With the Portuguese leg of the WSL just around the corner we took some time out to live like a local and hang out with the Lisbon Crooks. An energetic enigmatic bunch that have been making surfboards since at least ‘last weekend’ as they told us…
Trust them? We didn’t have much choice… Luckily there was more than enough substance to back up their front.
It wasn’t too pretty in the early days, the boards we used to ride weren’t legit.
The team came together and began shaping boards as they wanted ‘to give back something to those that love the waves and the ocean and would love to have a surfboard.’
The story begins with the crew riding on anything they could lay their hands on; begged, borrowed and probably more than likely stolen.
Any monkey can shape boards according to the Lisbon Crooks
“It wasn’t too pretty in the early days” Bruno ‘Pato’ Gomes told us,
“The boards we used to ride weren’t legit and I think we are trying now to redeem ourselves - we grew up in a Catholic culture and don’t want to end up in hell,” he added
“Luckily those days are over and now we can concentrate on the important things. Our aim now is to put a smile on people’s face, like the one we had when we caught our first waves.”
“The goal is to create quality surfboards without people spending too much money.”
A custom NORDIC board from The Crooks. Designed for their friends in the north (Germany, Denmark & Sweden)
“We try to design our boards specifically for the people that love the ocean and just wanna have fun in the waves. We don’t make boards for surfers or competitions - you would probably finish last. We make them just to have fun. Our goal is simple, our boards are simple, and our prices fair.”
“We don’t like to label ourselves in the whole ‘handmade craftsman’ nonsense you see everywhere now, because the truth is that even monkeys can shape a surfboard if they learn - we are those monkeys.”
The R-FIXE Fish and a retro fish at that
“And the truth is that our surfboards are shaped by only using one hand, because the other one is always holding a glass of wine. So we can never be compared to all these amazing shapers out there, but our surfboards are going to make you so happy to surf that you will want to live longer.”
“Plus we are probably the only surfboard makers that give you a nice bottle of wine with every board. Even if the board sucks at least you can drink the wine.”
As well as boards The Crooks also offer surf tours and rentals, or if you fancy something a little more relaxed you can pop by for dinner… Wine, of course, comes as standard.
To find out more visit www.lisboncrooksandsurfers.com
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