Pukas Surfboards
| Pukas Surfboards | |
|---|---|
| |
| Founded | 1973 |
| Location | Basque Country, Spain |
| Shaper | Iñigo Letamendia, Marian Azpiroz, Miguel Azpiroz |
| Category | Shortboards (high-performance) |
| Website | https://pukassurf.com/ |
Founders
Iñigo Letamendia
Founder and visionary
Being attracted to try the unknown, surfing in San Sebastian’s “La Concha” on a borrowed surfboard at age 20 changed his life. Being married to Marian Azpiroz with a Deusto College Diploma in Tourism and a stablished job at a renowned hotel as Chieff Commissary, Iñigo discovered another path. He joined 3 good friends to pursue a way of life that seemed a better choice in life; making surfboards. It was 1.973, a time when spanish dictator Franco was still ruling Spain, and where growing your hair, live in a hippy communa, party, do drugs and enjoy the shit out of your days was both fun and scary.
Marian Azpiroz
Founder and Co-CEO
Marian Azpiroz (1948) was born in a tiny little basque village called Aginaga (Basque Country, Spain). 2nd oldest daughter out of 7 children, her family was driven by the force, strength and hard-working philosophy of a big-hearted man dedicated to the angula. She fell in love with Iñigo Letamendia while in college, married him and worked with such success at the hotel where Iñigo was Chieff Commissary that she was quickly upgraded to Director of the hotel. When Iñigo left San Sebastian to manufacture surfboards with a bunch of friends, Marian decided to follow him a year after. And while girlfriends’ of other surfers would lay down to the sun, Marian sewed bikinis out of the house courtains. Then it was the boardshorts, then surfboard covers and the rest is history.
Miguel Azpiroz
Founder and Co-CEO
Once an avid anguilla worker based in his hometown Aginaga, Miguel Azpiroz (1.957) becomes a key third partner by 1.979. As a member of an unofficial 2nd generation of surfers from Spain, Miguel was under the influence of his brother in law and peers, plus international surfers such as Mark Richards and Shaun Tomson. With his inclusion by 1.979, Marian’s younger brother Miguel joined Iñigo & Marian’s periplus. These three characters were the seed which planted the foundations of Pukas and promoted the surfing culture in San Sebastian, Basque Country and beyond. With the opening of a new surfshop in the city, surf contests, surf schools and a vision for quality surfboards and pro surfers, Miguel has led a movement that feels even stronger today.