Meet The Crew

About the Crew

Iron Cross Surfboards is a family business. Jeff shapes the boards and his son Jay does the glassing. Jeff's youngest of three Gino runs their store in Cardiff by the sea. There boards are made at their factory in San Marcos, Ca. from start to finish. If you don't see what you want off the rack they specialize in custom boards.

 

Jeff Grygera’s surfboard building career started at the age of 12. By the time he was 15 he was the youngest employee working for the largest surfboard manufacturing in the world. The protégée of the most renowned builders in the industry.

At age18 he began producing his own label. When he was 30 he was lead shaper and granted a US license for Lightening Bolts surfboards. Building and specializing in big wave guns worldwide his career had expanded into international notoriety and respect.

In the mid 1990’s Grygera’s already established reputation, as a local gunsmith took him to Hawaii 2 –3 times a year. He was able to fine tune and perfect his boards with feedback from other shapers, glassers and surfers. On the main land he had also built up a name for himself as well, as a ghost shaper. A production shaper for other shapers and surfboard companies. He was unable to receive any recognition for the surfboards he had shaped.

In the 1990’s Grygera label was taken off as well, Lightening Bolt, unable to get his boards glassed in a reasonable time frame Grygera was forced to open his own glassing factory. The factory quickly earned a name for itself down the southern coast. One such customer was an Iron Cross surfboard. Grygera started as a fill in shaper in the slow season. After years of determination and a good work ethic, he rapidly moved up the ranks to lead shaper of Iron Cross Surfboards and remains a driving force in the company.

With hands on in the production of over 50,000 surfboards, Grygera’s influence and Ocean knowledge as a waterman is displayed in every board. Grygera is a boats man; spear fisherman, boat builder, canoe and stand up paddler.

His ability to hand shape a short board, classic long board, fish, gun, or SUP makes him one of the most versatile shapers of today.

 Jeff

Jay who is Jeff son started surfing at age 5. Who's dream was to work in the surf industry so he could surf as much as possible. He started working in his dads factory at 17. Jay has been lamenting/Glassing boards for production factories for 16 years now for many of the leading board brands out there. You can find Jay now glassing the Iron Cross boards or working at there store in Cardiff by the sea.

 Jay