Greg Griffin RIP

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Phil Edwards status
Jul 30, 2003
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A funny GG story that the Design Forum will appreciate.........:cool:

I'm in Hawaii with the family about 10 years ago, for a quick getaway, over Thanksgiving. The week before we're scheduled to arrive, GG texts me a screenshot of the WAY OUTTA MY LEAGUE surf forecast, along with a cryptic note that simply said 'Get ready to duck dive' :oops: .

Between the surf on the NS being way too big for me during my stay, having the pro tour in town at the same time and having the entire family with me, I decided not to bring any boards with me and would just deal with it, if needed.

I told GG this and he said that he had one or two demo boards floating around and that I was also more than welcome to any of his personal boards. Over the course of my stay, we were trying to organize a get together and then he called and said that an off the beaten path NS spot would be completely manageable in the next day or two and that he would gladly take me.

The morning of our rendezvous, GG picks me up at first light in his legendary mini van and has a board all ready to go for me, set up as a quad, as he knows that's my preferred choice. We drive to this spot and paddle out into a mostly all local crowd and I ended up actually getting a few really fun and not so scary waves. His board worked insane and when we were back at the van I told him how much I enjoyed it and how stoked I was on it.

He just kinda shrugged his shoulders and nonchalantly said 'My boards are OH-KAY', which was a little surprising to me.

THEN, a gleam suddenly came over his eyes, along with a smile on his face, and he quickly said 'But my FINS are where it's at. They're my secret sauce'.
 

kool-aid

Michael Peterson status
Aug 28, 2003
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San Francisco
Wow, this is absolutely devastating.

Can't say I was a huge fan of his contributions but no one deserves to go out like this.

Rode a motorcycle for two years and decided to quit while I was well ahead. Haven't looked back since.

RIP Greg. I'm sure he's lecturing folks on surfboard history and design somewhere up in heaven... or in hell.

Also, could this be the crash?


Was Greg 46? Seemed like he was more like 56... Or even 106.
 

haar

Michael Peterson status
Apr 28, 2011
1,892
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Oceanside
I never really talked to Greg but I do know I really wanted one of his twin fins after he posted a sexy pic of a good looking red board posed on a couch. I learned how to take pictures of boards from him on here after he was ranting about it. R I P GG
 

92122

Michael Peterson status
Jul 29, 2015
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Wow, this is absolutely devastating.

Can't say I was a huge fan of his contributions but no one deserves to go out like this.

Rode a motorcycle for two years and decided to quit while I was well ahead. Haven't looked back since.

RIP Greg. I'm sure he's lecturing folks on surfboard history and design somewhere up in heaven... or in hell.

Also, could this be the crash?


Was Greg 46? Seemed like he was more like 56... Or even 106.
Greg was not 46. Search his recent posts where he says he was 70+. Has to be the wrong article.

Plus didn't he live closer to the east / Atlantic shore?
 
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oneula

Miki Dora status
Jun 3, 2004
4,363
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Mahalo Bob great GG story
I think Greg would like this one too

In the late 90's early 2000's as I was getting hooked on this crazy design from Jeff Alexander at HIC I pulled up to one of my home breaks (johns for those that know) for a pre-dawn go out. Already in the lineup were two old time lineup buddies Alan and Kevin. Both had ridden for T&C and Griffin in the past and Kevin was still bumming free boards from Greg. Anyway Kevin was just tearing apart anything coming his way with unbelievable speed faster than what I was getting pumping my air bubbled Gemini down the line. When I got out to the lineup he showed me this little fish he was riding which had this this really weird fin setup with three small rear fins all in a line. When I asked, he told me Greg had made the board and he really like it. Alan also had a Griffin longboard but it was just a thruster. Months later the son of the manager of the RussK shop on Kapiolani came out on his 5 fin Griffin longboard and couldn't stop talking about his board. This was when all the wave hogs were riding those HP channel bottom longboards that lance and zane were riding in town before the SUP. Not long after I ran into another lineup cohort riding another shaper's attempted copy of the design on a small fish and he was loving it.

Intrigued, I got the courage to cold call GG up to ask about getting a custom ended up talking to him to 2 hours on that first call with a least an hour sitting in my car after pulling into my driveway. He asked a million questions and after hearing that I surfed with Alan and Kevin whom he knew, he knew the kind of surf I would use the board in and a 6'2" flat rockered 5 fin fish was concocted.

Weeks later while I was waiting for my board I ran into an old family friend who grew up surfing with us at SC/Haubush and since he had worked TC and Blue Hawaii I asked him if he knew anything about GG and his 5 fin design. Cyril said GG especially his 5 fin was a great catch. He said that when he was at BH he came across Greg's 5 fin design but that Eric said it was a piece of junk. But then he checked with Dane who told him it was a legit design and one of his favorite boards and that Eric was full of it. Cyril said he kind of lost respect for Eric after that for making a judgement with out even trying it. So at least I had an independent confirmation from a family friend that what I was getting into was going to be worth it. While I was waiting for my custom, Greg let my brother and I borrow a twin design(fins pushed back) he said would blow our minds and although the board was a little to small for me, my brother has a blast testing it out. Almost a decade later I would end up buying Cyril's Felix tail as a backup to my custom EPS Felix tail.

At first like the Gemini, I had difficulty figuring out Greg's board until he told me where to put my rear foot. And after that I had my turbocharger with out the need for the Gemini hyper concave air bubble, in fact his bottom was completely flat with hard edges all around and sashimi sharp fins. "A thruster on steroids" as he told me.

And that's how I ended up in GG's "fellowship of fun" world.
Little did I know what an up down and up ride it would be over the next couple of decades.

So much design knowledge/experience lost these past couple of years, with the passing of Morey, Aipa, Brewer, Cino, Harbour, Ando, Becker, Griffin and others.
 

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Phil Edwards status
Jul 30, 2003
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Everyone on the GG G-10 bandwagon remember to check that grub screw snugness extra careful going forward.
So funny you posted this, because on Sunday afternoon I was about to paddle out on my GG Mini Longboard, into our solid swell, and randomly remembered GG telling me years ago 'Always make sure these fins are tight' and thought to myself 'Holy Sh!t, I don't know that I've ever tightened these things in the 2.5 years since I got this board from him'......sure enough, all 4 fins needed some turns.
 

ghostshaper

Phil Edwards status
Jan 22, 2005
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I was getting out of the water at diamond Head, and an older guy asked me about the board in the parking lot.

At the time, Greg was living on that side, so I told him he was local. He said something like, "yeah, I know." Guess he was just curious on my take. Thought it was funny, but couldn't figure out if Greg was famous or infamous.
 

$kully

Duke status
Feb 27, 2009
59,997
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Damn.

I used to love giving him a hard time about things over in the political forum. This really puts things in perspective when it comes to the mostly futile and endless bickering that goes on in those parts. We didn’t see eye to eye on much, but all the best to those that love him. RIP GG :beer:
 

santacruzin

Kelly Slater status
Oct 17, 2007
8,831
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valley purgatory
GG made me and Buoymakers brother a couple boards for my pandemic indo trip. He had to crank them out and quick in the middle of pandemic.
Then he got sick.

He is sending me updates the entire time, complaining about being sick because he has so much stuff to do.
Gets the boards to us in time and they are perfect as always.

one of kind.
 

Sharkbiscuit

Duke status
Aug 6, 2003
26,252
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Jacksonville Beach
So funny you posted this, because on Sunday afternoon I was about to paddle out on my GG Mini Longboard, into our solid swell, and randomly remembered GG telling me years ago 'Always make sure these fins are tight' and thought to myself 'Holy Sh!t, I don't know that I've ever tightened these things in the 2.5 years since I got this board from him'......sure enough, all 4 fins needed some turns.
They give me much less angstxiety now that they're notched up but when I first had them and was trying them in different boards the freshly tightened G-10 would loosen up. If I ever blow a GG keel out I'm going to scour the zone flounder-mode trying to find it.

It's 9:05pm. Do you know where your GG G-10s are?