Photo: Regina Nicolardi

As the surfboard industry moves toward prefabricated, machine-cut mass production, hand-shaping surfboards keeps it tied to its roots. Masters at their craft, these four women—Ashley Lloyd Thompson, Valerie Duprat, Cher Pendarvis, and Dewi Malopsy—represent a small handful of female board builders who prefer making boards (which range in style from the classic San Diego fish to long nose-riders to big-wave guns) the old-fashioned way.

Photo: Valerie Duprat sands in her shop in Encinitas, California.