Dennis Pang, North Shore Shaper / Designer / Surfer

I am in the shaping room of Dennis Pang a very well known shaper of surfboards, paddleboards and standup paddleboards in Hawaii and California. The topic of standup paddleboards is very hot and nowhere else in the world has it gotten to the stage that it is in Hawaii. And with that in mind our conversation began.

What you see out in the water now days is the combination of the designer/ shaper and the riders that has taken it to the next level. I got involved with standups last year. I was being asked to shape a standup about 2 years ago and I wasn’t into it so, then I started to try it and sorta like it, I kept it up and it was fun. Then I realized the benefits from it and got into the design of it. Since I was making surfboards and paddleboards why not make standup. Being a designer/ shaper you go about improving shapes. I like doing that. It’s a cross between surfing and paddleboarding which I have been doing for years and years.

When you talk about surfing paddleboards you want a combination of speed and maneuverability and you want it to be stable. You can’t surf a standup board like you could on a longboard for the average guy, just because its that much more bigger. But yeah there are guys that are so good at it, their like surfing a longboard.

The boards are more refined and shorter because the last couple of years the ability of the guys that are into it has risen so much that the boards have gotten shorter and really, really foiled out and maneuverable. The stability aspect doesn’t come into play as much as it did a year and half ago. The guys that have been doing it are into their 3rd and 4th boards.

“Its like the whole changing of the design reminds me of the late 60’s to the early 70’s, that transition of going from long to short boards”. Things were changing so quick like every couple of months, 6 months the design would change and that’s what I’m seeing. Its pretty exciting you know.

Because the level of surfing standup board is getting is better. The good guys are getting more refined equipment. Thing are changing all the time. If you made longboards it’s a pretty simple transition to go into the standup boards. You’re changing the bulk of the boards and the thickness of the board and the outline of course. The waves have not change yeah, the rocker and board is not going to change that much because the wave is the same.

When you surf a longboard or standup and so all you are doing is making it more conducive to standup paddling, so you’re making it wider and thicker, the bottom is a little different than a longboard. The basic stuff is the same. Yeah I’m using Styrofoam and Epoxy. I use regular PU foam as well. Depends what the consumer wants a light board, a lively board, more strength and durability then I give them the PU foam the Poly Urethane foam. Because the standup boards are pretty cumbersome they want it light.


front view of the standup board

Do you standup paddle? Yeah when its glassy and small I like to go out. I’m not going to give up surfing. You can go around and find spots that no one is around and tour around. Whats neat about it when its glassy and flat its tranquil and you go check out the reef.

The transition from standup distant boards and the paddleboard base board is simple for me, because the distant standup paddleboards are base off of my paddleboards which I have been doing for like 15 years. So all I am doing like I said the wave, the ocean doesn’t change, the trough doesn’t change in the open ocean it stays the same. So all I’m doing is taking that rocker that I been working with for 15 years and has been improved upon. Throwing that basic rocker into that standup board and caring out an outline that is comfortable to stand up on. And changing the bottom laterally a little bit with concave, double concave, and whatever.

But the rocker the same as a paddleboard you know, the theory the same. Now you are looking at a different perspective, now you’re reading the water from a whole nother, your elevated versus laying down or paddling on your knees. You got to read the water a little differently but it’s the same thing the water hasn’t change, it the same. You got to take some hard strokes to get into the bumps you know. That’s the interesting part of building those distant standup race boards. When you are on a distant paddleboard you’re still going to be center. The rocker is not going to be effected that much. To me that is one of the crucial things.

You have to take into consideration the ability of the person you are building the board for just like a surfboard. What level they are at the time they order their board, be it a short board, longboard, paddleboard or standup. Custom making a board, that the cool thing of trying to put it all together, giving him the right equipment.

I pay attention to what everybody is making in all aspect to the boards. Be it short, longboards, distant paddleboards, and standups. Looking at it from a shaper and designer point of view, just really paying attention. The approaches in all aspect of shaping is the same.

I like to ride short boards more than longboards, I like riding longboard in the summer. I like the short board because I just like riding a short board. I grew up in the longboard era and the transition from long to short was easy. My shortest short board is a 5’ 8” and I ride a 10 foot Waimea Gun and I have boards in between. I make boards for the size of wave and not so much for practical spot.

I started surfing in the early 60’s, early 60’s 62 I would say. My first surfboard was a balsa 9’0” from a guy named Joe Daniels, my dad use to be a Beach Boy and knew a lot guys who made boards. That’s the first board I had, I wish I had that board. It was a beautiful board and then my next board was a Surfboards Hawaii, I wish I had that again. When I was 10 years old I really got into surfing. Gerry Lopez and Randy Rarick were my neighbors and we would surf Toe’s Reef.



7' 0" roundpin

Who did you learn to shape from? I learned from Gerry Lopez and Buddy Dumphy. Gerry was my neighbor when I was growing up. He use to make boards in his garage when I was a kid. Gerry got a job shaping at Surfline Hawaii and ghost shaping for Brewer. Buddy Dumphy was also shaping at Surfline. They taught me how to shape and glass boards.


6' 5" L, 20 3/4" W, 2 7/16" T

I started stripping old longboards from my friends and made boards. After Gerry left Surfline I got a job there because he started Lightning Bolt. Eventually I went over to Lightning Bolt and shaped for them as well. It was around that time the boards were changing and it reminds me of what is going on now with the standup thing. After Lightning Bolt I was with Local Motion for a couple of years and Town and Country for 22 years. Then I started my own thing the last 5 years. It allowed me to get into different aspect of shaping. That’s how I got started


Dennis Pang 12' Paddleboard

Did you do the Molakai to Oahu Paddleboard Race? Yeah 6 or 7 times. I didn’t do the solo, but teams. I always went teams. I find that enjoyable because its not so, to paddle 7 hours is pretty knarley. The training to get there, to do that comfortably takes a lot of time. I could do but I would be killing myself. What I think you would need to do is start about 2 months out and train and train be really focused and regimented.

To do it with a partner is a good thing for me and easier and its fun with a team. You see the race develop from the boat, you see where everyone is going, the different course people take. You start losing sight of guys. In teams you do switches and when a guys get tired, you have another guy jump in and take over for 20 minutes or so.

You go 100 percent, where if you go solo you pace yourself and be really smart you know. When to peak, you don’t want to burn out, a steady pace and know your body. You have to go 32 miles, no ones going to give you a break. For me to do the team thing is more fun. First of all I don’t have the time to train and second I like to see the race develop and you can change course with the GPS. See who is going faster.

There is a lot a factor involved in that race, its like a chess game. You really got to put it together you know, 5 days out you begin to read the weather. You look at the tide, the swell forecast, what the wind will be doing that day and what the currents will be doing. The tide will effect the current , the current changes in 7 hours depending on the tide. So, all those factor will determine the course you are going to take to Oahu. Where you want to hit Oahu, where you want to go up against a cliff or where you want to go straight into Port Lock or come in by Sandy’s or Koko Head or Hanauma Bay or take a direct shot.

All those factor you got to figure out, and everybody has their game plan. You really have to have a good captain because he could really screw you up big time. That has happen a lot of times to a lot of teams and individuals. On team its easier because you have a GPS on a boat, you know where you are going, you’re following the Rhumb line.

Knowing how far out you are and if you are going in a straight line taking in the drift. The guy in the boat has to tell you where you’re at. You don’t have any references until you get close to Oahu, so most of the way you rely on the captain. On an individual basis it would be wise to have a GPS on your board or compass for a least the half way mark.

For thirty minutes at the start of the race no one is going to tell you where you are going. Your boat has to wait to let everyone fan out at the start. After that the boat has to find their paddlers. If you are off line after 30 minutes that is a big course change. That is why you need instrumentation, unless you can keep an eye on the fastest guy you know.

The cutoff for the race is 90 guys. First come first serve and the race committee has the right to determine if an individual is worthy (qualified) for the race. They are not going to let anyone in the race. There is a lot of liability crossing the channel. There have been previous winner that have quit the race because of cramps or burnt out or many other things.

There was this one time Dennis was on the escort boat for Aaron Napolean in the open class. He was more than half way through and was leading the race and he started to slow down. Dennis and George Downing were on the boat. Aaron started to cramp up, then his whole body started to cramp up and he started to slide into the water. Dennis dove in and got him after he fell into the water and Aaron's brothers jump in and help pushed him onto his board.

They were 10 to 12 miles from the finish line and Napolean still wanted to finish the race but they told him the race was over for him. The Channel can take a toll on anybody. The cutoff for the race is 9 hours. If you are not in within 9 hours you are done, they come pick you up. It a neat thing to do, but you have to be prepared.


Chris Owens and Dennis Pang right at the 2005 Labor Day Paddleboard finish line at Haleiwa. Chris is the only paddleboarder to paddle to Kauai in modern day paddling