Roberts Surfboards

by Mignonne Hubina April 11, 2017

Robert Weiner of Roberts Surfboards awarded Shaper of the Year for 2011 by Surfing Magazine (January 2011 edition).

Surfing Magazine began awarding a “Shaper of the Year” in 2002 with a who’s who list of top shapers in the world. The selection process involved past winners, magazine staff and the buzz being discussed by surfers, both professional and general.

Robert began shaping surfboards in his parents garage at age 12 which eventually lead to him working at McCrystal Surfboards in 1990 until he ventured on his own and started Roberts Surfboards in 1994. The driving force behind Robert’s surfboards designs was constant refinement from riders’ feedback and his own experiences (Robert surfs most days of the week and still competes in the NSSA) in order to push the limits of performance surfboard designs.

Within his home territory of Ventura County, California, Robert is well known for his surfboard designs but in 2008 the word started spreading about a magic board he created. Long time Roberts Surfboard’s professional team riders Sean Hayes and Adam Virs along with Robert Weiner were creating a shorter surfboard design and placed a diamond tail on the outline. With the adjustments made to the design the board was ready for a test surf. Before taking the board out, an employee (Robert Howe aka Rico) named the board the “White Diamond” and the name stuck. After the first test ride on new model, Sean Hayes called Robert and stated that the board was magic!

As additional team riders started to ride the board a buzz began to grow both in the water and online, most notably on Surfer Magazine’s Design Forum (to date, the thread has received over 180,000 views and over 2,000 comments ranking it as the most viewed and discussed forum in the world). Propelling the buzz about the “White Diamond” further was a short video posted by Surfing Magazine interviewing Robert about the design and showing one of the Top Surfers in World, Dane Reynolds riding the board. Another notable surfer, number #2 in the ASP Jordy Smith, has used Roberts Surfboards in competition and free surfing.

As the White Diamond continues to gain popularity other Roberts Surfboards designs have continued to deliver results for both general surfers and Team Riders. Past and current team riders have enjoyed competition results riding Roberts Surfboards including two surfers that broke the NSSA record for most wins in one season, Cory Arrambide, with 21 wins, and Kanoa Igarashi, with 28 wins. Dillon Perillo (sponsored by Rip Curl & DC Shoes) made five Pro Junior finals in row, also a new record.