the Catalyst bafoon bin. He also has the same nickname as a very popular brand of toilets. Apparently, in Peru, the word "toto" means to be tired or take a nap or something to that effect, and as a grom he said it all the time and his dad started calling him that. Either the Toto brand of toilets doesn't exist in Peru, or his dad has a weird sense of humor. In either case, we happened to do a google image search of the word and the first thing we saw were t ...Full Story
ORDER A ...LOST SURFBOARD THROUGH CATALYST AND TALK TO BIOLOS! I, Catalyst, like to speak for myself every so often. Relax, no one put a weird hallucinogen in your twinkie. You really are reading the words of an inanimate object. I was thinking of getting on a soapbox and spouting some hippie "your board is an extension of your soul" crap, but Biolos kicked the box from under me.
Here's the deal: if you order a board through me, I'll put you in direct contact with Biolos one way or another. Biolos started glassing boards in my glass shop when he was a teenager. I've put up with a lot of crap over the years, so he owes it to me to do this one favor for
AQUA TEEN HUNGER FORCE GETS CATALYST OFF THE HOOK! If you haven't heard about the Aqua Teen Hunger Force lightbox fiasco in Boston, you've either been on a week-long bender or accidentally locked yourself in a closet a la Chucky. We're issueing a public thank you to the guerrilla marketing geniuses behind the prank, as our antics in San Clemente pale in comparison. The City of San Clemente finally recognizes that their most notorious rabble-rousers are angels in the big scheme of things. ...Full Story
1. Thunder hanging out drinking Cammo's and making messes
2. Tracy marking the clothing tags of the entire store 1/2 off with permanent marker. For it to be fixed, every tag had to be removed and replaced with hand-written tags.
3. The dressing rooms being used for storage so that no one can actually try stuff on.
4. The media room being used as an office with papers, empty ...Lost energy drink cans and general disarray spreading like a plague.
The Clark Foam crisis will likely have many positive effects on the world of surfboard building. We are being forced to search for more enviro-friendly alternatives that will meet our high performance standards. It can be difficult to sift through the sea of new technology. Epoxy surfboards have had a bad rap in the past as suffering from performance anxiety. Javier Huarcaya-Pro has been working long and hard at creating an epoxy formula that will quench surfers’ insatiable thirst for boards that are ever lighter, stronger, and have a proper fl
UPDATE April 13th: We have Parabolics available in Marko foam and XTR in the SD2, Whiplash, Psycho Ward, and WCT models.
UPDATE Jan 31: Only one Parabolic left!
It's a 6'1 Whiplash with FCS.
We received five XTR Parabolics recently, and one has already sold. The remaining four are three Psycho Wards and one Whiplash. See pics for dimensions. Go here to make a purchase. Visit Here or www.EpoxySurfboards.com for more on XTR epoxy surfboards.
TEAM RIDER WITH NO LOGOS! We're pretty sure Eddie Guilbeau's only sponsor is yours truly (yup, Chucky taught me, Catalyst, to refer to myself in the third person). With this in mind, one would think Eddie would make sure to have the logo on, especially when photogs show up on the beach. ...Full Story
THIEF STILL WANTS A DEAL! The other day, a guy came in and bought a Chilli Flexlite on a credit card that turned out to be stolen. The card owner was alerted of the sale here at Catalyst and he called us a few hours later to get a description of the perpetrator. It turns out the scumbag stole a heavy real estate mogul's card and has rung up six figures in gifts to himself.
The most ridiculous part of the story? The guy wanted a free tailpad! ...Full Story
HERBIE FLETCHER LONGBOARDS Update: Herbie Fletcher Flexlites are in!
Living legend Herbie Fletcher has a line of signature longboards being produced by ...Lost surfboards. These are high-performance longboards that allow nose-riding antics. Christian Wach has been winning everything in sight on these things. They are available in 9'2, 9'4, and 9'6 and will be made in Flexlite soon as well. ...Full Story
...LOST WETSUITS ONLY FOUND AT CATALYST! There are a limited number of ...Lost wetsuits in the US and they can only be found at Catalyst. Made by Japanese wetsuit manufacturer Cyber, they are extremely warm and flexible. They are disappearing quicker than twinkies at a fat kid convention.
AMATEUR HOUR STRIKES AGAIN! Amateur hour at Catalyst strikes again. For reasons we won’t get into here, Catalyst got a free full-page ad from Happy Mag moments before it was going to press (actually, it was probably more like two weeks, but “moments” sounds more dramatic). Biolos holds pretty tight reins on the creative aspect of things around here, and now it’s more apparent than ever as to why. All the genius minds behind the ad project (really only one not-so-genius brain cell shared between two water-logged brains) lagged and time tick tick ticked away quickly.
DAYS ONLY!
SAT, SUNDAY OCTOBER 28, 29!
CATALYST BOARD LOT
Nothing over $500!
Everything Must Go!
New and Used!
We Finance Anyone!
Bad Credit?
No Credit?
Tax Liens?
Repos?
Bankruptcy?
We Don�t Care!
Drive home in one today!
Photo # 944 and 946
#68864 5�10 RNF Quad. FCS. Great History! Carlson buckled in Indo w/rodeo flip! Fixed by the best!
Photo #945
#49787
Rare find! 6�6 MR 80s Model w/twin glass-ons. Very low mileage. Original owner. Signed and stamped by MR himself. #251 of only 500 in US!
Photo #973, 974
#56957
5�7 RNF Quad XTR Lokbox. Never ridde
LEGIT REVISIT TAKE 2: GIRL DRAMA Nichole waited four months for her custom XTR ...Lost fish, only to have some jealous girl stab it with a screwdriver, before it was ever even ridden! ...Full Story
LEGIT REVISIT 1: AVISO IN COMPLEX MAG AND SURFING\'S ENRON Aviso Carbon Fiber surfboards have garnered mainstream attention yet again for taking NASA aerospace technology and applying it to surfboard technology, this time in Maxim-esque mag Complex.
If clueless mainstream America can figure out that bringing rocket science to surfing is revolutionary, why can't our own industry? We are referring to SIMA (Surf Industry Manufacturers Association) awarding the Quiksilver Deep Tidewatch the Product Innovation Award of the Year for 2005. C'mon guys, it's a friggin' waterproof watch! Can you say kickback? Is Quiksilver the Enron of the surf industry?
STRIDER DIDN\'T KNOW HE WAS THE ANSWER TO ...LOSTWORD PUZZLE Strider stopped by the shop asking what the answer was to a particular question of the ...Lostword Puzzle. The irony is that the answer was said by Strider himself! #52 Across asks who invented the Mexi-Vac. It was Strider who said in "What's Really Goin' Wrong!" that the Mexi-Vac was performed by Chris Ward.
When told the answer, Strider said something to the tune of F@c$ you guys, I was so fried back then you could get all kinds of stuff by me...but not now!
Upon moving here from Florida, Nick immediately paddled out at the pier and paddle-jockeyed local surf artist Drew Brophy, thoroughly pissing off one of the more unpiss-off-able people (word invented by Thunder).
Next, he showed up at Jimmy Nudo's (owner of San Clemente Surf Company, former Catalyst) and Jimmy told him to get the f@ck outta here, that he doesn't f@cking know him.
Moving on, Nick was sitting at Catalyst looking at an article on the ...Lost website, and commented the story was stupid, wondered who the hell wrote it, and mentioned that Trigger Gumm was a really si
TANNER ROZUNKA BLOWING UP IN EL SALVADOR! Catalyst team rider and ...Lost surfboard fan Tanner Rozunko went to El Salvador recently with Surfer Mag photog Pat Stacy and blew up the poor, impoverished, civil war ravaged third world nation. Here's the first of many photos to come. photo by Jack English www.SurferMag.com ...Full Story
...LOST REP GONE WILD! Catalyst loves Southern Cal ...Lost Girls Rep Tracy, and we especially love it we find her gone wild. The pack of Catalyst idiots went to a concert recently to sneak a ...Lost banner on the stage. Scott from Unwritten Law played a set with his girlfriend Aimee, and Red Gun Radar headlined. Check the photos and stop by to check out all the new ...Lost gear. ...Full Story
FIFTH ANNUAL DRINK FOR A CAUSE WENT OFF AUG 2ND! Dean Randazzo was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Disease, a cancer of the lymph nodes in May of 2001. Over the next year, he went through many rounds of chemo and radiation, managing to not only surf throughout the duration, but to compete in the US Open and the WQS European leg, flying home for treatments in between contests. The cancer has been in remission since early 2002, but recently resurfaced. Luckily, it was caught early. Just a few days out of the hospital from an intense round of chemo and stem cell treatment, Dean Randazzo was on his feet and all smiles at the Dean Randazzo Cancer Founda ...Full Story
WHICH IS THE REAL JON JON PAD? We've had Jon Jon Florence's signature pad by Astrodeck on the rack for a little while now, but something curious happened the other day. A box showed up from DaKine with a signature Jon Jon pad in it. How is it that one grom can have two different signature pads by two different companies? We're not sure either, but it really doesn't matter, because we have them both! ...Full Story
THE ...LOST ART IS LOST! It is not actually lost, but it is by the ...Lost Surfboard artists. And these are examples of pieces that are sold and gone forever. We sell only original canvas. You won't find any prints of our art here or anywhere else. Even though you are completely unoriginal, you can finally claim something in your life as not a mainstream, uncreative, unimaginative, mass-produced, stale piece of crap. ...Full Story
NEW DENIM IN STOCK WITH TIGHT JEAN MODEL! We realize it is still as hot as Zimbabwe outside (and as hot as Uganda inside Catalyst), but our new denim kicks so much ass, literally, that we couldn't bare to keep it from you any longer. So come in and get your ass kicking denim right friggin now or Chuck Norris is coming for your fat ass! ...Full Story
PARTS OF THE ...LOSTWORD PUZZLE BRAINSTORMED AT CATALYST In the August 2006 Oversized Collector's Edition issue of Surfer Mag, you will find on pages 40 and 41 the ...Lostword Puzzle. The idea of a ...Lost-influenced crossword puzzle has been kicked around for years, according to former ...Lost graphic artist and current Catalyst freelance graphic artist Russ Risdon. But it wasn't until recently that it actually came to fruition. ...Lost flew Thom 'Tommynig' Lamb out from Dirty Jerz to pen his signature style of comical caricatures for the ad. Tommynig drew some of ...Lost's most notorious ads, such as Randall-Land and The Game of ...Lost.
...LOST RIDER DEAN RANDAZZO WITH HODGKINS RELAPSE About seven years ago, former WCT surfer Dean Randazzo was diagnosed with Hodgkins disease, a cancer of the lymph nodes. As he battled the cancer, he battled the WQS, actually flying home from the European leg of the tour for chemo treatments between contests, only to and fly back for heats. Dean beat the cancer, and has been in remission for over five years.
Dean stopped in the store recently to catch us up on what's going on with his health, and to give a friendly hello. He looked healthy as ever and had been biking and skateboarding regularly. He was on a break from his first few rounds
WHAT YOU DID NOT KNOW ABOUT JOHNNY THUNDERS... There's a lot more to the Thunderfoot than meets your lazy eye. Johnny's been in multiple punk rock bands, including the Green Police, which can be heard on occasion playing in the shop--sometimes even during business hours. He's also a sorta-kinda computer genius/geek and can hack your email password, photoshop your pic into very compromising positions within gay midget porn, and send out a mass email describing your new pastime if you cross him. We'd call Johnny our first team rider, but Yucky would get very upset, and some form of verbal altercation would ensue. ...Full Story
DINO ANDINO HAS THE MOTIVATION! DO YOU? Dino Andino stopped in the other morning at about 9 a.m., having already surfed in Oceanside. It was only about one foot here in San Clemente, and Dino was amping to surf, so he drove down to the harbor to find a two foot wave, no doubt ripping the way we all know he does. If a surfer like Dino's up at the crack of dawn surfing junk, what does that say about the rest of us kooks? Check out the photo of Dino at Todos (no really, it's not Oceanside), courtesy of www.azhiaziam.com. ...Full Story
DID CHUCKY UPCHUCK? OR DID HE MAKE IT? Chucky has been continually pulling up this sequence on the shop computer to show everyone and anyone that will pay attention (while he should be working!). We're getting sick of hearing him say "Sick one, huh?" as if he needs to tell the victim what to think of his photo before said victim comes up with an independent opinion, only to throw in the "huh?" to get the satisfaction of hearing the victim say, "yes Chucky, that is a sick one." We need your help in putting this one to rest. Take a good hard look at the sequence, and tell us if you think Chucky upchucked, or made it. For Chucky's sak ...Full Story
THUNDER DELETES HIS OWN QUOTES! Yesterday (June 9th), Thunderfoot came by the shop, found his way into the site and deleted some of his quotes. Apparently he didn't like what he had to say about getting equal 7th at the pier contest, so we'll now mention one of our favorites: "I'm going to enter the Boost and make the main event and then Mike (Reola) will pay for it (the entry fee)." Keep in mind the Boost refers to the WCT contest at Lowers. Also keep in mind that one has to make the top sixteen of the WQS the year prior to qualify for the WCT, thus joing the Top 44 surfers in the world. ...Full Story
WHO IS THE REAL NIKKI? Nichole goes by Nikki to her friends, as does Nikki the dog. They argued for a while about who the real Nikki is, and it came to a draw. Being that Catalyst is a democratic shop (except for when Biolos is here and it turns into a dictatorship), we're going to take a vote on who the real Nikki is. Email your vote to Matt@VecereMedia.com. If you include a witty explanation as to why you voted for your candidate, we'll send you a really crappy IPod case we can't seem to give away. ...Full Story
THE THUNDERFOOT IS BROKEN! Thunder hobbled into the shop the other day like a gimp who crossed the wrong S and M store. Apparently he was surfing the pier ("it was me, Yeomans, Ragenovich, and a bunch of kooks") and buckled his ankle. He brought in the x-rays as proof. If you look really close and squint even harder, you can kinda see something amiss on the x-ray. We lack a scanner, so just take our word for it. Needless to say (but we'll say it anyway), Thunder is out of the water, but deep in the Cammos, so stay tuned for more daily madness! (As you can see from the photo, he is wasting no time getting to the pass-ou ...Full Story
CHUCKY INTERVIEW IN CARBON MAG REVISITED Shop jocky Chucky Rigano had an interview in Carbon Mag recently (www.carbonmagazine.com). There's a small lifestyle photo that goes along with two action shots. But the real action isn't in the surfing as you can see by the uncropped version! ...Full Story
LOST BOARD DEMO THIS SATURDAY at PONTO Saturday June 3rd at Ponto Beach.
Lost is having a demo of all the latest shapes from Lost. On hand will be a wide range of boards including all models and all the new constructions (XTR, Aviso, S-core) for anyone to try. There will be plenty of food, Lost Energy Drinks and other giveaways. We'll be on the beach from 9am to 3pm so if you want to try out a new Lost - now is your chance. And if that’s not good enough, there’s a solid southern hemi showing up so you’ll have plenty of chances to put the boards to the test. (Check out Chucky's photo on the WCT model. He told us he's ripping and ...Full Story
NEW CHILLIS IN STOCK! There are twenty new Chillis in stock ranging from 5'10" to 6'6" with thumb and squash tails. They are all FCS, which is nice because you can plug the SOAR fins in for maximum drive and holding power in the pocket. ...Full Story
ONLINE STORE COMING SOON! No, Nichole is not available as a mail order bride! But, you can order any of our product and we will send it to you anywhere in the U.S. That includes all original canvas by the ...Lost artists, clothes, accessories, and our wide range of surfboards: MRs, ...Lost XTRs, polyesters and S-Cores, Chris Hawk single fins, all Aviso ...Lost models, and Placebos! ...Full Story
WHAT HAPPENED TO THE MINI-RAMP?! We at Catalyst never thought we were above the law; we just sometimes forget to pay attention to it. Case in point: we had a mini-ramp next to the shop, and now we don't. Apparently one needs a permit for such a thing, which was news to us. The City of San Clemente asked us to take the ramp apart, which we did. We are currently seeking a permit to LEGALLY build a new bowl out back of the shop. ...Full Story
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