What is Jackd Skimboards?
The Legend of Jack’d Skimboards started on Whidbey Island, located on the far Northwest corner of the United States, in the arm pit of the Puget Sound. Whidbey Island offered premium flatland skim conditions with low tides stretching as far as the eye could see. Tired of riding cheaply made mass produced skimboards that did not work we decided to take matters into our own hands, designing the first Jack’d prototypes in the year of 1999. We skimboarded ritualistically that summer day or night, rain or shine, the beach was a second home for us. We soon came up with a fresh name for our skimboard posse using the first letters of each our names: the J was owned by John, A was represented by Auston, C controlled by Connor, K standing for kyle, and D dominated by Duncan. Kyle did not remain in the group long, and was replaced by a local celebrity Kramer the dog, who became our mascot. With each summer our skill, style, and steeze would progress, we would always be pushing the limits. Using influences from snowboarding and skateboarding we incorporated custom made rails and jumps into our daily sessions. The skimboard addiction was spreading rapidly on Whidbey Island. Soon we were making boards for many friends and fellow islanders. We experimented with new board designs, types of wood and resins until we found the perfect match. We were no longer kids making skimboards out of scrap plywood; we had become finely tuned skimboard craftsmen. Stoked to share the joy of the skim with as many people as possible we decided to sign up for a locally based art festival, called Choochokam. We handpainted around 35 boards and to our amazement sold all but 2. It was at this moment that we realized that we wanted to continue producing gourmet skimboards. Our company is continuously growing and improving, fueled by influences from friends, family, and the skimboard community. We are proud to be a rider owned and operated company that revolves around self expression through art and skimboarding.
Who started Jackd skimboards?
The Unparalleled freedom of skimboarding was passed down to me from a friend by the name of James. For my 13th birthday we baught a piece of plywood and he helped me design my first skimboard. He soon got me addicted to skimboarding, which was so undeveloped at the time we were the only ones at the beach riding. When summer ended James headed off to college, for months I rode by myself but it felt like somthing was missing. None of my friends had skimboards so I solved that problem, which eventually is how Jack’d Skimboards got started.
Who rides for Jackd skimboards?
Everyone who is involed with the company skimboards, we have a small team of rippers that help us push the limits as far as they can go, we really want to expand the team this year. Last summer was dissapointing for us because we were so busy working in the lab we didint have a chance to hit up all the competitions and do the things we really wanted to do. I am stoked for this summer because we are more established and will have more time to ride the glide.
Where is Jackd Skimboards based out of?
We are based off Whidbey Island, Washington. Our headquarters where we do all our in house design and manufacturing is in Langley.
What separates Jackd skimboards from the rest of the skim companies out there right now?
There are many things that seperate Jack’d Skimboards from all the other skimboarding companys. One we are selling High Quality hand crafted skimboards at a price people can afford, lots of the skimboards in the market are cheap crap from China. We like to keep things simple by using enviromentally sustainable materials, the superior grade wood and our twin tip design will provide the longest skims possible. Our design process allows for complete customization utilizing the customers own unique design idea. Their input makes them a part of our design team and the outcome is a guaranteed one of a kind board. No other skimboard companys offer anything close to the variety of options we have. We also offer a wide variety of clothing to accomodate the lifestyle of skimboarding.
What do you think about the recent explosion of interest in skimboarding?
Looking back 5 years ago, flatland skimboarding has developed so quickly its amazing. I believe that skimboarding is growing so quickly because it is such a versatile sport. There are so many places you can skimboard its unreal; rivers, lakes, ponds, tideflats, wavebreaks, wet grass, slip and slides, etc… Also with skimboarding there are no expenses except the cost of buying a board and maybe some wax every once and while. Snowboarding for example you have clothing, bindings, board, boots, and a ticket each time you go up. By the time you have all the gear required to do it your looking at about $1,000.
Where do you see skimboarding going in the future?
I see Flatland skimboarding in the X-Games, designated rail parks at specific beachs and fabricated skimboard parks in big citys where kids dont have a place to ride, really the bottom line is the sky is the limit its up to the skimboard community to push it as far as we want it to go. Its great to see people working together to organize international skim jams, or people using their own time to create websites like skimboardculture thats what is going to push skimboarding to the next level.