CUSTOM SURFBOARDS

In 1985, at the age of 15, I shaped my first surfboard with my next-door neighbour. My father gifted me the materials for my birthday, driving me to Barry Bennett’s in Brookvale where we purchased a blank, fibreglass, a set of three fins, rovings, resin and hardener. My father was from the old school philosophy that if you want something, you make it yourself.

In the years that followed I rode that surfboard that I shaped. And though it was a dog, my surfing progressed. I saved money from my paper run and eventually I had enough to order a custom from my local shaper Phil Murray who had a surf shop at the top of Warriewood Beach. Phil’s label was Hi-Beam, his logo was a big angular H with a little surfer getting barrelled inside of it. It was drawn by Mark Sutherland. I sat in Phil’s surf shop, and he wrote down on an order form what I wanted: 5’10” Thruster, double flyer swallow tail with four belly channels. Then he passed me the order sheet and asked me to detail with coloured pencils, the airbrush I wanted on the deck and bottom in the little surfboard outlines provided on the sheet. I went to it. On the bottom: lime green to yellow fade to white out the tail with four bright red highlighted channels. Deck: Yellow to green fade, with diagonal blue and white checkers in a panel that crossed the deck and in a triangle that pointed up from the tail. I was there all afternoon rendering the design. I was so excited.

When the board was finished it looked just like the drawings I made and what I’d been imagining in my mind. Phil handed me a cake of Strawberry Fields; I covered the deck with the red, fruity smelling wax. I’m not sure if I went surfing right after that. Interestingly, I don’t remember the surfing. But I remember like yesterday every moment of ordering and picking up my first custom surfboard - and all the custom surfboards I have ordered since.

I remember talking to the shapers: Simon Anderson, Sam Egan, Terry Fitzgerald, Ian Buchanan, Brandon Macdonald, Dave Parmenter, Dick Brewer, Greg Webber, Maurice Cole, Rod Dahlberg, Wayne Lynch, Skip Frye, Brian Bulkley, Neal Purchase Snr, Dick Van Straalen, Alan Byrne, Pat Curren, George Greenough and Mick Mackie.

The first thing every one of these shapers asked me was: What do YOU want?

These shapers were making a board for ME. For where I was at in my surfing and what I wanted to do out there. They were tapping into their knowledge of surfing and design and attempting to make my surfing experience better. Not only did they improve my experiences, they also turned me onto design ideas they had been working on and refining over many years in their lives. These were designs they experienced the waves of their lives on, and they shared these feelings with ME. It’s a beautiful thing.

This type of human exchange is not found in the mass-produced surfboard experience, because mass produced surfboards are not made for YOU. Your name is not written along the stringer.

I only want to make quality, custom surfboards that will last into eternity. I only shape a maximum of 20 boards a year. Here are some reasons for this:

1.  I shape traditionally, and I’m 54 years old, I can only shape a small number without damaging my body beyond repair.

2.  I don’t want to be responsible for a plastic product that will end up in land fill. Yes, surfboards are plastic products, but if they are made correctly, they will not fall apart instantly and can last into eternity. However, to achieve this takes skill and time, and can be a costly exercise as the craftsman I work with are diligent and believe in the same ethos.

3.  Each order takes time to consider and to construct. I address each person’s specific needs (age, height, weight, fitness, foot size, experience, desires and waves they hope to surf) My goal in shaping surfboards is to help improve each person’s experiences in the ocean by inspiring them with a craft designed specifically for them and that is made to last. After all this is considerd, I will order a blank from Burford’s or Farrelly’s and then go about building your custom surfboard.

Currently, Peter Mo does all the finish work: glassing, sanding, and polishing from his factory on the Gold Coast. Mo has been in the business since the 1960s.

Larry Gephart, handcrafts and foils all the wooden fins on my Fishes and Twin fins.

On my Single fins and Thrusters, I use custom fibreglass fins foiled by Toby Pratley.