Jeff Rowley On His Signature Airbrush

If you have been paying attention to the world of big wave surfing this past year, more than likely you know who Jeff Rowley is by now. He surfed almost every big swell that blew up the NOAA Wavewatch charts, at all the spots that mattered, including: 50 ft. Jaws, perfect 20 ft. Cloudbreak, Teahupo’o and giant Mavericks. His session at Jaws awarded him 4th place in the Billabong XXL Ride of the Year category and a lot of pure stoke. Jeff paddled into what was said to be a 50 ft. wave at Jaws. That day he also received the the honor of becoming the first Australian to paddle surf Jaws. Best of all he did it all for a Charge for Charity to support breast cancer research.

We at The Surfboard Project were curious about the board he paddled into that wave at Jaws and his signature yellow, blue and pink airbrush.

What size board did you use to paddle in at Jaws the day you were nominated for the Billabong XXL Award? 

My Jaws board is a 10’2″ Al Merrick Channel Islands quad fin.

Photo: By Jeff Rowely Xvolutionmedia

Is there any meaning behind your signature airbrush?

My signature colors and surfboard spray were designed by my good friend and master artist Wade Lewis. Wade is an incredible painter, graphic, and airbrush artist. I asked Wade about helping spray my boards before a trip to Teahupoo.

He said he had a crazy idea that would be different to anything ever seen, pulled out his laptop computer and sketched it up. It was inspired by the having fun at the beach; beach balls, bright colours and having fun.

I loved it right away, and we spent the next day airbrushing all my boards.

Since then, Channel Islands have airbrushed every one of my boards, and the tri colours have become the Rowley flag on everything from surfboards to baseball caps and more.

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To learn more about Jeff Rowel and his Charge for Charity, got to www.jeffrowley.com