Where Does Ryan Burch Draw His Shaping Inspiration From?

In collaboration with Uluwatu Surf Villas.

‘I’ve never heard a cunt get a Burch and say they’re shit,” said filmmaker Wade Carroll of Mikey Wright’s Parallelograming in Repeater. 

Me neither.

The first batch of Burch Mikey ordered was a four-pack. Almost immediately afterwards, and in true Mongrel fashion, he went way bigger. 17 boards, give or take a picklefork.

He was hooked. 

“Those boards go so good it’s insane”, added Wade. “Even I jumped on one and could feel a spark. I was like ‘no wonder these guys are ripping’. They were just gliding through sections and responding so fast.”

At this point, hearing another flattering review of a Burch feels pointless.

He won Dane Reynolds’ EAST, had Steph and Caity on Cloud 9, opened the mind of our editor-in-chief, Mikey C, to a world beyond jamming three to the beach.

For Bryce Young, one of his key collaborators over the years, the appeal fundamentally comes down to speed. 

“You don’t have to work for speed the same way you do on conventional boards,” he told Stab. “I don’t want to discredit symmetrical board design because obviously they have their place, and work great. But Burch boards for me are the epitome of thoughtfulness and function.”

Enough waffling.

Here’s some wisdom from the horses’ mouth, courtesy of Uluwatu Surf Villas, who had him stay over for a shaping residency at their state-of-the-art compound. He touches on everything from the first board he ever shaped, to his ‘breakthrough’ moment after shaping himself 40 boards for Indo, to the satisfaction of giving top pros new experiences of waveriding.

“You can solve all the problems you have in the water by what you’re able to shape in the shaping room,” says Burch. “And elevate your connection with wave riding, and surprise yourself, and ride something that you just sweat it over. It just makes the experience that much better.”

By the end of his stay at USV, he left with 31 boards: 12 hand-shaped customs and 19 cut shapes. Enough to go back into hiding/surf mode for another few months. 

Some people really have got it all figured out.