Coby Perkovich Joins Town And Country Surf Designs; They’re Giving Away A Board To Celebrate

A number of months ago the heritage brand Town & Country was revived. 

A surf brand set-up in 1971 in Hawaii by Craig Sugihara that once heralded names such as Larry Bertlemann, Dane Kealoha, Archy and Christian Fletcher, as well Bruce and Andy Irons in their young and impressionable years.

As with myriad other surf brands, Town and Country went off the map for a number of years in the international market but still maintained a strong presence in its Hawaiian homeland. Now Town and Country have revived their range of timeless designs – which were quick to sell out – and of course, these clothes sit alongside a list of boards that span from an 80’s style twin made famous by Martin ‘Pottz’ Potter and more modern, HP shortboards ridden by the likes of Billy Kemper and other Hawaiian heavies. 

Town and Country have a stacked roster of shapers—Glenn Pang, Ian Byrne, Gunther Rohn—and now they’re adding another name to the list. Except this time he’s a shaper/surfer who’s also the first Australian to join the team. His name is Coby Perkovich, a gent Stab is quite fond of. 

To welcome Coby to the team Town and Country have dropped a little clip. Prior to linking up with Town and Country Coby was shaping and riding his own boards under the moniker, System 101, and the shaper of his boards isn’t about to change either. Coby will continue to shape and the HP model he and T&C are planning to release this Australian summer. 

Coby’s surfing mightn’t emulate the typical rail-focused, heavy tube approach which most would associate with the brand, but his surfing goes to show just how versatile these boards are.

Below is a little interview with Coby about his recent deal. Details on the board giveaway are also below.  

Stab: Coby! I hear you’re a Town and Country boy now?

Coby Perkovich: Embreyo! You heard correctly. It’s been a couple of months actually.

So how did all this come about, last time you were riding your own boards and now you’re riding Glenn Pangs? What’s the go?

The boards I’m riding are a mix of boards I shaped as well as a Glenn Pang twin fin. I’ve also got a model coming out with them at the end of the year too — a shortboard, HP sort of model [laughs]. Then all the Pang’s and stuff are sick to ride as well. It gets me onto different boards and also broadens my own shaping horizons. 

It’s sick cause nothing really changes board wise, I can still make my own boards and ride them myself which is something I’ve always enjoyed. 

Town and Country have got some super retro, 80’s style boards, which I back, but it’s not like I have to go out and surf those boards all the time—I can obviously still ride my typical shortboard shapes [laughs]. I’m riding a more diverse range of boards than ever and can also mix with other shapers and learn from some more experienced dudes.  

How does it work when you’re riding one of Pang’s board and learning about the process?

I actually spoke with Glenn when I picked up a couple of boards and shapes. I just wanted to find out how he went about making these boards. You don’t wanna be some dude who picks up a board or shape and thinks they’re sick cause they can shape a board as well; you want to find out how the original shaper does it, then you learn and improve your own approach to designing and shaping boards. 

He was a super nice dude – told me about his process and I picked up a couple tips – and I’m enjoying riding a few shapes different to my usual boards. 

That clip is all new boards you’ve shaped and recent stuff then?

Yeah it’s all around home from the last couple months. It’s short and sweet, the waves weren’t great unfortunately but it’s still came out sick. The whole idea behind it is to try and mimic that old school video game ‘California Games’, which if you know the game makes sense [laughs]. 

The last week and a half I’ve actually been logging out the front of my house [on the Gold Coast] because the surfs been pretty average. Super low key, I’ve actually been enjoying it.

I’m still looking forward to getting back into some better waves and working on both my shaping and surfing. 

Coby, a Pang twin, a Ian Byrne shaped ‘twin-byrner’ and a range of self-shaped models.

What else is in the pipe for old Coby then, now that you’re a ‘legitimate’ surfer-slash-shaper? [Laughs].

Well I’m going to Sumatra in a couple of weeks [Ed’s note: this trip has now been and gone, expect a clip soon]. I just want to start working on a longer clip. I want to get a few clips with some slabby stuff, mix it up from the usual clips around home.

It’ll be nice to get out of the Gold Coast as well. I did a sick trip down to Tassie with Adelio a couple of months back, the waves were funky, but it’s nice getting away from the masses around home and into some different waves. I’m pretty psyched to take the Pang twin over to Sumatra.  

In the next year I just want to put out [a clip] I’m really psyched on. I’m pretty hard on myself with my surfing, everyone is, but I feel like if I’m not up there surfing to a similar level with guys like Chip and other mates then I don’t want to upload anything. You know what it’s like.

Well, I don’t really, I’ve never done an air in my life…

You could go back to booging…

[Laughs] enough about my prone past, what else you got on?

Other than that trip I don’t have much else planned. You’ve got to put me in the next Stab High and you should also tell Ashton to get me on one of those No Contest clips, we need a bit more of a bogan host. 

Seriously though, I’m just looking forward to being able to surf and still shape boards at the same time. With Town and Country I feel like I’m a part of it all, actually shaping my own boards, talking with other shapers and having a shortboard model in the pipeline for the end of the year. I’m psyched. 

And now for the giveaway.

The Saint twinny – designed by Glenn Pang – is Town and Country’s most popular model and they’ve decided its also the best board to be giving away. It’s based on the boards that Martin ‘Pottz’ Potter rode throughout the 80’s on the way to his ’89 world title, now it’s just been upgraded with a slightly fuller outline with a few other minor tweaks to make it more of an all rounder when the surf’s a little worse.

It comes with a retro green and gold colourway and you can even get glass-in fins if you want to stay true to its origins, otherwise you can grab one with FCS-2 or Futures setups.

To potentially win one of these boards all you need to do is sign up to Town & Country’s newsletter by clicking this link right here and following the prompts. 

The kind people at T & C are also giving away a couple clothing packs, so if you don’t take out top prize you might get a couple of consolation garments for the incoming spring. 

Alternatively, if you’d rather just order yourself a custom board or peruse their range of apparel, then slide over to T & C’s site by clicking this hyperlink. 

Town & Country’s Saint, designed and shaped by Glenn Pang. Torn apart by Martin Potter and now put through it’s paces by the young Coby Perk.