Kelly Slater is known worldwide for being the greatest surfer of all-time. Nine World Titles, numerous big wave accomplishments, countless world records, innovative surfboard designs and a style unmatched by surfers around the globe will attest to that. Now Slater has teamed up with The Arbor Collective, a snow and skate operation specializing in eco-friendly gear and apparel, to not only become the sole member of their international skateboarding team, but also to bring you a second-edition signature Kelly Slater skateboard called the Slater Koa.

The Slater Koa is a uniquely-designed skateboard that more resembles a surfboard than something with trucks and wheels. The Slater Koa is a longboard with an unusual swallowtail design that was inspired by the Nine-Time World Champion himself. As part of the “Carver Series” of Arbor’s skate collection, the Slater Koa has a tapered concave shape – similar to a lot of surfboard designs - that provides extremely tight turning capabilities, similar to Slater’s hard turns when he’s surfing.

Slater’s roots with The Arbor Collective go deep. This writer has interviewed Slater five times, and one of those interviews was during Slater’s 2007 debut at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. Slater had his good friend Chris Jensen helping him out with caddying duties (the Godfather of Mavericks Jeff Clark was also caddying for Slater), and it was revealed during the introductions that Jensen is the co-founder of The Arbor Collective. So it’s no surprise that the two have collaborated for what has resulted in being the second edition of the Slater Koa.

The 2009 version of the Slater Koa.

One other interesting note: Kelly Slater’s description on the Slater Koa’s official page lists Slater as “10x ASP World Surfing Champion, Kelly Slater”. Not sure if this was an innocuous error, foreshadowing of things to come, or wishful thinking on Arbor’s part.

It remains to be seen if skateboarders will acclimate to Slater’s new skateboard. For Kelly Slater’s surfing fans however, the new Slater Koa seems like a nice ride to cruise on during those flat summer months.