Surf Cat

SURFER and Dragon are proud to announce the winner of the 2020 Resin Roundup competition: resin artist Austin Walker representing East Coast surfboard heavyweight Wave Riding Vehicles.

In its second year running, the Resin Roundup continues to be a unique opportunity to shine a bright spotlight on the behind-the-scenes heroes who help define surf culture by creating some of its most beautiful surfcraft. By putting these gorgeous boards and their makers front-and-center in an audience-voted showdown, these incredible craftsmen get to enjoy a rare-but-well-deserved moment of recognition from the surfing public.

For this year’s competition, Dragon and SURFER commissioned boards featuring abstract resin art from eight surfboard brands and their affiliated surf shops. In the days leading up to the competition, SURFER’s online audience got to know each resin artist through a series of profiles detailing their storied careers, how they found their resin aesthetics and what they love about building ineffably-beautiful surfboards.

When competition kicked off, fans voted via SURFER’s Instagram stories, where each board was shown in high-definition video to showcase the nuances and subtleties that make each entry truly unique.  After three rounds, seven head-to-head matchups and tens of thousands of votes, the iconic East Coast surf brand Wave Riding Vehicles edged out New Jersey’s own Heritage Surf and Sport and shaper/artist Brian Wynn for the win.

“I’m just stoked to be representing the East Coast and happy for the guys in our factory,” said winning resin artist Austin Walker. “To be in the mix with artists like Son of Cobra, who I’ve followed for years, was awesome.”

“What an honor it is to see Austin, our brand and team represented among such an esteemed group of board brands and artists,” added WRV owner LG Shaw.

“It was a privilege to be competing with such iconic surf shop/board manufacturers,” said Heritage’s Kevin Morris. “It’s rad to see Dragon and SURFER supporting grass roots initiatives like this and impressive to see how big our communities came out to support.”

To support the surf shops involved in the competition, all of which have been affected by the mandatory business closures earlier in the year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, most of the gorgeous boards from this year’s Resin Roundup competition will be available for purchase starting August 4^th, 2020 on SURFER.com, with proceeds heading right back to the shops.

SURFER and Dragon started Resin Roundup in 2019 to celebrate the incredible artistry that lives throughout the surfboard industry, which inspired Dragon’s Rob Machado Resin Collection of sunglasses.

ABOUT SURFER

In 1960, SURFER Magazine began as the original surf media brand.  With a long history of delivering provocative and insightful editorial features, revealing interviews, award-winning, state-of-the-art photography and premium video content, SURFER remains the iconic voice of the surfing world and thus earned the moniker “The Bible of the Sport.” Through its website, social media channels, streaming programming, events and magazine, SURFER continues to be the leading source of compelling content in the surf community.  SURFER is published by American Media, Inc. To learn more, visit surfer.com.

ABOUT DRAGON

Based in San Clemente, California, Dragon is an internationally recognized, leading performance eyewear brand for those seeking craftsmanship, high-level performance and innovative design. Since 1993, our world class collection of athletes and ambassadors helped pioneer and inspire our wide range of products, while our heritage in surf and snow culture illustrates our ongoing celebration of an active, impassioned lifestyle. By focusing on technical breakthroughs and progressively designed products, Dragon has become a leader in premium eyewear offerings. For more information on Dragon’s premium goggles and eyewear, visit dragonalliance.com.