Our Story
Meet the 270 Shaper & Laminator, with a combined experience over 2 decades.
Meet the
Shaper
Hi. I am Grant. I am a waterman. With that, the list of sports I do in the ocean we love extends from surfing of all disciplines, wind sports, and of course all the disciplines of hydro foiling. 270 Board Company started simply as a passion project.
Through blood, sweat, some tears, trial, and error, 270 had an evolution process and has been ever so grateful for those supporting since the beginning.
Like most of us, I was tired of production boards, limited designs and outlines to choose from, and failures in boxes/lamination due to poor craftmanship. Being a larger stature rider (230 lb. in a wetsuit), board durability was important. In addition, efficiency in board design for bigger riders lacked. Boards for the small to medium size rider are easy to design, build, and perform on. But for a bigger rider? No one wants liters, and no one wants to ride a big board in fear of a lack of performance and additional weight.
I self-taught myself CAD using Shape 3D X and slowly began the journey of designing, cutting, and shaping out foil boards. Lamination was first done here in the mecca of surfboard building right in Oceanside, CA. Ultimately, the lamination process was brought to the Central Coast of California in Morro Bay where each board is now given attention by Corey Richmond during the build process. The surfboard industry has a variety of personalities, attitudes, and work ethic. All of which are difficult to achieve in high quality at times.
Being in “customer service” during my day job, I found it easy to interact and work with fellow riders to design a board for “them.” No ignoring, no price gouging, just straight up design, build, and a fair price for a custom hand-built board with the assistance of precision tools.
Meet the
Laminator
Corey Richmond. Quiet. Humble. Laughs occasionally. Master at his craft. It would be silly not to say it runs through his blood starting with his father, Craig Richmond....Surfing and surfboard making is a tradition in the Richmond family.
Corey insists any design is fair game and they often experiment with new styles and materials.
Corey’s father started shaping surfboards in the ’70s and has continued ever since. Growing up in that environment played a defining role in Corey’s childhood — his father taught him how to ride waves and, more importantly, how to shape his own boards.
As the primary laminator for respected local shapers such as Shane Stoneman (Stoneman Surfboards), Cooper Boneck (Mesa Surfboards), and the legendary Marc Andreini (Andreini Surfboards), Corey brings a wealth of hands-on experience to every board. We’re fortunate to have him leading the entire process — from shaping through to final quality control.
While ding repairs currently make up the majority of the business, designing and producing custom boards is the true soul of Nautilus. Corey is open to any design concept and loves experimenting with new styles and materials. That said, his real passion lies in emulating the classic shapes and aesthetics of the ’70s, ’60s, and even earlier eras.
