About
Banh Pho' was started back in 1996 after a less than stellar outcome on a custom board I had ordered. The request was a copy of an old plank from one of all time greats of shaping. It was his design. He built the board I had brought to him for reference and just mumbled "yeah, yeah" as I described the slight modifications I wanted to make to the board. Nothing crazy, just the addition of a modernized outline (one of his) matched to the old classic foil and rail profile. Six weeks later, I got something almost unrecognizable to the original and that was it.
Like most small enterprise BP was born of the idea that "No one is ever going to be able to interpret my ideas as well as I can so I'll just do it myself."
My heros were always guys like George Downing, John Kelly, Wally Froiseth, Greg Noll, Dale Velzy and Hobie Alter.
Master Waterman AND master craftsman. The guys that made their own gear and then went out and pushed it as far as they could.
Somewhere along the line I found myself in the middle of the Kaiwi Channel - that one separates the islands of Molokai and Oahu - on a stand up paddleboard I had built myself wearing shorts I had sewn myself and I realized that somehow I had found my way.
That led to the expansion of what to me "surfing" actually was.
All of a sudden surfing meant riding waves on a board, or with swim fins, or catching bumps in a canoe or on a paddleboard. It was no longer limited to the narrow strip of ocean known as the surf zone.
More recently, with the introduction of hydrofoils, the vision has expanded even further opening up lakes, rivers and any other body of water with enough wind fetch to generate swell. Surfing has truly become a global sport.
All it takes is an open mind and a willingness to step outside the comfort zone.
This is what Banh Pho' is about. Crafting the highest quality watercraft, one at a time, fusing modern high tech materials and maufacturing processes with old world aesthetic and style.
The past and the future right here in the now.
Thank you for stopping in.
Sincerely, Lazymodo
