INSIDE: BARRY, CAUGHT CHEATING
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SINGERS, SONGWRITERS & SURF GUITARS
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THE PHOTOGRAPHY OF JIM CULLEY
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28-page Australia and NZ Shapers Directory Spring2016_Smorgas_001.indd 1
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Surf Shop
Celebrating
40 YEARS
GERRINGONG, NSW (
2
90 min south of Sydney )
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IN HOUSE CAFE
500+ BRANDS
1,000+ BOARDS
SWIMWEAR H E AV E N
Australia’s Largest IndependEnt c Surf Shop Proudly Family OWNED and RUN!
TRY DEMOS BEFORE YOU BUY Spring2016_Smorgas_Contents-INTRO.indd 3
www.naturalnecessity.com.au (02) 4234 1636 SPRING 2016 | SMORGASBOARDER
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The Flying Fish Our latest Fish model is a great alternative to your regular short board or longboard for the right days. The Flying Fish is an EPS foam core performance fish which features stringerless flex and memory return. This can turn on a dime and drive when its required. The board is more for the average to advanced surfer. The 2 ½’’ thickness of the board under the chest area makes this board a great wave catcher.
SHIPPING ANYWHERE, INCLUDING NZ
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HANDCRAFTED IN AUSTRALIA
ALSO AVAILABLE
Riley Balsawood Surfboards are made using renewable resource balsa and recycled polystyrene for performance, durability, beauty and lower environmental impact
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• • • • • • • • • • •
Fin boxes with all wood covers Wood coloured fin boxes Fin box install kits Easy, DIY clear and clean paint-on grip Clear board grip tape - Let the beauty of the balsa show through with clear Versa Traction Grip Tape. Environmentally friendly and suits all size boards. Timber fins Surfboards Blanks Cork tail pads & SUP deck grip Aussie-made leashes Raw balsa/ cedar DIY board kits Instructional DVDs Board racks Tide clocks Sharkbanz shark deterrent wearable devices LICK liquid surf wax. Wholesale enquires welcome
Call 0412 376 464 or Email mark@riley.com.au www.balsasurfboardsriley.com.au Australian Environmentally-friendly handcrafted surfboards for the individual in all of us, with a guarantee. Enjoy Responsibly
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DEVELOPED OVER THE LAST 10 YEARS BY ZEE’S RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT TEAM USING THE LATEST TECHNOLOGY TO CREATE ADVANCED STRETCH NEOPRENE...
e Mitchell Ra nd of Outer Isla Surfboards
...one of the true artists amongst Australian handcrafted surfboard builders, pictured here with Bill Cilia (below), circa ‘81. Photo courtesy of Mitchell Rae
PHASE III STEAMER
with PHASE 3 MEMORY RETENTION THE HIGHEST RATING PLUSH TOUCH INNER LINING BUILT-IN COMFORT CONTROL RAW EDGE, SUPER SEAL UV CELL CONTROL 12-MONTH MATERIAL WARRANTY LIFETIME REPAIR GUARANTEE
Available DIRECT from ZEE, or from select surf stores
NOOSA FACTORY SHOWROOM 07 5474 1010 Unit 2, 15 Venture Drive, Noosaville, QLD
www.zeewetsuits.com OPEN HOURS: Mon-Fri: 9 - 4, Sat: 9 - 12
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For more surfboard builders, artists and artisans across Australia and NZ, see our 28-page The Blank Pages feature starting at Page 86.
Blank Pages The
2016-17
Do what you love They say, “if you do what you love, you will never work a day in your life.” They are wise words. Often such jobs are not so much about the monetary reward but the passion you have for it and the satisfaction you derive from performing that “work”. Happiness for some is not measured in dollars and cents and the material things that can be acquired. It is more to do with life experience and fulfilment, as long as one can survive and put food on the table. This edition is dedicated to those who are following their passion and making it work however which way they can; talented surfboard builders, surf photographers, musicians and surf industry entrepreneurs who have carved out a successful living doing what they love. We have the pleasure of featuring the incredibly talented Kiwi surf photographer and writer Jim Culley about his world behind the lens. Cam Fergus talks with Irishman Rich Morris and his journey from surf instructor to singer songwriter. On the musical side of things our own Mark Chapman discovers the joys of building his very own surf guitar complete with Hawaiian shirt inlay. We wonder at the achievements of one of Australia’s original grassroots surf entrepreneurs and continue our chat with shaper extraordinaire Matt Wilkerson. Last but not least we dip our hat to the guys who make our surf industry tick. The heart and soul of surfing – our surfboard builders; the much maligned craftsman who without, we would have nothing to surf the waves on. Please remember that. We know dollars are hard to come by in this day and age but if we don’t support the very grassroots of our surf industry, how will surfboard design continue to evolve? Cheap overseas pop-outs will not be the drivers of surfboard innovation. Our local artisans building custom boards specifically for you and your local conditions will continue to be at the forefront of innovation with your support. Enough said, go out and buy a board from one of these guys and feel good about the board under your feet and your support of our local economy.
Cheers!
rders
sboa the Smorga
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WHAT'S
INSIDE... JIM CULLEY
DETAILS, CREDITS & STUFF Grab SMORGASBOARDER FREE at quality surf stores, shapers and cool cafés on the coast of Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania, Western Australia and New Zealand... Be nice and buy something while you’re there. Or read it online.
MAGAZINE SUBSCRIBE FOR HOME DELIVERY
32 Through his lens
If you can’t get to a store or other venue to pick the mag up in person, you can also choose to have SMORGASBOARDER delivered to your door. See www.smorgasboarder.com.au. Very few back issues are also available from $8.80 a piece, plus t-shirts & more!
$25 AUS & NZ - 1 YEAR, HOME-DELIVERY!
THE COVER SHOT RICHARD MORRIS 54 Laid back tunes
Lighting up the barrel, Jim Culley - see page 32.
SURF GUITAR
60 Making music
SMORGASBOARDERS
CONTRIBUTING...
ADVERTISING/EDITORIAL: Dave Swan dave@smorgasboarder.com.au 0401 345 201
This is YOUR mag. It’s here for you to tell your stories, show your pictures and share your thoughts - and score some free stuff on the way too, to boot.
NEW ZEALAND: ‘Jiff’ Morris jeff@smorgasboarder.co.nz 0220 943 913 DESIGN/EDITORIAL: Mark Chapman mark@smorgasboarder.com.au SOUTH AUSTRALIA: James Ellis james@smorgasboarder.com.au 0410 175 552
THE USUAL LATEST GEAR
GEAR TESTS & REVIEWS: Gus Brown gus@smorgasboarder.com.au
64 Shaper profile 114 Ding Repairs
CLOSEOUT
Starting Page 86
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There’s only a few of us here, so please be patient when you get in touch - we’ll try our best to get back to you as soon as humanly possible. Get in touch to discuss any ideas you’d like to be considered for a future edition or online.
ACCOUNTS: Louise Gough louise@smorgasboarder.com.au
12 Reader photos 16 News
76 Directories 79 Socials 84 Aloha Barry
E: editorial@smorgasboarder.com.au P: PO Box 501, Moffat Beach QLD 4551
Blank Pages The
2016-17
BEST NON-DAILY PUBLICATION
QUEENSLAND MULTIMEDIA AWARDS 2013
WWW.SMORGASBOARDER.COM.AU
Smorgasboarder is published by Huge C Media Pty Ltd ABN 30944673055. All information is correct at time of going to press. The publishers cannot accept responsibility for errors in articles or advertisements, or unsolicited manuscripts, photographs or illustrations. The opinions and words of the authors do not necessarily represent those of the publisher. All rights reserved. Reproduction in part or whole is strictly prohibited without prior permission.
SMORGASBOARDER | SPRING 2016
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Keep your goods dry wherever you are
SPRING 2016 | SMORGASBOARDER
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READER PHOTOS Great coffee, roasted daily. Volcom Lane, Raglan NZ WWW.RAGLANROAST.CO.NZ
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How relaxed is this North Island shot? Looks like surfer Jonah Lake could be doing this with a cup of Raglan Roast in hand! Well done photographer Linn Edfeldt, you deserve some beans - a kg from Raglan Roast, to be exact! It also turns out that Jonah is a singer/songwriter too - give his relaxed tunes a lsiten at www.jonahlake.com. If you’re in NZ, send in your surf shots and you could be the next reader to score a bag of quality beans! Email submissions to letters@smorgasboarder.com.au SPRING 2016 | SMORGASBOARDER
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READER PHOTOS
WIN 14
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HIHP Brushed Carbon Fibre or Fibreglass 9’1 / 217/8” / 23/16” / 61.4L FINS: 5 FCSII
MINI MOE Thunderbolt Construction 7’2 / 22” / 213/16” / 49.4L 7’4 / 221/2” / 27/8” / 52.9L 8’0 / 225/8” / 31/16” / 61.2L FINS: 5 FCSII
Summer’s on, says Gold Coast Photographer Craig Bessant... Great shot! Free stuff on the way to you Craig! Thanks to RIch Morris (see interview on page 54) we have copies of his excellent EP, “Await the Sunset” up for grabs... Send us your best surf shot for a chance to score one! Email submissions to letters@smorgasboarder.com.au
02 4226 1322 info@watermanssurf.com.au watermanssurf.com.au SPRING 2016 | SMORGASBOARDER
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Ready for summer ?
AKA: THE NEWS... COMMUNITY WHAT’S HAPPENINGS & OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS letters@smorgasboarder.com.au
smorgasboarder
Online Clearance Sale
• Kahuna Creations • Koastal • • Longboards • Accessories • www.streetsup.com.au • 0466∙264∙232
50 YEAR CLASSIC Peter White of Classic Malibu, shaped his first surfboard in his parent’s garage at the age of 13. After making himself a board, his mates lined up to custom order one for themselves....and it just went on from there. 50 years on he is one of Australia’s most respected surfboard shapers. To mark this special anniversary every board made from September 2016 to September 2017 will feature this 50-year logo to celebrate Pete’s long-standing achievements in the industry. Better still, you can go and watch your special board being shaped by the true master at Classic Malibu’s factory showroom in Mary Street, Noosaville. Pete shapes everything from high performance EPS short-boards through to heavy logs. Enough said, get in there and get a custom order underway. classicmalibu.com.au
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BELLS BEACH SURF FILM FESTIVAL Submissions for the 7th annual BELLS BEACH SURF FILM FESTIVAL are now open and will close on October 25th. The festival itself will run from Wednesday 4th through to Saturday 7th January, 2017.
IN THE BAG Darren Minchin, Tree to Sea’s primo wooden surfboard builder recently spent a week or so in Bali testing a couple of new ECO boards he built using the vacuum bag, recycled polystyrene blank method.
Said John Foss, Festival Director, “Last year we presented ten incredible surf films that captured the imagination of our audiences. We love surf films that are a little bit different from the mainstream, surf films that share a personal story or sense of adventure. We look forward to your entry.”
Tree to Sea are currently developing a workshop using this method. This latest build method will be offered alongside their popular, well established hollow wooden board workshops. Both Darren and Robert have spent considerable time and effort perfecting this build method and acknowledge Grant Newby’s help and invaluable advice. Darren explained their approach, “Tree to Sea use real timber and the strongest and most environmentally friendly recycled blanks available on our ECO boards, not flimsy veneers and cheap polystyrene. Our boards are built to last, to be passed from generation to generation.” Imagine building and surfing a timber board and passing it on to your children or grandchildren in the future for them to enjoy.
All surf films and documentaries will be considered by the festival panel of surf film enthusiasts and award winning filmmakers. All you have to do is email a synopsis of your film and trailer link to the festival email – bellsbeachsff@gmail.com or phone 0408 386 812.
Check the pics of Darren at Ulu’s on the new ECO boards carving sweet lines and cover ups in the green room. Workshop dates and details are available on www.treetosea.com.au or enquiries to: info@treetosea.com.au
The awards program includes Best Short Film, Best Film, Best Cinematography and the prestigious Peter Troy ‘Spirit of Surfing Adventure’ Award. For regular festival updates go to the Bells Beach Surf Film Festival Facebook page or the website bellsbeachsurffilmfestival.com
AVAILABLE NOW AT WATERMANS 02 4226 1322 info@watermanssurf.com.au watermanssurf.com.au SPRING 2016 | SMORGASBOARDER
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Photo: Lime Light Creative Studios
Is there a cooler first car?
RILEY BALSA 20 YEARS STRONG
The Sting Bar in Cronulla will host a great night of entertainment to celebrate Riley Balsawood Surfboards 20th year anniversary and the launch of the new mini movie on Papua New Guinea. Frivolities will kick off at 6pm on the 13th October 2016. Mark is pretty excited about the night and had this to say, “There will also be an info session on PNG, our next trip in March 2017 and Ohana bikini girls to answer any questions. There will be heaps of lucky door prizes like a Balsawood Surfboard, return airfares to PNG from Air Niugini, party vouchers from The Sting Bar, Ohana surf gear, Balvenie Whisky, as well as FREE PIZZA AND FREE ENTRY!”
1959 Ford Prefect 107e Reconditioned motor, body, trim, club rego and NSW blue slip. Restored by none other the mad motor enthusiast Mark Rabbidge
$4,500 neg Call 0427 767 176 Become part of an exclusive members only surf brand. (Surfers of all ages and skills welcome) Membership has its privileges: Visit www.1lovesurfing.com for details. Ambassadors wanted: Apply for a 1 Love Surfing Ambassadorship.
RESPECT THE RIDE!
If you are keen on a fun night and in the Shire around that date, you definitely don’t want to miss a chance to see some of Mark’s boards in the flesh and celebrate with the party animal himself. It is sure to be a fun night. balsawoodsurfboardsriley.com
BEATING HEART The boys at Beach Beat are good fellas. A local Sunshine Coast mum had recently been diagnosed with breast cancer and was undergoing treatment. Several of her friends got together and decided to hold a fundraiser. Noel Woods caught wind of it, mentioned it to his wife and she suggested they make a board for the charitable drive. Noel shaped a board and was getting advice from Classic Malibu’s glasser Brett White (who also works out of the Beach Beat factory in Fisherman’s Road, Maroochydore) on a marble glass job and it was incredibly heartening to hear what happened next. Noel picks up the story. “I explained to Brett the situation and immediately he offered to glass it. A day later Brett’s Dad Peter (head shaper at Classic Malibu) called offering to glass on the fin I had recycled and mentioned local artist Kathryn Hughes would donate her artwork on the board. “All the sanding, pinlining, glossing and polishing was donated by the boys at the Beachbeat factory. The final good will offering was from Al at Beachbeat when I went to pay for the materials and his comment was, ‘All good we will take care of it.’ “The board turned out so much better than I ever thought and it was decided rather than use it as a fund raiser prize, we would give it to the person who it was made for in the first place. It now stands proudly in the corner of her lounge ready for the day she can return to the water. “So that is the story about the board but what blew me away was how many people contributed to it and not one person knew who it was for. They just were happy to pay it forward.”
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FARMER FOR BEACH AMBASSADOR Hailing from the Gold Coast where he was born with sand between his toes, and after a lifetime of exploring and protecting the world’s best beaches, Queenslander Brad Farmer has been appointed an Aquatic and Coastal Ambassador by Tourism Australia. Brad has been an iconic figure in promoting beach culture for decades. “Australia is really just one big beach,” he says. “Each of our 11,761 magnificent beaches is unique in nature, so this is one easy destination to sell to the world,” he said. “Unlike my fellow tourism Ambassador (surfer and action actor Chris Hemsworth), I don’t think I’ll be gracing any billboards anytime soon, but I’ll be honoured to bring all I can to this Ambassadorial role for my country.” Indeed Brad believes that Australia is not achieving the international kudos it deserves for its aquatic and coastal resources, questioning why Australia is always relegated to the lower ranks of the world’s best beaches listings on many popular international websites and the voting system by which the ‘best’ is dubiously evaluated. “It’s incontestable that Australia has the best beaches in the world. Everyone knows we have the very best, cleanest and uncluttered beaches, including 1200 pristine surfing beaches. I will strive to have the world acknowledge at least three Australian beaches are in the world’s Top 10 and am suggesting the world’s beaches are assessed by an impartial panel of judges.” Brad began writing about beaches as an advocate and commentator in 1985, traveling to every accessible beach in Australia. His books have been best sellers and his coastal advocacy award-winning as founder of multiple not-for-profits, including Surfrider Australia and Surfing Reserves.
SO MUCH SURF GEAR IN STORE YOU WILL BE AMAZED! FROM SURFBOARDS TO SKATEBOARDS, WETTIES, SURFWEAR AND ALL THE LATEST GADGETS
SURFWARE AUSTRALIA ODGEE MT. WOBOARDS SHORT FROM
$690
Tourism is a vital contributor to the success of the Australian economy and the beach tourism experience is a multi-billion dollar driver for our cultural development as a nation, and a great influence on the lives of all 24 million beach-loving Australians. “It’s our challenge that we continually seek new ways to tell our story and encourage people to discover and explore our jewels on this, the world’s finest, Treasure Island.”
SUNSHINE COAST SUPERSTORE
Brad is currently travelling Australia updating his 101 Best Beaches benchmark book (with Prof. Andy Short OAM).
Open Mon to Sat, 9am to 5pm and Sun 9am to 4pm. Closed Christmas Day
Australia.com remains the largest destination Facebook page in the entire world.
2 Bulcock Street, Caloundra QLD | Telephone (07) 5491 3620
SURFWAREAUSTRALIA.COM SPRING 2016 | SMORGASBOARDER
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EXTENSIVE RANGE OF NEW BOARDS, HIRE BOARDS & WETSUIT HIRE!
STANDUP PERFORMER Having broken his back just when his burgeoning pro surf career was beginning to take off, Todd Mingramm is now riding the crest of a new wave as a hip-hop artist.
SURF KAIKOURA At KAIKOURA SURF, the South Island’s iconic surf shop, we stock all the major brands. Also available SURF KAIKOURA’S iconic prints for Men & Women: t-shirts, hoodies crews, caps and more.
SURFBOARDS, WETSUITS AND STAND UP PADDLEBOARDS 17 West End, Kaikoura, NZ P: +64 3 319 7173 E: kaikourasurf@gmail.com ` Like us on Facebook
BODYLINE WETSUITS N.Z.
VINTAGE RANGE
LOOKS FROM THEN TECHNOLOGY FROM NOW.
Known to us as “Mingo”, the man behind the Cronulla Standup Paddleboard Shop and both the Bondi and Cronulla Standup Paddleboard Schools, he goes by the name “Slippery” when he’s twisting his raw lyrics with catchy hooks. And it’s his alter ego “Slippery” that’s making quite an impression. Having recently returned from the USA, where he performed his first headline show in Boston, he’s now dominating the Triple J Unearthed Hip Hop charts. A little more than decade ago, Mingo was a rising star on the surf scene and considered one of the best young board riders in the country. He was a pro junior and later made the world qualifying series. But he was also a silly bugger and took up a dare to jump off a ridiculously high rock south of Cronulla and ended up with a fractured L5 (lower vertebrae). He could move but only with a great deal of pain and that pretty much spelt the end of his surfing career. The injury did lead him though to discover paddleboarding with all its benefits such as strengthening the back and core. Mingo, or should we say, “Slippery’s” latest single “Surfboard” was produced in Hollywood by Nik Nikateen, and was Number #1 on the Triple J Unearthed Hip Hop Charts at the time of writing. An older song of his “Land Down Under” with Maroubra artist ‘Kid Mac’, was number #1 for 6 weeks some time ago but it too has crept back and now sits at #16 followed by another new single “Holiday” with ‘Leeze The Kid’ from Byron Bay at #18. Having 3 songs at once on the charts, let alone in the top 20 is pretty impressive and we couldn’t be happier for him. You can download Slippery’s music here - http://slipperymusic.com.au And if you are keen on some paddleboard lessons or after some new gear head on in to Cronulla Standup Paddleboard Shop & School.
• Manufacturing since 1988 • Super stretch, super warm, latest in wetsuit technology • Excellent custom online measuring system
Phone: +64 9 4432771 Email: wetsuits@bodyline.co.nz Clinton: 021 493 394 FACTORY & SHOWROOM 15 G Porana Road,Glenfield Auckland 0627 New Zealand
WWW.BODYLINE.CO.NZ ` 20
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KAZUMA STAND UP PADDLE BOARDS ARE COMING TO SOME OF THE BEST SURF SUP RETAILERS THIS SPRING IN NZ, AND SOON AFTER AUSTRALIA. KAZUMA production SUP's are designed in Hawaii, and benefit from 20+ years of surfing and shaping experience by world renown Master Shaper - Matt Kazuma Kinoshita
MUCH RESPECT FOR A MAN WE ADMIRED
The construction is of the highest standard in board building. KAZUMA focuses on offering high end, long lasting products in all of the boards that they put on the market, custom or production.
Photo: Jack Eden/CC victoriancollections.net.au It is over a month ago now but I would like to acknowledge the passing of Midget Farrelly. Unfortunately, I never had the pleasure of meeting Midget in person but I did get the opportunity to share a few chats with him over the phone. I was completely taken aback by how easy he was to talk with and how accommodating he was with his time. It was in stark contrast to how I perceived he might be thanks to how he had been portrayed in some circles. I quickly gathered he was not one to suffer fools. I personally felt privileged to speak with such a legend of Australian surfing. For those new to surfing, Midget was born and bred on Sydney’s northern beaches and won the first official world surfing championship at Sydney’s Manly Beach in 1964. He dominated the sport as it gained popularity during that decade. His many other achievements include: •
The first Australian to win a major surfing title in the 1963 Hawaiian championships
•
He won the 1965 Australian surfing title
•
Sixth place at the 1966 world championship
•
He won the 1968 Bobby Brown memorial
•
Second place at the 1968 world championship
•
He was a major player in the shortboard revolution
Midget was also a surfing businessman with a blanks and boardmaking business in Brookvale. I deeply regret the time I was running a day late as I made my way back up the coast from Victoria with Smorgasboarder. It robbed me of the chance to catch up with a man I truly admired.
Contact us on +64 3 539 4500 jeff@kazuma.co.nz | info@kazuma.co.nz
` www.facebook.com/kazumasup 74 Quarantine Rd Industrial Park, Nelson, NZ
RETAIL ENQUIRIES WELCOME
Bernard “Midget” Farrelly died on Sunday August 7th, aged 71, after a four-year battle with cancer. May he rest in peace. Dave Swan
AVAILABLE FROM: SURF SUP WHANGAMATA - NELSON KITE/SURF RAGLAN ROAST – TAHUNANUI - KAIKOURA SURF
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LATEST & GREATEST
The latest Bohemian Summer 2016/17 collection from Hive – Australian surf, bikinis and sports swimwear – is as stunning as always. Pictured here: Ashleigh in Maya Beehive Top $49.50 and Bee An Angel Pant $49.50.
SURF COLLECTABLES
hiveswimwear.com
www.theoldsurfersparadisebeachhouse.com.au is a new website selling classic beach vintage antiques and collectables recently launched by Gold Coast local Darren Volker. His grandmother was the manager of the old Surfers Paradise Cinema for many years and just so happened to also live in an old Surfers Paradise beach house (one of the original beach-front homes at Tedder Ave, now long gone). That was the inspiration behind the name of the business. Said Darren “It’s a small but ever-growing collection of beach-inspired antiques, art and collectables, with bit of a tilt towards the old Gold Coast. Amongst many other things, we have a number of original H.C. Simpson watercolours (‘Kirra’, ’Snapper Rocks’, ’Tweed River’ etc) from the 1920s/30s. At the moment I’m working on an old coin-operated dolphin ride that was in the Black Dolphin Arcade in Surfers Paradise for many years and I have just finished restoring a life-size fibreglass dolphin that once stood at the entrance of Marineland on the Gold Coast.” The site also features a selection of more modern items, all hand-made by local artists. Beach Boy – The Golden Boy Of Surfers Paradise $65.00. Novel set in the heart of Surfers Paradise in 1963.
Retro 1960s Tiki Bar $395.00. Perfect for making Pina Coladas! Very nice retro tiki bar from the 1960s.
Pair of Birdwatchers Bar Bikini Girl Beerglasses c. 1960s $45.00. Made from single ‘stubby’ beer bottles. Full details on all items at www.theoldsurfersparadisebeachhouse.com.au 22
RARE SURF TEES This is real 70’s surf vintage here. Check out the latest t-shirts in the Rare Surf Tees range. They all retail for $49.95, available on line at raresurftees.com
Rare Surf Tees celebrates the unique contribution our pioneer surfboard shapers, photographers and surf film makers made during surfing’s “Golden Era” from the 50’s, 60’s, 70’s and 80’s. Their mission is to preserve our past surf legend’s surf artwork and faithfully reproduce them on classic 100% quality cotton t-shirts for us all to enjoy!
ZEE NEW ONE
The latest Phase 3 steamer from Zee Wetsuits is a cracker. It is the equal of any of the major brands without the price tag. The man behind the brand is Bernie Filer who has 41 years in the wetsuit manufacturing business. Super flexible, super stretchy neoprene, plush touch inner lining, refined raw edge super seals, new and improved chest zip. Comes with a lifetime repair warranty. Superb after sales service. zeewetsuits.com.au
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INNOVATIVE KNEEBOARD DESIGN
Always one for exploring new technologies and materials, Michael Watkins of Nee-Pro Kneeboards has recently developed a real breakthrough in kneeboard design. He has combined the best attributes of both traditional fibreglass and epoxy surfboard construction. Epoxy boards with their light EPS foam core are known for their buoyancy and ease of paddling but one of the drawbacks can be rail performance. Traditional PU and fibreglass boards conversely have less flotation but their more refined heavier rail enable surfers greater control through the ability to bury a rail for performance surfing. Nee-Pro’s Core Duo sees an EPS core combined with PU rails for the best of both worlds. neeprokneeboards.com.au
READER COMPETITION
WIN! SURF ‘N RAK SURFBOARD SHAPING RACKS!
WORTH
$430!
Obsessed with surfboards and occasionally shape your own? To mark this special board builders edition featuring our SMORGASBOARDER BLANK PAGES we are giving one lucky reader the chance to win these awesome Surf ‘n Rak surfboard shaping racks. HOW TO ENTER You reckon the board you shaped is the best? Prove it! • Email us photos of your home-shaped board to competitions@smorgasboarder.com.au • We’ll post it to our Smorgasboarder Facebook page • Encourage your mates and anyone you know to give it the thumbs up. • The entrant with the most likes on their post will win the racks!
THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW We’ll pick a winner on November 30th, 2016. Collecting the pair of surfboard shaping racks is the winner’s responsibility. This is a game of skill. If you have the best looking home made surfboard and a big group of mates willing to vote for it, you will win. CAN’T WAIT TO GET THESE? HAVEN’T SHAPED A BOARD YET? Buy yourself a set at www.surfnrak.com.au!
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Surf Collective
Garage Hand Planes The new Onyx Range is taking bodysurfing to the next level. The boards are constructed from high density EPS foam for lightness, laminated in black carbon fibre and epoxy resin. The shape is refined with an elegant concave section to increase lift and drive.
Salty Shoes The Brown Dockland Jacket: Thick cotton canvas outer shell and inside warm blanket lining. Sleeves won’t get too hot and sticky either, because they have a polyester lining. Outside shallow hip pockets, inside left pocket and front chest pocket...it has so many pockets. Waist sizing and sleeve cuffs can
be adjusted with the heavy duty buttons. Triple-stitched. Sits at the top of the hip around waist. Smart and casual all at the same time.
Skin and Bone Inspired by the symbiotic contrast of the human forms simplicity and the unpredictability of the ocean, Skin And Bone’s signature designs focus on clean lines, inconspicuous branding and monochromatic textures. One of their best sellers, this sleeveless neoprene one piece is perfect for the surfer girl who oozes sexiness. Contrasting smooth skin and shark skin panelled design, front zip fastening, a cheeky bum cut, and 2mm of cozy neoprene.
Free Spirit Ethically produced Organic Cotton Bamboo surf and yoga tees, inspired by this Free Spirit lifestyle and everything that makes a happy soul! For every t-shirt sold we provide a child living in poverty in India with education materials to go to school. 24
Each handplane has been designed to allow for the use of a small fibreglass fin to increase wave face hold on steep sections, and a GoPro mount on the nose.
Girl Surf Network A collection of moments in surfing described by those that experienced them. A beautifully presented A4 landscape, hardcover book featuring some of the industry’s best photographers and female surfers including the likes of Layne Beachley, Carissa Moore, Rell Sunn and Pam Burridge.
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Byron Rashie This clever all-in-one rashie is the brainchild of Byron Bay’s, Leah Wright who came up with the design when she was co-producing the surfing doco, Going Vertical. The Classic Hoodie has a unique, comfortable and flexible hood that you can keep on or flick off, giving hours of protection and freedom in the sun - and the water - when sunglasses and a hat aren’t an option.100% designed and made in Australia from quality fabric.
Tekkers Surf inspired sunnies from Sydney’s Northern beaches offering the perfect balance between quality and price. The ‘Hushwood’ range (featured) combine a classic acetate frame with bamboo arms for $60. With five different frame shapes and multiple colour combinations available you’ll find something to fit your face, style and budget.
Moeloco Feel good and do good. We are an ethical fashion conscious designer of a rubber flip flop , Moeloco which means Dream Crazy. Every shoe is designed to inspire with our positive messages of love, happiness and peace on the front of the shoe whilst also leaving these words imprinted in the sand when worn at the beach. For every shoe sold, we donate a pair of school shoes to an orphan living in poverty.
Gallivant State Born in Australia where travelling great distances to explore the unique coastline is a way of life for ocean lovers. It’s this gallivant lifestyle that inspires the label’s name and the functional and
individual designs. Designed and handcrafted in Australia these premium surfboard and beach bags are lightweight and constructed from durable, natural fabrics with quality fittings. Product (left): Battuta Longboard Bag in Mimosa Blue.
Welcome to Surf Collective Where you’ll find the best independent Australian Surf Brands. Names you, as of yet, may not be familiar with. Products, that up until now, you mightn’t have seen.
Adelio Built on a strong belief and ideology that a brand can be more than something that is worn or used, but can shape an individual - from the inside out. Pairing these ideas with an undeniable passion for form and function plus a driving force of fashion and style has helped to create and drive this ever evolving brand.The Connor series 3/2 Steamer boasts GBS seams and Therma-loc lining designed to retain the heat the body generates and keep wicking moisture away from the body.
Whether you’re driven by the desire to ‘support local’, or you’re just tired of seeing the same surf gear on shelves, in the line-up or around town, you’ve definitely come to the right place.
www.surfcollective.com.au SPRING 2016 | SMORGASBOARDER
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VINTAGE SURFBOARD COLLECTOR AND PROPRIETOR OF NOOSA’S UNDERGROUND SURF, ANDRE ‘ONDI’ MARSAUS, IS THE SURF SAGE AND HERE IN OUR REGULAR FEATURE HE PROVIDES THE ANSWERS TO ALL YOUR QUESTIONS.
Got a question you want to ask the Surf Sage about an old board you have found under the house or from a curbside collection?
Q &A
Email editorial@smorgasboarder.com.au and we will get Ondi onto it.
Dear Ondi, I’ve had this worn out old surfboard kicking around the back of the garage for ages and was wondering if you could give me any details on the shaper and if it’s worth anything? None of us surf anymore but I haven’t been able to let it go! Thanks John, Brisbane Hi John, Going by the decals this is about an ’85 Kong model hand shaped by Laurie Byrne. Laurie is a highly respected shaper and has been shaping boards for well over 40 years. He has helped develop boards for many young surfers over the years such as Tom Carroll and Owen Wright and is well known by most professional surfers in one way or another. Kong boards are all collectible particularly if the decals and finish are in really good condition. It’s a swallow tail with great solid channels and soft flyers. Grab one if you come across any Kong boards including Hot Stuff, Pascoe Hoppers and Byrne models. This one I’d value at around $150 as it’s been well surfed but a really good condition Kong can fetch up to $1000 so keep your eyes out. It’s great seeing these old boards coming out of the woodwork, this is definitely another piece of Australian surfing history!
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SURFBOARDS OF SIGNIFICANCE by Ondi Marsaus, Underground Surf Emporium & Cafe
shane
1973 standard
shaped by shane stedman This 1973 Shane Surfboards model numbered ’28’ has a nice green tint and pin lines with a stringer blank unlike the Shane standard stock boards. The board has a rolled hull style entry on the nose to flat section and soft V in the tail. With a nice original pivot fin this would have cost around $80 as a custom in ’73 and a standard Shane at the time was $69. Shane Stedman started shaping his boards at his mum’s house firstly for himself and then for his mates. It wasn’t long before he was producing boards to make a living (so he could support his surfing lifestyle). This soon turned into an extensive business producing boards from four factories in 1970. During the same year the famous Shane ‘pop out’ was created, producing numbers of over 200 per week. In this period the shapers included Jack Knight, Gordon Knight, Butch Cooney, Steve Cooney, Terry Fitzgerald, Bob Kenerson, Peter Cornish, Richard Kavanagh, Michael Hall, Russell Spencer, Glynn Ritchie, David Treloar, Tanya Binning, John Fleck, Chris Young, Chopper Fred, Peter Twain, John Harris, John Irwin, Trevor Hewston, Tony Hardy, Phyllis O’Donnell, Simon Anderson, Judy Trim, Richard Harvey and others. Over the decades some of our best shapers have graced the Shane factories because Shane is a true legend of the surf industry and has an uncanny knack of developing products into fantastic businesses. There are a substantial number of models that came out of this factory and are well worth a browse if you get a chance to look them up!
See this board in the flesh... OKAy, the FOAM... at UNDERGROUND SURF Upstairs 9 Hastings St, Noosa T: 07 5455 4444 www.undergroundsurf.com.au SPRING 2016 | SMORGASBOARDER
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PM
GREAT FAMIL S U R F ES Y
MYLESTOM MAGIC
C A PE S
Step it back a little and unwind
Surf, play a little beach cricket, explore the waterways on a paddleboard, a spot of fishing followed by a few lazy beers in the afternoon. Get up the next day do the same again or venture to a nearby quaint country town, perhaps a bushwalk. It is times like these that allow us to recharge our batteries, take stock of our lives and simply relax. And of all the places to do this, North Beach Holiday Park in Mylestom has got to be one of the top picks. I can hear you right now saying to yourself, “I so need that.” So do it. Life is crazy. We all work at a frenetic pace these days so don’t let it pass you by before it is too late. Take a breather and enjoy life for just a moment.
WHAT’S ON OFFER? This place is incredibly peaceful, quiet and tranquil. And like I said, it is the perfect place to relax. North Beach Holiday Park is nestled between the pristine Bellinger River, the magnificent Bongil Bongil National Park and 10 kilometres of uncrowded golden sandy beach. As for the park itself, it is a beauty: • Putt Putt golf course – you ripper! A must for any proper holiday. • Beach and river fishing boat ramps • Walking distance to the local bowls club • All the essential amenities you would expect of a top notch holiday park • 4,5 & 6 sleep cabins, caravan and camping sites • Swimming pool, free wifi, dog-friendly
MUST DO AND SEE •
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The World Heritage listed Dorrigo National Park and the stunning Waterfall Way are a scenic cruise of about 45 minutes away. The beautiful Bellinger Valley nearby is famous for its arts and crafts. We are always asked who our top 5 all-time favourite shapers are and a man who makes that list is a stone’s throw away in Raeleigh. A visit to the legendary Mitchell Rae of Outer Island Surfboards is a must but prepare to part with some cash. You won’t be able to help yourself.
THE SURF I can’t say too much other than you will not be disappointed and will more than likely bore your mates for years on end about some of the epic sessions you had here. Yep, it can get pretty darn good. Sandy bottom beachies, river mouth, breakwall, wooah! Early morning sessions are generally the best before the wind gets into it. That just leaves a whole heap of time anyway to fish, relax and take in all the magic of this place.
FISHING Well, this place is one of the best spots I have ever dropped a line. Upstream you can fish for freshwater mullet and perch and downstream there’s flathead, whiting, bream, jewfish, tailor and mangrove jack.
STOP DREAMING, START LIVING.
www.northcoastholidayparks.com.au
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WAY
THE CULLEY
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NZ photographer Jim Culley sets a working standard for modern surf photography. As a photographer his work is amazing. As a surfer, he understands what makes a great shot. As a “photographer-meets-businessman” he’s a absolute pleasure to work with, and as an artist he creates work that people want to put up on their walls... And no, I don’t want to marry him (he’s spoken for anyway). Bromance aside, you’ve seen his incredible work featured on the cover and throughout the pages of our last NZ travel special. Now, it’s our genuine pleasure to introduce you to the man behind the lens and show you some of his personal favourite work. WORDS: MARK CHAPMAN | PHOTOS: JIM CULLEY
When did photography grab your interest? In 2009 I was living with my girl (now fiancée) in Melbourne and working an office job for an energy company. I made friends with a barista that worked in the café in the lobby and we would go down to his folks place on Phillip Island every weekend and surf until we had to go back to the city for work. I was slowly getting over living in the concrete jungle and began mulling over different career options on a daily basis. One night I had a crazy dream where I was driving down a highway and this enormous neon sign, like those ones on the strip in Las Vegas, was bearing down on me. It read ‘Jimages’. I spent the better part of a week trying to decode the message my subconscious was sending me. Later that week, while I was flicking through a surf mag, I put the puzzle together and decided to endeavour to capture surf images like the ones I had been fascinated by since I was a grom. The next week I took out a crazy loan and purchased everything I would need to get started in the game. I figured I could shoot photos when the light was right and surf the rest of the time. Should be a piece of cake this surf photography lark. They say ignorance is bliss.
Name : Jim Culley Age : 31 Born : Aotearoa/New Zealand Live : Waihi Beach Love : Fiancée, Family, friends, and pets
When did surfing become part of your life? I was 13 and my best mate got a surfboard for his birthday. We would go to the beach and take turns getting smashed trying to get the best ride. I pleaded with my parents to get me a board and waited another year before it finally happened; a Dave Murden ‘High Voltage’ 6’4 with a fluoro purple full deck grip-so sweet. How did the two meet? When I was sixteen I went on my first road trip mate in my cousin’s van with him and a mate during the Easter school holidays. We would check the local paper each night for the next days swell forecast and just wing it from there. We drove up the Coromandel Peninsula and scored five days straight of pumping waves off the back of a TC in the Pacific. When that swell fizzled we shot over to Raglan for the first time and scored pumping waves there for the next four days. I picked up a Kodak disposable camera on our way from the Coromandel to Raglan and documented the Raglan section of our adventure. So I guess the two met long before I ever considered capturing images and selling them to surf publications.
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Talk us through getting prepared for and going through a water shoot. From mental, to physical, to gear... what does it take and how does it go down? Gear preparation really comes down to ensuring camera batteries are fully charged and memory cards have been formatted for maximum space. I clean my lenses after every shoot and do the same with my housing to ensure it is ready to go at the drop of a hat. I will either shoot long lens or fisheye from the water and I ensure I have both options available with me wherever I go. Once I have assessed the conditions in front of me I will decide what angle will look best and go from there. Mentally I just want to be focused to ensure I put myself in the right position as much as possible and can also remain calm if I get in a tricky situation. I lead an active lifestyle, which takes care of the physical side of things, and swimming in big surf certainly keeps those fitness levels up. What’s a standout memory of your experiences doing surf photography. I’d have to say spending two and a half months in 2011 living on the south coast of Fiji; surfing and shooting Cloudbreak and it’s surrounding breaks every day. The government legislation restricting surfers that were not staying at the two island resorts from surfing Cloudbreak and Restaurants had only just been revoked and the breaks were still relatively uncrowded. Easily some of the best surf and photo sessions of my life to date.
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BEHIND THE LENS
What are the biggest challenges you face? NZ is a small country with a small population compared to the rest of the world. We love to surf but there isn’t room for a bunch of full-time surf photogs. A few years ago I was making decent money submitting to Kiwi Surf Mag and then allof-a-sudden it got shelved. I was really frustrated when that happened; however, in the wake of that door closing another one opened and I decided to do a Postgraduate Diploma of Teaching. I’ve now been a full-time Teacher for four years and absolutely love it. Kids motivate and inspire me every day and I get thirteen weeks holiday a year to shoot surf trips! I see my biggest challenge now as breaking through to other larger markets while balancing my time between my family, teaching, surfing and photography. In 2013 I became the first New Zealand surf photographer to make the top ten of the ‘Follow the Light’ international surf photography awards, so I guess I’m looking to build on that achievement as my career progresses. You live in a magical part of the world - tell us a bit about home... Does your location influence your photography in any way? Let’s just say my NZ line-ups get a few likes whenever I post one on social media. It’s generally a couple of hours between coasts and the sheer variety of waves keeps me well and truly happy. For me there’s nothing better than framing some high quality surfing with a rugged cliff face backdrop or snow-capped mountain vista.
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Australian-made, quality storage solutions
5/10/2016 4:42 PM
BEHIND THE LENS How can people get hold of your work, other than in flash surf publications like this one? I recently had my first solo exhibition ‘Still Motion Collection’ in Wellington during January and then another showing in Tauranga during April. The images that make up this collection are the moments in-between the action. I found after seven years of making surf imagery with a focus on ‘action’ shots for the magazines, I had kept a bunch of photos that were unique in their own right. These were the moments where a scene presented itself that I simply had to capture; moments usually reserved for the lucky few in the water at the time. You can purchase any of my images from my website www.jimages.co.nz, Facebook page: Jimages, or drop message me on Instagram: @Jimages_co_nz What will a geriatric Jim be up to in 40 years time? I’m thinking my surfing is only on the up, so hopefully I’ll be on the WSL by then…Well either that or living the dream continuing to capture great surf imagery whilst surrounded by my beautiful friends and family. See jimages.co.nz ` jimagesphotography ã jimages_co_nz SPRING 2016 | SMORGASBOARDER
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SURF BUSINESS
GRASSROOTS
We’ve long said SMORGASBOARDER is about the grassroots surfing community and we’re all about shining a light on those who have never enjoyed the spotlight. In our GRASSROOTS series we introduce you to other unsung members of our surf community who provide valuable services and who ply their trade up, down and along our coastlines.
MARK RANUCCI SURF COLLECTIVE Many claim mass production has near killed off surfing’s soul. Some may consider that to be a harsh assessment. In our opinion there is nothing wrong with turning a dollar providing it is done ethically. You are in business to make a living and it is great if you achieve that doing something you love. However when the mighty dollar is placed above all else, it’s a sad enditement on the society we live in today and some within our industry are guilty of this approach. Those who know us are aware we are not all too keen on pop out stuff. Our endeavour at Smorgasboarder has always been to get behind those bespoke, custom, grassroots surf businesses and lend our support in any way we can. These are the kinds of surf businesses we love and what have always attracted us as surfers. So you can imagine we were absolutely stoked when we heard of a new company working with independent surf businesses in the online space. Surf Collective, developed by two brothers from Sydney’s northern beaches, Mark and Andrew Ranucci, is an online marketplace where surfers can buy from independent producers of Australian surf gear all in one place. I recently met with Mark who gave me an insight into the inspiration for their business. “My brother and I love surfing and the culture it represents but due to the rise of multinational corporations we felt a small part of its charm was slipping away. We became increasingly disillusioned with the fact surfing culture was becoming big business. It is so out-of-step with our authentic Australian surf culture that supported individuality. “We also came to realise how difficult it was to find, independent, non mass-produced surf products - the stuff that started it all back in the day. And so, our idea for Surf Collective was born. We wanted to offer an alternative to the mass produced surf gear that is a dime-a-dozen.” And haven’t they done just that. The boys have managed to bring together some absolutely superb emerging surf brands and the number is growing and growing by the week. Surf Collective is already now home to some 50+ independent surf brands producing everything from handmade sunglasses made from recycled
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“WE WANTED TO OFFER AN ALTERNATIVE TO THE MASS PRODUCED SURF GEAR THAT IS A DIME-A-DOZEN.” skateboards to organic wax, surf inspired jewellery, art, clothing, board covers, wetsuits and even hardware. At Surf Collective you will also be able to learn about the producers of the goods you are purchasing; everything from the inspiration behind the product to their motives and values. In each coming edition of Smorgasboarder there will also be a double-page spread dedicated to shining a light on these emerging businesses. Turn to page 24 of this current issue to see just some of the products you will find online at www.surfcollective.com.au. We truly hope you get behind some fantastic, independent Aussie surf brands. www.surfcollective.com.au
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AUSTRALIA’S PREMIER ZINC PRODUCTS SPF 50+ BROAD SPECTRUM WATER RESISTANT FOR UP TO 4 HOURS SUITABLE FOR ALL SKIN TYPES ASSISTS IN MAINTAINING SKIN ELASTICITY
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@sunzapper SPRING 2016 | SMORGASBOARDER
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Naturally
WHAT COMES
NATURALLY This year marks the 40-year anniversary of Natural Necessity, one of the most unbelievable surf shops you will ever see. (Indeed, we still recall our jaws dropping when entering the store for the first time). You simply have to see it to believe it. - a massive two story surf shop and vegetarian café standing tall in a sleepy little South Coast town. To mark this momentous milestone, we thought it fitting to trace the history of this iconic Gerringong store and how it came to be, along with the man behind it, Kent Ladkin. We knew a little of Kent’s past but not the full story. We were completely blown away when we learned of all that he has done in the surf industry. So relax and enjoy this read about one of our surf industry’s original grassroots operators and all that he has achieved.
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HUMBLE BEGINNINGS It’s 1970. A 19 year old Merewether teen by the name of Kent Ladkin has spent the last year studying economics at uni, while working as an office clerk. The lifestyle was all wrong. Kent decides to drop out. An alternate life beckons. Kent hitch hikes to the sleepy South Coast of NSW and spends the summer of 1970 camping and surfing Green Island and Aussie Pipe. Winter is coming, so Kent decides to move to Angourie, just outside of Yamba on the north coast of NSW. Before long, a friend offers Kent a tree house in the bush situated right next to the town’s iconic point break. For two years, Kent lives a peaceful existence. Surfing uncrowded waves, reading and doing yoga. The iconic Tree House will go onto be featured in the 70’s surf movie classic ‘Morning
of the Earth’. As great as times are, Kent knows it can’t last forever. His entrepreneurial spirit is just beneath the surface.
HONEY SURF WAX In the early 70’s, a lot of people still used big blocks of brittle paraffin wax from petrol stations to wax their boards. One day Kent recognises there must be a better way and starts experimenting with a new formula while in the tree house. He discovers adding bees wax along with a few other key ingredients makes for a far more effective product. It was much easier to apply and didn’t flake off and become slippery. One of the world’s first surf specific waxes was born. Kent would call it ‘Honey Surf Wax’. SPRING 2016 | SMORGASBOARDER
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Kent waxing up the first board he made.
The delivery truck
Kent’s Strawberry Fields Surf shop at Kirra, 1980 With the big Honey Surf Bus & co-driver/mechanic Geoff Rockcliff
First board K at at Aussie P
Before the Bus, the International Panel Van on the road at Agnes Waters in 1974 with board cover stock on roof
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Kent’s brother Brad calls to say he’s moved onto an old farm in Gerringong on the NSW South Coast. Kent had been dreaming about finding a small town with good surf that wasn’t to far from Sydney for business. Kent makes the move south and soon falls in love with Gerringong’s rolling green hills and beautiful coast line. Furthermore, the farms old dairy and barn will make the perfect wax factory. Brad left his regular job to manage production and had 3 beautiful kids, a veggie patch and the thriving wax factory on the farm.
The Angourie treehouse
A 10 YEAR LONG SURFING ROAD TRIP Everyone was tired of using the old paraffin wax. They knew they must be onto something. Production in the old dairy started heating up. Kent had the idea to convert 2 buses into mobile home / warehouses. This would enable him to personally visit and supply every Surf Shop from Gerringong to Noosa 10 times per year while Brad would do the Victorian run once a year. Stores appreciated the personal service and soon fell in love with the product. Honey Surf Wax took off. “To save on litter, the only packaging we used was recycled boxes and newspapers. While the wax itself had nothing except for a a sticker. As it turned out, when people peeled it off, it was generally easier to slap it on something than find a bin, so we ended up with hundreds of thousands of stickers representing the brand on cars, signs, fridges, you name it. It was amazing.” - Kent
Preparing surf accessory samples
LIVING THE DREAM
First board Kent made being surfed at at Aussie Pipe, mid-70s.
The frequent road trips of the 70’s from Noosa to Bells Beach were anything but gruelling sales trips. These journeys represented adventure and freedom. Soon, Kent even starts doing regular bus trips to the rail head and port in Sydney, to ship out wax to reps in other states, NZ and the USA. 10 years on in 1982, the brothers will have sold 2.5 million bars of wax, dominating an estimated 90% of the surf wax market over the past 10 years. A long road still lies between them and this milestone however... A few years have passed since the birth of honey surf in the early 70’s, wax sales are rapidly growing and opportunities soon arise to expand the product range. At the time there were no board covers on the market in Australia. SPRING 2016 | SMORGASBOARDER
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Naturally “A friend’s Aunty owned a knitting-mill. She made me a cool custom board cover. All my friends wanted one. Suddenly alongside the wax we were selling thousands of board covers every year, alongside the wax.” - Kent Then came surfboard leashes. Ian and John from Balin in Victoria invented the modern moulded leg rope with a swivel and asked Kent to distribute the new product in NSW and Queensland. Business moved onto an exciting new level.
HONEY SURF SHOP, GERRINGONG Stoked with the success of the wholesale business, Kent decides to open the flagship ‘Honey Surf Shop’ in their home town of Gerringong. He finds an old shop to rent and gets to work preparing for the opening.
UP IN FLAMES One cool August morning in 1976, while dropping a load of wax to the rail head in Sydney, Kent calls home to discover the factory, along with 8 tonnes of wax has just caught on fire. In no time at all, the fire could be seen from over 50 km away. By the time the Fire Brigade arrives, there was nothing they could do. “They literally sat back and had a cup of tea, waiting for it to burn out.” - Kent That very afternoon, while the fire is still burning, the local council phones to inform Kent they had 46
changed their minds and withdrawn permission for the surf shop to open as it was not zoned retail. Within a matter of hours, the wax business had burnt to the ground and the freshly renovated, stocked surf shop had been blocked.
ASHES TO NEW OPPORTUNITY It was one of those profound situations in life, where a positive mental attitude can turn a stumbling block, into a stepping stone to greater things. Shortly after being blocked to open the retail store, Kent was offered the chance to buy a much better positioned property on the main street of Gerringong for $22,000. It was an abandoned grocery store opposite the town hall. The Honey Surf Shop opened it’s doors on the main street of Gerringong in 1976. Although he didn‘t know it at the time, Kent would one day expand this humble store into the largest Independent surf store in Australia, and rename it ‘Natural Necessity Surf Shop’. On the wholesale side however, with the loss of 8 tonnes of wax and the wax factory temporally out of action due to the fire, there was an urgent need to keep the cash flow going on the monthly road trips visiting and servicing stores. During the next road trip, Kent meets a Brazilian called Pablo who has just started importing clothing from Bali. Kent had only ever sold surf hardware products but has a good feeling and takes the risk, purchasing a solid amount of
clothes to try and sell to his usual stores. First stop is Byron Bay. By the time he’s finished visiting the last store in Byron he has completely sold out. Kent doubles back to Pablo and they soon have the bus packed to the rafters.
ROAD TRIPS BOOM Word soon spreads of the success Kent is having selling clothing on his road trips. It wasn’t long before other clothing labels where approaching him to distribute their goods. Headworx and DaKine both started their distribution through the ’Honey Surf Bus’. Kent decides to get some Honey Surf T-Shirts made up by a screen printer Dare Jennings. One day while in Dare’s office, Kent sees some ‘Phantom’ print T-Shirts, which Dare has created and feels there is some potential, so he takes them on the road. Instantly, 1000’s sell every month. To keep up supply, Dare starts manufacturing the actual T-Shirts, as well as doing the printing. Dare will go on to one day create the iconic brands Mambo and Deus Ex Machina. An innovative new footwear brand, Maseur Sandals was the product that would steal the show however. Millions of these sandals would end up being sold but Kent had the honour of selling the very first pair. “I remember waiting in the factory while the very first pair was glued up to take them on the road” - Kent
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SOON, KENT EVEN STARTS DOING REGULAR BUS TRIPS TO THE RAIL HEAD AND PORT IN SYDNEY, TO SHIP OUT WAX TO REPS IN OTHER STATES, NZ & THE USA. Kent on motorised surfboard
While business was growing well, the Surf Industry was still just in its infancy and no one really anticipated the boom it would one day go through. When Kent receives an offer to launch Maseur Sandals in the USA, he decides this could be the opportunity he has been waiting for.
Speaking as Program Director and Overall Director of the Whole Life Expo, San Francisco
U.S.A FOR THE 80’s Kent hands the Honey Surf business over to his brother Brad and moves to California. “I was 28 and it was the first time i’d been overseas. Before long I’d fallen in love with a Californian girl, got married and was settled in Malibu”. - Kent Over the next three years Kent succeeds in getting the Aussie sandal brand Maseur into 3,000 stores across the US.
With Dare Jennings at Kent’s house, Morro Bay
He traveled all over the USA to attend trade shows, but missed surfing all the time. Kent decides to sell the sandal business and moves to the coast full time. “We moved to the beautiful Central Coast of California. The house on the hill we choose had a view out the window of 18 miles of coast and 21 surf breaks.” - Kent After a few years of laid back lifestyle, teaching Yoga and consulting other Aussie Business’s and taking customers into wilderness areas of California on motorised Surfboards, Kent took a job in radio as a way to enhance his marketing and communication skills. This experience would be critical in later years when growing Natural Necessity.
CROSS ROADS The 80’s fly past. The USA has been a fairy tale of fun, hard work, personal growth and great surfing, however Kent dreams of returning to his roots in Australia and one day having kids. Kent separates from his Californian wife, who decides she doesn’t want to make the move. Meanwhile in Australia, Brad has sold the Honey Surf label and wax production to fellow surf brand
Maseur Sandal office in Kents house in the Santa Monica Mountains in LA
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Naturally
Beautiful Gerringong
Ocean and Earth. The surf shop in Gerringong is also being leased out, however Kent still owns the property and it has a little flat out the back to return to. His plan is to live off the shop’s rent and enjoying a simple life teaching yoga and surfing.
REBORN IN ‘89 Kent returns home for the first time in nearly a decade. As it turns out the lease on the surf shop is due to end and the store becomes vacant. Kent decides to reopen the surf shop as “Natural Necessity Surf Shop” Soon after re-opening, Kent starts his weekly yoga class back up. In the beginning they hold the classes in the little store itself, making room by pushing the clothing racks out of the way. One afternoon, a young lady by the name of Vivienne Ryder walks into the store, interested in joining the yoga class. Six months later, Viv and Kent are married on Werri Beach Headland. 3 sons soon follow, Forrest, Ryder and Taj.
THE 90’s HEAT UP Natural Necessity Surf Shop steadily grows. The family’s humble flat out back soon becomes filled with stock. Life in the back of the store has been special, but it was time to start expanding the stores floor area. The family looks for a new home.
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“As a young man, I dreamed of settling down in a place by the ocean with good surf, forest and a river. When we discovered an old beach house on the headland of nearby Gerroa, I knew this was it.” - Kent The family move into their new home on Forrest’s 1st birthday, November 1, 1994. As the 90’s roll on, Kent puts into practise everything he has learnt over the past three decades in business and marketing. The vision was simple “Create Australia’s Ultimate Surf Shop.” Despite being located in a small country town, the business’s sales grow by a stunning 20%, year after year during the 90’s and into the new century.
inspector and took me through a slaughter house at the age of 15. I’ve been vegetarian ever since. Sharing conscious, healthy food and organic coffee through the cafe has been a dream come true. It’s important on so many levels.” - Kent
A CHANGING INDUSTRY It’s 2008, the GFC is biting and massive change is happening in the surf industry. Most notably the over saturation of new surf shops, mainly due to the big brands deciding to invest and expand into retail. The growth of online sales, both overseas and inside Australia takes a slice of the market.
With many independent surf shops starting to struggle, the family looks to embrace the future and gets excited about the potential of an online store branch.
YOUNG BLOOD, ONLINE Viv and Kent’s son Forrest is now 17 and excited to do his best opening up the family business to the whole of Australia through an online store. “It’s definitely been an interesting ride” says Forrest, now 22. “After an exhausting amount of highs and lows, it feels great to have a hard earned, significant online presence that we can be proud of.”
THE DREAM COMES TO LIFE
With wife Viv and son Taj at rock paintings
Over the years, Kent works hard and isn’t afraid to spend a lot of his time as the day to day general manager and sales person. He utilises simple yet effective print, radio and TV ads to stoke the building momentum of the business, while committing to gutsy financial moves to expand when necessary. As roads and highways vastly improve between Gerringong and Sydney, more and more people start making the less than two hour drive, to day trip down to beautiful Gerringong and the rest of the South Coast on weekends and holidays. No doubt this helps fuel the growing momentum. The store suddenly becomes a destination. The vibe with the coffee aroma, high wood ceilings and sunlight streaming in, make it a dream shopping experience. There’s so much at the store to immerse yourself in. People often come for hours at a time. Part of the lifestyle experience is the Perfect Break Vegetarian Cafe, which Kent and Viv opened in 1998. “As a kid, my dad wanted me to be a health SPRING 2016 | SMORGASBOARDER
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Since it’s birth in 2011. The Natural Necessity Online Store has served over 12,000 customers from every corner of Australia, racking up 5 million page views in the process. “What I find most interesting about the online store platform is how much it actually benefits the physical store. People frequently come in-store quoting the web site or even with a print off.” - Forrest Apart from directing the online store, Forrest now personally creates the stores TV ads, as well as designing a refined range of Natural Necessity products, such as Surfboards, Stand Up Paddle Boards and surf accessories.
A COMPLETE EXPERIENCE Today, Natural Necessity is the largest single doorway surf shop in Australia, boasting an unbeatable range, beautiful location and state of the art, online shopping platform. The surfboard gallery now holds over 1,000 boards. From 5ft kids soft boards to 14ft stand up paddle boards. Customers often travel down from Sydney to take advantage of the 150 demo boards, so they can try before they buy. Part of the company mission statement is “To enhance the Australian coastal lifestyle, and bring happiness to people by supplying them with the right equipment, clothing and ethical food, so they look and feel great”.
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LOOKING TO THE FUTURE In an astonishing effort, starting 45 years ago in a tree house at Angourie, Kent and his family have created a business that employs over 60 people and is the cornerstone of the local community. “Everyone is stoked to be working here. They know that they’re part of an ethical organisation that brings happiness to people”. - Kent Now 65, Kent and the family had things put into perspective when Viv was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015. Fortunately the cancer was operable and Viv is on the mend. “I realise now that I’ve achieved my vision from all those years ago and should be thinking about spending all the time I can with my wife and taking advantage of the healthy surfing body I’ve got, while I still can”. - Kent
Having grown up so intimately within the family business, many expect the Ladkin boys to one day take over. However they’re all set on pursuing their own paths. Forrest 22, film making and product design. Ryder 19, drone piloting, and Taj just 17, dreams of one day traveling the world as a vegan chef. After countless years cultivating the right team. Kent has recently been able to step back from key roles and let the business run itself. Looking to the future, Kent and Viv are open to bringing in a partner or even selling the company if the right person or family presents themselves. After 40 years, many would say the family has achieved their vision of creating “Australia’s Ultimate Surf Shop”. “The new vision is to have created a lifestyle business and culture that will last for over 100 years”.
“EVERYONE IS STOKED TO BE WORKING HERE. THEY KNOW THAT THEY’RE PART OF AN ETHICAL ORGANISATION THAT BRINGS HAPPINESS TO PEOPLE”. - KENT
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RICHARD MORRIS
SURFER. SINGER. SONGWRITER As told to Cameron Fergus Photos courtesy of Richard Morris
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rowing up on the Isle of Wight, the sea and surf were ever-present. Not always inviting, especially in the depths of winter with an icy northerly and onshores like hell unleashed. The place can be bleak. It is times like that when being surrounded by water can be isolating, confining, make you long for escape. I know my family and I all felt that way at various stages of our life there. When the weather clears though, the pieces fall into place. It’s raw, rugged and beautiful, more so if the reefs are firing, but you’ve got to know where to go to score the best waves. On the Isle of Wight the adventure is part of the reward. I fell in love with music even before I fell in love with surfing. My dad introduced me to the guitar when I was about seven, teaching me some classic stuff like Creedence, Dire Straits, and The Beatles. He was – and continues to be – a huge influence musically, and I’m forever grateful that he noticed my interest early. Dad never shied away from showing me the more obscure examples of
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songwriting, stuff like Yellow Submarine with its lyrical ambiguity and instrumental breaks so atypical of pop music of that era. It was those types of records that taught me about simplicity and complexity, and how a song can move between the two points without losing its way. Those early records undoubtedly informed my own experimentation with songwriting. A song like Amazingly Fantastically Beautiful from my EP certainly comes from all that. I can remember piecing together the lyrics for that one, feeling confident that while the words might not make all that much sense when taken literally, they still form a nice abstract picture. As a songwriter it’s part of the exchange that you hand over the music to the audience and leave it with them to receive it and perceive it as they will. It’s one of the coolest parts of being an artist, creating something out of a singular feeling, dressing it up for the world, and letting it go. What the world makes of it is not up to you, you just hope they enjoy it and feel something from it.
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Photo: Rose Alex Images
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Lost at Sea Photo: Elliot McRae
It was through surfing that I discovered musicians like Jack Johnson, who is immeasurable in his influence on my becoming a songwriter. Through Jack’s music I developed a love for the acoustic guitar and found that my voice sounded better in that gentler setting. Like surfing, being a performer is hugely influenced by confidence. Whether it’s singing or busting out a big turn on the open face of a wave, the less confident you are the more difficult these things are to do powerfully and convincingly. The acoustic guitar gave me confidence in my voice which in turn allowed me to find my feet as a performer. While I’ve grown away from Jack Johnson’s albums since, without 56
his early records I almost certainly wouldn’t have the style of music I have today. Music and the ocean have always been a huge part of my life, but not always in equal measure. Often one has faded to the background for a spell while the other has taken prominence. Sometimes this has been a natural occurrence, other times a conscious choice. At the end of college I was faced with such a decision: move away from the coast and study music, or head to Cornwall to surf and chase girls. One girl in particular. So I chased and ended up studying, not music but Applied Marine Sports Science which meant I got to go surfing all the time and relish in the seaside
EP Artwork by: Rose Mears
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Music and the ocean have always been a huge part of my life, but not always in equal measure. Photo: Nicolai C. Stigar
lifestyle. Over those three years music drifted into the background, I rarely played gigs or told anyone that I was musician. It was all about having fun. Until it was no longer fun. The girl and I split and although we were only young, I still remember it as a painful time. But I don’t regret the choice I made to follow her to Cornwall as even though that path resulted in heartache, the heartache lead to songs. Lead me back to music. Many of the songs on my EP Await the Sunset stem from that time. Strangely though, once I’d written those songs they’d somehow done their job and music entirely vanished. For the next five years I was
lost at sea - travelling the world surfing and surf coaching, including stints in Sri Lanka and France, briefly returning to dry land for adventures in the mountains in Austria and the French Alps. I adored the nomadic lifestyle and aside from the rare occasion where I picked up the acoustic, music wasn’t really a part of my life. Although I still loved it, I didn’t miss it. I was having so much fun and there was nothing I wanted to say apart from ‘Where next?’ It was on a tiny improvised stage, in a pine forest by the sea in southern France that music rose again. This time to stay. At first it was just one song, strumming away, barely remembering the
chords and lyrics to my own tune - but the gathered crowd’s response buoyed my efforts and reminded me how much I loved playing music and performing. Since then I’ve worked hard to keep music at the forefront, have sacrificed a lot to pursue it, but it’s what I love to do and what I know I’m best at. Recording my EP was an incredible experience, having the songs evolve from solo pieces written years before with a broken heart to become full band compositions for the world to hear. Through the recording process we’ve developed a nice original sound that exists somewhere between modern pop songs, relaxed folk and raw emotive acoustic singer-songwriting. SPRING 2016 | SMORGASBOARDER
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Lost at Sea
Photo: Daniel Pendlebury
Photo (and left): Nicolai C. Stigar
Since Await the Sunset has been released it’s been a wild ride. I’ve toured through Europe with my band, had album sales in 15 countries (and counting) and been featured by the official London Instagram account (1.9 million followers). I’ve also released the single What Is Love with Vevo, had airplay and interviews on BBC Radio, and played a sold out show in Portsmouth at the Square Tower and headlined at The Wedgewood Rooms in Southsea. But I haven’t had a surf for a while. It’s a strange situation given how much I’ve loved it. Maybe the big blue and I just need a break. There’s a song that I’ve written for the next record about how much the sea means to me, so maybe it’s calling me back already. For now though I’ve committed to the music, to where it might take me. I know that the waves still break without me, but I also know that I’ll be back out there again soon. Richard Morris’ debut EP Await the Sunset is out now on iTunes and Google Play Music. And stay tuned for Richard’s highly-anticipated follow up EP, due for release later in 2016.
www.richardmorrismusic.com
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f r u S r a t i u G
CREATING A TRUE
It started as a simple question for Smorgasboarder’s Mark Chapman... “What would make an awesome surf guitar?”. The answer was supposed to be something along the lines of how you could modify a Fender Jaguar, Jazzmaster or Stratocaster - all mainstays of the instrumental surf sound - to make it even cooler and “surfier”. But as questions often go, it’s not as much fun to stop at the first, obvious answer. If this needed to be an ultimate surf guitar, then hey, why not build it out of a surfboard? WORDS: DAVE SWAN PHOTOS: MARK AND ELLIOTT CHAPMAN
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Lost at Sea GEAR: PROJECTS
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simple foam and fibreglass body with a timber neck was the starting point for the concept behind these guitars - something that a surfer or a guitarist could appreciate equally, and that a surfing guitarist (or guitarplaying surfer) would just fall in love with. But new ideas always meet with head shaking and naysaying, and this was no different. Guitar purists questioned the “sonic qualities” of surfboard foam while “Nah mate, that’s too difficult to glass” was the response from the surfing camp.
Jase, Ace Fibreglass
Being thick-skinned (and somewhat thick-skulled, his wife would say) this just made Mark more determined to get this project off the ground. Having played guitar since childhood and having repaired, restored, assembled, modified and built various guitars over the years, the nuts and bolts of traditional guitars weren’t too daunting, but the fibreglass work... He’d only ever made one foam surfboard - and under pretty serious supervision (see issue 4, March 2011, for Mark and my board building project with Richard Harvey and Paul Carson) “I knew I had to find people that were equally excited about the concept. There’s no point in working with people who don’t get a gleam of possibility in their eyes when you suggest something incredibly unlikely.” Fortunately, after hacking away at a blank and a recycled surfboard to get some body shapes done, Mark found some excited and willing helpers: Jase and Josie at Ace Fibreglass in Warana were the first to put their hand up to get involved, and that became a whole lot more - what started as an offer for Josie (the fibreglass tricks guru) to glass up a body, ended up with Mark spending a day at Ace being shown the ropes, glassing his own work with great advice and all the gear you could hope for, right on hand.
Leash-plug strap connector
At the same time, Matt of The Factory Surfboards in Caloundra, and Phil at the Beach Beat factory in Maroochydore had both offered to give it a crack, leading to two very different and amazingly interesting takes on finishing - Matt’s glassing and spray job done to mimic a classic guitar sunburst spray, and Phil’s an over-the-toppsychedelic resin swirl and glitter piece of art. (At the time of writing, these guitars were still on Mark’s workbench). #001, the guitar featured here was the first cab off the rank. Shaped in the classic Fender Telecaster outline, this was glassed at Ace Fibreglass. It features a full custom pickguard made from a fibreglass fin panel that included a fabric inlay of a retro shirt - one that Mark’s youngest had outgrown, given a new life as part of a musical instrument. For you guitar enthusiasts out there, the hardware includes an actual Fender Telecaster bridge pickup, while the neck humbucker is wired with a discreet coil-split switch. (I don’t know what that means, but Mark says “trust me, it’s cool!”). There are other guitar-nerd specs to rattle off, but what’s most important is... It’s made out of foam! How cool is that? And it sounds just fantastic. But the surf connection (mind the pre-emptive pun) doesn’t stop there. Rather than a traditional guitar strap setup, this features a legrope plug at the front, and standard guitar strap button at the back. Wazza from Elofant Straps (surfboard and SUP storage and carry straps) rose to the challenge, making up the custom strap featuring a railsaver-on-string-style connector featuring a bit of the leftover shirt fabric from the pickguard. 62
Wazza, Elofant Straps
So is this project a one-off? Not a chance. There’s already a line-up of foam bodies at various stages of completion, along with a few custom orders for different styles of guitars under the banner of Marcoola Guitars. “I read somewhere that you can make yourself a small fortune building guitars, as long as you start with a large fortune”, Mark laughs. “So no, this won’t ever be a day-job, just a really fulfilling hobby that connects my history and present, lets me play with cool guitars and hopefully brings something positive to the people who see them and play them.“ ` Marcoola Guitars
The Factory: Matt’s Sunburst on Mark’s glass-in fin design
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GEAR: SHAPER Jackson Paishon Photo: Mana Photo
MATHEW WILKERSON WORDS: DAVE SWAN
Brian Pacheco Photo: Mana Photo
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Now for those who read our story in the Winter edition of Smorgasboarder on the super sexy Larry Bertlemann Twin Fins now available at Beach Beat, you would already know we thoroughly enjoyed our chat with the man behind these boards, Matt Wilkerson. If you didn’t read the story, some of this may not sense and for that we believe you should give yourself a self-inflicted wedgie and uppercut to the chin. Anyhow, there was some unfinished businesses. Matt entertained us with so many stories about life in Hawaii and his move to Australia, we simply couldn’t fit all of them into the last mag so we committed to a Part 2.
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o recap just a little, Matt Wilkerson was born in San Diego California. As a teenager he landed himself a entry level job with Rusty Priesendorfer and his talented crew of shapers at Rusty Surfboards, moved on to working with none other than Donald Takayama and from there moved to Hawaii where he lived for the next 20 years. His time on Oahu saw Matt work with the likes of Pat Rawson and the guys at Aaron Chang Apparrell, Hawaiian Island Creations and Buttons Hawaii, before going out on his own. In time he had the likes of Solomon Ortiz, Ikaika Kalama, Derek Ho, Brian and Jedidiah Pacheco, Sheldon Paishon, Bouvey Bradbury, Charlie Carroll, Jackson Kyne, Megan Abubo, Claire Bevilaqua , Buttons Kaluhiokalani and Rusty and Brian Keaulana, to name a few, riding his boards. In time Larry Bertlemann came calling approaching Matt to handshape his boards under licence. Then in pursuit of the love of his life (his now wife Kat), Matt headed out to Australia. Today he continues to shape the Bertlemann classics as well as his own range of surfboards working alongside the team at Beach Beat on the Sunshine Coast. Consider yourself up to speed. So how does a guy born in San Diego become so readily accepted by the Hawaiians? I started going to Hawaii when I was young. Each time I visited Hawaii I didn’t stay in a hotel. I would stay with friends. I surfed hard and was humble and we had fun. As soon as I got through my work
for me and I was accepted by the inner circle of the inner circle Hawaiian surf community.
Matt Wilkerson Photo: Mana Photo
I embraced the Hawaiian culture and was so priviledged and fortunate to be welcomed into it. I came to know Hawaiian is Hawaiian and everyone else needs to understand that. When you respect and appreciate that, they will show so much respect and love back because you are embracing their culture and respecting that this is their land. And being considered Hanai no doubt had its perks? Yes. One funny story I have to tell is when Laniakea was 6ft and perfect and I got a call from my friend Kalei Ho’opai telling me to come surf Lanis. I said, ‘Bra, its 2pm. I won’t get a park.’ And Kalei goes, “No, no, park next to my truck.” I was thinking what the hell do you mean. He just laughed telling me, “You will see.” Brian Pacheco Photo: Mana Photo
on the mainland I would head over to spend time with close friends Louie Ferreira, Mike and Elijah Young. All were very accomplished big wave surfers. I got a chance to surf a lot of spots without having that feeling of being out of place because these guys were such respected watermen. They treated me as ‘hanai’ (family). In time I also developed close friendships with the likes of James Tolontino, Imanuel Kuehu, Kalei Ho’opai, Mark Naone, Kawehi Ponce, John Ferriman, Shane Basham, and many more folks from the community. These
names don’t mean anything but if you showed up on the island, these were a very core crew. I believe it is also important to understand that I come from a ethnicly diverse background, and Hawaii is a majority of ethnicly diverse people, so I fit in pretty quickly. I was on the mainland until I was about 22 before I eventually moved to Hawaii. I don’t think I came into my own until I became considered Kama aina’ (person who understands the culture of living Hawaiian) and developed so many close relationships. It just happened
Anyhow, I pull up in the car park and sure enough, there’s Kalei’s truck and either side of it is a car’s length space. Kalei had this huge Pit Bull called Taz with the biggest head you have ever seen. He would chain Taz up beside the car with a lead long enough for 2 car spaces either side of his truck. Some poor unsuspecting tourist or surfer would occasionally pull up and think they scored a spot but there would be Taz, unbeknownst to them the friendliest dog in the world but who just so happened to look absolutely nuts. Taz would jump up on the side of the tourist’s car and try to poke his head in the window. You can imagine how quickly they vacated that car park. SPRING 2016 | SMORGASBOARDER
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No doubt it was fantastic being good mates with the locals but I also gather you wouldn’t want to get on the wrong side of them? I believe Hawaii is more community based than anywhere else in the world. Being an island however means you all have to get along. That’s why when things happen, you have to resolve them quickly as there is nowhere else to go. I remember a military guy coming into my factory at Waialua and he had a black eye. I asked him what happened. He told me had been speeding and this local guy was in his way and he was sticking finger to him and getting all road rage out. A week later a guy walks up to him at a service station and punches him. He said he knew before he hit the ground who it was. He just didn’t think it was that small a place, from that day on he learned to share the road.
Shumway. I got a few of his mates like Mike Jackson to ride my boards. Pretty soon this underground crew of Waimea guys were ordering boards and that set me up for when Rusty came and I knew what I was going to make him. It translated into this beautiful orange 10’6 single fin gun. It was a highlight to see him ride that board in the 2009 Eddie Aikau Surf meet. So tell us about the move to Australia? Matt Wilkerson Photo: Mana Photo
I had been to Australia briefly once before. When I was working on the Buttons Hawaii project they flew me out here. I met with Greg Clough in Sydney and the guys at Base in Queensland. I was only here a couple of weeks. I never thought I was going to leave Hawaii because I was so set up. I was getting centre spreads in the mags because I was working with the best surfers but then, as you know, in 2011 I packed up and came to Sydney to be with Kat.
He learnt you have to be humble. Just because your car is faster than someone else’s doesn’t mean anyone has any less right to drive on the road and that way of thinking carries through for a lot of different things. Enjoying such a good relationship with the locals, you developed quite a following on the surfboard side of things? It took a good 10 years to establish my label. It was all about getting boards under the kids’ feet. I really wanted to promote surfing and give the kids something to do. There wasn’t a whole lot of money in it but we had a good lifestyle. But yeah, all of a sudden guys were showing up and wanting boards. As I mentioned, It was a honor to have Brian Keaulana walking down the drive and ordering two guns, Megan Abubo, Melanie Barteles, Charlie Boy Carroll … so many really good customers who could obviously really surf and give great feedback on how the boards were performing so I could keep improving them and improving them. Many of these were my heroes growing up, I also believe that a lot of this was being a part of 66
the community, they were backing a local brand in their community, that had a lot to do with it. And you ended up shaping Rusty Keaulana’s boards for the Eddie Aikau Big Wave Invitational? How did that come about? I was fortunate to get some centrespreads in Free Surf Hawaii (a fantastic free surf magazine that circulates throughout the Hawaiian Islands). I was then living with Bouvey Bradbury who is a wellknown lifeguard, surfer, fisherman and all around waterman. This guy has done some crazy rescues. Brought many people back to life right there on the beach. Bouvey was fishing out at the Moi Hole one night out by Kaena Point (a clifftop fishing spot with underground caves). It is the middle
of the night and he hears someone yell help. A guy had fallen off the cliff into the water. He was off duty. There was a good 10ft plus swell running. The guy had been shoved into the cave in pitch black darkness. Bouvey jumps in, swims into the cave, dodging all these sets, grabs the guy, swims him out through the large surf and swims him along a mile and into the beach. I think it was 2005 and at the Eddie that year they gave him a competitor’s trophy . He was awarded waterman of the year. Anyhow he was riding my boards and I began shaping out of his house. He brought Rusty over one day and I started making Rusty’s boards for the Eddie that year (2009). It led to a great relationship as we did boards for Rusty to chase his fourth world Longboard title. He is an amazing surfer. During those North Shore years I was fortunate to live in the Waimea Valley and I would swim and train a lot in the bay and surf. My roommate at the time was a guy called Cody
There’s a funny story about travelling here. My friend, Burrelle Thimm who had introduced me to Larry (Bertlemann) worked for Hawaiian Airlines and had worked there for a long time so he got me a Buddy Pass. I get to the airport and find out I need a visa and I think oh shit. This Hawaiian lady at the counter asks me if I was checking in my bag and informs me I will have to pay. She then starts talking and says, “Oh you live on Manuku Street?” And I go, ‘Yeah I live in Makaha.’ She says, “Ohh my family live on Manuku Street. Do you know so and so?” And I go, ‘Yeah they’re my neighbour.’ Meanwhile everyone in the line is getting annoyed. She then goes, “Here’s the receipt for your bags” and I ask about the Visa and she tells me she has got that. I go into the waiting lounge and they ask for my ticket and I give it to them. They give it back to me and it says 2A. I had never flown first class in my life. Next I am boarding the plan and eating sushi and I look over at one of the inflight magazines. One of them is Free Surf Magazine (Hawaii) and there is Jackson Kyne on a wave doing an air in Makaha on my board. One of the stewards then comes over and says, “Do you remember me? I used to go out with PT.” Pete
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“IT TRANSLATED INTO THIS BEAUTIFUL ORANGE 10’6 SINGLE FIN GUN. IT WAS A HIGHLIGHT TO SEE HIM RIDE THAT BOARD IN THE 2009 EDDIE AIKAU SURF MEET.”
Brian Pacheco at Makaha Photo: Mana Photo
2009 Eddie Aikau and Rusty’s orange 10’6” single fin gun. Photo: Supplied
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Townend and I used to work together at Rusty. At the trade shows I of course met Terry (his partner at the time). She goes, “You will not believe this but in our (Hawaiian Airlines) inflight magazine Brian Keaulana is holding your board.” I have a look and sure enough, there’s Brian in the centrespread.
in October last year. My wife’s parents who had lived in Bilgola and Palm Beach moved to Noosa. Kat’s dad still surfs 5 hours a day , a great accomplishment for a 71 year old. They said you should come up and check it out and we ended up with their help and family support, buying a house in Tewantin (back of Noosa).
So I am feeling pretty good about everything and I get to Sydney and I go into a few stores to sell some of my boards and they say, “Who… who are you? Never heard of you.” They told me they only carry big name brands and I thought well what the … am I going to do now? I told them I am a custom shaper and this is who I have been currently making boards for and they go, “Yeah. You can put some boards on consignment.”
Mel at Channel Islands put the word out that I was moving up here because I was such a good employee and thankfully Al Hing at Beach Beat responded and offered me the chance to work with them. So I am starting over again here on the Sunshine Coast. I am shaping the Bertlemann’s and a few of the Beach Beat Pacers along with my own boards under the Paradise Surfboards label.
I thought, ‘oh man’. For a guy who had shaped for 2 world champions things weren’t looking that great and were quite daunting. I thought to myself, ‘This is not life as I had planned.’ I was ready to get back on a plane. From the outside looking in it looked like I had a huge business because all of these guys were on my boards but in reality it took years to build and it was just a sustainable thing.
I am interested to get your take on modern day surfboard shaping in Australia?
I waited a couple of weeks. Greg Clough came by. He said, “I can’t believe you are here. Your boards look great.” But still I had no luck. Kat and I had married however and we were about to have our first son so there really was no time to lay idle. This is just where you have to swallow your pride and try to make it. Full immigrant story. I managed to get a job at Bennett’s and a job at a café in Newport. Later I got a job at Channel Islands through their sander Shane Bakes who set up the interview with Paolo Bianchinotti. Paolo had heard of me and he really knew his shit. A very good craftsman, He taught me so much about the ins and outs of cosmetic glassing (a majority of board builders were not really that interested in that kind of stuff in Hawaii, there was just a lot more focus on the shape) and resin work and carbon. He was patient and had a great sense of humour. They really looked after me. I have nothing but admiration for that company. My three years there enabled me to save enough to buy a house up here. It was hard to leave that job. I came up here (the Sunshine Coast) 68
“...AND THANKFULLY AL HING AT BEACH BEAT RESPONDED AND OFFERED ME THE CHANCE TO WORK WITH THEM.”
When I learnt to shape there were no shaping machines. Everything was handshaped off the blank. To get a start you really had to be committed because you had to learn how to use the tools and work the numbers and blend curves. Fast forward to today and the learning curve has been accelerated by the shaping machine. I am fortunate to have a variety of templates to create designs and a wealth of experience and knowledge in building the complete surfboard. I believe this can separate you from the masses, however, you can have the best product but if you don’t focus on selling, no one would know. Knowledge of materials to ensure a quality product is imperative. So what do you like to shape? Pretty much everything. Being able to shape a variety of boards is my strong point, I still shape for the kids in Hawaii - high performance shortboard designs that have developed over time. A large part of shaping is learning what works well in different conditions, I feel very comfortable creating surfboards for all conditions, body sizes and even replicas. This one I made for Rusty Kaeulana and Manaphoto (Jeff Walthal). I have to share a story about this actual design.
Jeff “Mana” Walthall was such an instrumental part in getting my label known and promoting the guys riding my boards with coverage in the surf mags and social media. He was one of my closest friends. About a year ago he was talking to Bruce Desoto on the beach one day telling everyone how much he loved his board I had just shaped him and he then paddled out and caught this wave, noseriding it right the way across the Makaha Lineup. Henry Greenspan got a photo of him riding the wave. As he kicked out, he went limp and died. Makaha lifeguards were right on it along with the surfers in the water that got to him first and tried to resucitated him but he passed away. He had quality care from the lifeguards but they believe he had a heart attack. I miss him very much. The good ones always go early. He put us all on the map and I am forever grateful. Mana never sold
out and stayed true to the Hawaiian community. To give you a example of how humble he was, we had been surfing town all one summer, mainly “Courts” and on the way home from the beach he said he had to make stop at Dole Cannery for this movie premier “Fiberglass & Megapixels”. We go in and sit down, and they call him up on stage before the movie. We come to find out he was featured in this film as one of the main photographers! I was floored. I was so happy for him to finally get the exposure he so deserved. You can still find his images at manaphotohawaii.com The board is a high performance longboard. Blend of Double concave bottom, single concave upfront. The other one I do is very Donald inspired. He would always give me his personal boards to take to Hawaii and I would always break them. I would take off on these big waves and snap them. He would be so bummed when I told him I broke
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Jenny Edwin Moraliz in Mexico ‘08. Photo: Supplied
I come back into his Oceanside factory and he goes, “Your board is ready.” I am looking all over the shop and he is just laughing. I asked him where it was and he goes, “Right there!” pointing to a Stephen Slater “SS model” single fin and I said, ‘I don’t ride that.’ And he goes, “Well you do now.”
Marlon has autism. When I was working for Donald and living with Stephen Slater we would hang out with a guy called Izzy Paskowitz at his families surf camp. Izzy’s son had just been diagnosed with autism and he started The Surfers Healing program after seeing the amazing effect that surfing had for his son.
We went surfing and I kept falling off that board. I was so used to shortboarding. I kept bending me knees trying to turn this thing. He said, “The board rides better without you.” But I just kept on that board and eventually after two months it became one of my most favourite boards. I learnt a lot about longboarding - heel toe, drop knee and that pendulum style of surfing. To basically slow everything right down.
A little while back my good friend Kamakani Froiseth from Makaha was in Sydney to help out with “Surfers Healing”. It turned out a lot of my friends from Hawaii, and some long time friends from the mainland (who I had not seen in 20 years) also volunteered and came to the event in Sydney. Izzy asked me if I was going to bring Marlon down and get him in the water.
And I believe the inspiration for your logo actually came from your time with Donald? We hung out a lot and he would wake me up at 3am in the morning to go surfing. I’d be, ‘Ok. Let’s do some work first though’ so we would work until 6.30, load the car up and it would seem we were going surfing but that was just to fool his wife.
another Speed Shape ha ha, but I always like to travel light so the return was easy. I took a lot of ideas from Donald such as the balanced rocker - the nose and tail rocker are the same. It has a nice flow to it, which was typical of all of his boards. A vee bottom runs 81 inches up. Very clean design. Flat vee up to here and then a nose concave. Easy to turn from the middle of the board. It makes them a really good noserider. Another I shape is similar to Donald’s Scorpion. The original scorpion was under my bed, when I was living above Donald’s factory. A guy by the name of Hal Jepson had footage of that board on film, “Super Session”. It was the world contest at Malibu. Donald rode that board in that contest. That’s why he said he was always the first shortboarder. No one gave him credit for it though. The board was 6’0 and at the time there was nothing like it.
I have to ask what it was like working with a legend such as Donald (Takayama)? As you know I got my first break at Rusty Surfboards. I had 5-6 years at Rusty. I was roommates with Steven Slater (Skippy) at the time and Donald of course shaped the Stephen Slater model. Donald was always calling early, 4:45am to see what we were doing that day and he would say “come down and let’s go to Angelo Burgers for breakfast” and after a lot of chats with Donald I knew I wanted to learn about shaping long boards with him, he was a funny, unique man and so I went to work with him. I will never forget the first time he made me a board. He said, “What do you want? I told him I was keen on a 6’4” x 18 ¾. He told me to come back in a couple of weeks.
I would inevitably fall asleep and we’d end up at some Indian gaming centre. I would wake up in the car and go, ‘Where the hell are we?’ and Donald would go, “Oh you are going to love it. They have a great buffet here” and he would treat you to lunch while he feed the machines. He was just a classic guy. He just loved to play the slot machines. He would have 2 machines going at the same time. One time we are playing Blackjack and I notice Harris Casino Las Vegas, Nevada and I thought, ‘Well, that is as good a surfboard logo as any’ so I started making my boards with the dice logo. It now reminds me of the times I was stolen to go with Donald. Finally, tell us a little about your family. Family life is wonderful and it is great being here in Australia to raise the kids. We have two sons. Marlon is four and Kaimana our youngest son just 5 months.
We went down and I helped out. Then he said, “Ok man, where’s Marlon?” So I went over to Kat and she was against it. She said to me, “Well it is on you. I am saying no but it is your decision.” So I took Marlon over to the water and as we are putting the life jacket on he is screaming and crying. My friend Puna comes over, who I had also known for 20 years, and he grabs Marlon. Izzy said, “Don’t worry. We’ll do it. You can’t do it.” As they are carrying him away my son is screaming and crying and looking at me like I had let him down. They put him in the water and he starts screaming even more and you can imagine how I feel. My very good friend from Makaha Beach, Kamakani Froiseth who helps out with Surfers for Healing too surfs towards Puna, liftsMarlon up and he caught his first wave. They rode it all the way to the beach together. Marlon loved it. We get to the beach and I’m almost crying myself, and I said “Izzy thank you so much.” And he goes, “Well you are already the worst parent on the beach so I figured why not.” The work that those guys do is outstanding. And on such a positive note we leave our interview with Matt here until the next time we catch up. If you want to check out any of Matt’s boards make sure to get in touch with the crew at Beach Beat. You are sure to be blown away. SPRING 2016 | SMORGASBOARDER
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TALKING BOARD DESIGN WITH JESSE WATSON
TECH ARTICLE 5 RAILS PART 1 – SINGLE FINS
OK SO TODAY WE ARE GOING TO START GETTING INTO THE GOOEY CHOCOLATEY HEART OF SURFBOARD DESIGN. WE’VE DANCED AROUND THE EDGES, FLIRTED WITH THEORY IF YOU WILL – TODAY THE FLIRTING ENDS AS WE START TO GET SERIOUS WITH OUR AFFAIRS. SO WE ARE GOING TO START WITH A BIG ASPECT OF DESIGN… RAIL SHAPES.
This will be a large article; it will be a multiple part instalment. It’s a huge subject and an important one too. Forgive me if there is a distinct lack of banter and mindless stupidity for your entertainment as in other articles but this is serious business people. So logout of your facebook, put your phone on silent, cancel your tweets, clear your head and lets focus.
more-learned-than-me variety as well as the armchair/internet forum hero variety as well. As such I have deferred to other shapers for many topics in this series to get a better overall perspective and less of a dictatorship style of arrangement. Plus I’m far too fragile to have you drag my precious disposition through the mud on the forums if I get it all horribly wrong. Oh the horror!
Now this is likely going to be contentious as an issue of design, actually many topics from here on out will undoubtedly cause a stir in some circles. There will be critics both of the
In truth I’ve actually been looking at this article and writing it with some trepidation simply because of the volume of knowledge attached to it – It’s a huge task to condense
it into some form of cohesive trail that doesn’t get lost in the exceptions to the rules and the tangents. And yet despite the fact that we know very little in total about rail shapes what we do know could fill an entire book. It’s very subjective simply due to the influence of variables like type of surfcraft, variations of surfers, waves surfed and the inverse effects of speed just for starters. It’s that same old dog again that we keep talking about with the pendulum. It’s not so much the attributes of design but rather how they are put together in total to create
Surfer Jordan Rodin on a Derek Hynd Free Friction Finless design. Photo: Giang Alam Wardani
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CLOSEOUT: COLUMNS a certain board that determine the outcome and ultimately the boards “feeling”. One of the most alluring and at the same time frustrating quandaries of rails is this: the rules of rails can be changed and even inverted depending on speed. That is if one type of rail is best in slow speed surfing it can be the worst shape for high speed surfing and vice versa. The same can be said of turning ability and other aspects as well but we’ll cover that soon enough. Again it’s that pendulum swinging from one end to the other. It can present a real problem when talking about boards designed to surf well at both slow and fast speeds and you’ll see that not many boards can straddle both sides of the fence with real success. The modern performance shortboard is a perfect example. That formula one vehicle is amazing at speed with what it can do – but slow it down and you’ll invariably see the old chop-hop-bounce-bounce-shuffle move as the user desperately tries to get it planing again. It’s just not designed with slow surfing in mind. So there are a lot of different angles we can look at rails from. But to keep it simple lets look at it from two main perspectives, slow speed surfing and high or higher speed surfing. To start with I wanted to cover slow speed surfing. With this in mind I called up a friend of mine. You may know him as 2009’s Shaper of the Year recipient for his work with traditional surf craft and his passion for simplified surfing. Yes I am talking about one Mr Tom Wegener. So after some cajoling and me having to do him multiple favours, going down to the crossroads and striking a deal with the devil and various other soul selling activities (no not really – Tom is one of the most obliging shapers I know actually – which is why I leaned on him) Tom sent me some outline notes about his ideas on rail shapes – something I have been exposed to before and which I have taken the time to learn and digest many times. What I like about Tom’s perspective is the bias in his ideas is readily apparent – and I mean that in the
best possible way. Because his main focus has been on traditional boards in the past, so longboards, noserider’s and more recently ancient boards of the finless variety, a lot of his ideas and theories as such are the product of devoting his energies to pursuing these craft. A lot of what he talks about with rail shapes pre the Alaia direction revolves around slower speed surfing. So I am going to present some of Tom’s notes that he wrote me for this and add my own conjecture or interpretation to some of them. (FYI – the Full transcript of what Tom has written for me is available on www.blackapachesurfboards.com) FIRSTLY THOUGH IS THIS STATEMENT FROM MR WEGENER:
“Generally, I believe there is not that much really known about rail shapes. Recently I have been finding that the top of the rail is just as important as the bottom of the rail, yet the top of the rail is the same on almost all surfboards. I bet we start seeing bevels on the top of the rail or an edge like an Alaia rail or boogie board. There are many rail shapes that have never been tried. Rail shapes are still in their infancy.” There it is from a very learned shaper – we still haven’t learnt all there is to know about rail shapes and again it comes down to the combination of how and where design attributes are grouped into a particular surfboard. Particularly with finned boards. The fin(s) quite often overpower or influence the rails to a point where it can be hard to tell the difference between who is doing what in any situation from a pure design perspective. It is near impossible to define either rails or fins to be the most essential item to design whilst we employ them in a fashion that tries to have the best of both worlds whilst negating any negative effects. We are continually building boards around the known limitations of matching fins and rail shapes and thus creating a Siamese twin situation where it’s impossible to separate the two.
This is where the Alaia revival is interesting. While it may not be for everyone it is exciting in design terms because it completely removes the variable of the fin. When you look at the alien shapes of things like Alaia’s, Olo’s, hot curls, forward to modern interpretations such as Ryan Lovelace’s Rabbits Foot, Roger Hall’s Double Hot Curl designs, Bryan Bates and his Drifter series and Derek Hynd’s Free Friction designs you can see how abstract a surfboard can become by todays standards when you remove the necessity of the fin and rely solely on the rails for drive, hold and release. These varying boards from varying shapers range in size from 3 feet to 12 feet and ½” to 4” depending on the board so really a huge spread of applications open up once the fin is eliminated. Tom says it like this:
“THE FIN AND FIN PLACEMENT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT VARIABLE IN A FOAM BOARD. THE FIN MOSTLY OVERPOWERS THE SHAPE OF THE RAIL. IN MY LIFE IT WAS OFTEN HARD TO REALLY FEEL THE DIFFERENCE IN RAIL SHAPES AS THE FIN WAS THE DOMINANT VARIABLE.” SPRING 2016 | SMORGASBOARDER
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So a basic idea of rails and what they do is as follows: rails are designed to add either hold or release to a surfboard as a control measure – yes even release, slide or la-la as the Alaia crowd refer to it is a control measure.
“A HARD EDGE RAIL CUTS INTO THE WATERS SURFACE CREATING A FORM OF TRACTION OR BITE.”
Now for me personally, I like my boards to have speed – it’s my main focal point for what I like in a board, particularly shorter boards. Even my single fins need to be fast. I’m a flat out speed junky - without the crazy meth teeth. With speed I believe you can go anywhere. One of my least favourite surfing designs is the single fin in its shorter length. That classic Lopez era single fin. They are beautiful boards to look at. Their templates are some of the most beautiful and iconic parts of surfing history. The revolutionary idea at the time of a new boom of shorter boards pushing surfers into more critical places and deeper into the tube than ever before was something special in its day there’s no doubt… to be honest though I always found them to feel slow – almost stuck in the pocket. It’s the waves fault mostly as they were designed for hollow fast waves and anything less than that see’s them relegated to red headed stepchild status. They always felt like they would hot dog up and down in the pocket but not really break free and drive off the bottom and out in front of the wave face. Not without significant power input from a hollow wave anyways. Watch old footage from Hal Jepson’s classic “A sea for yourself” and you can see it in action – lots of up and down movement in the pocket but little forward projection on smaller waves. There’s a section of Miki Dora getting a few less than average waves around L.A. on a teardrop minigun that really throw light on this. Look it up on youtube and watch Miki get left behind as the wave marches on.
This is incorrect and in fact the opposite is true. So for those of you checking the hard edges on the bottom of your shortboards
These days my single fin shapes - particularly for my modern style trackers and other boards in that vein are designed to overcome what I see as the limitations of the early
The rail is the part of the board we engage in a turn, either off the bottom, top or in any variation of a cutback or anything in between. Noseriding is also rail dependant to a large extent as well. In most cases the function of the rail when “holding” is to create drive. When “releasing” it’s usually to start to reset the boards surfing line which has gone beyond a critical point so that drive can be achieved again through “hold”. So now that we’ve looked at basic function, let’s talk rail shapes. Since we are dealing with slower speed surfing here lets think more in a direction away from the shorter more performance shapes and more towards longboards and boards designed to hold drive through slower turns like midlengths, single fins, and everything of that nature. First up lets talk single fins in the short to medium length size range. I want to quickly dispel the number one incorrect assumption I hear and am exposed to in regards to rails and that is this:
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thinking they aren’t sharp enough to bite in – forget it. Ice skate blades bite in not surfboard’s hard edge rails. Right so now that’s out of the way lets move on.
singles. I still keep a pinched/knifey rail up front but I use a rounder slightly down rail through the middle (almost like a shortboard rail) and a full down rail rolled completely off into a slightly tucked knife edge in the rear, all this with a flatter rocker – maybe some spiral vee in the rear depending on board shape and foiled to suit. The idea is to keep the drive off the rail but use the hard edge to break free with the speed generated off the bottom and access the shoulder and open face of the wave more easily. Obviously for smaller wave designs tail widths are critical also and adjusted to suit the application. Narrower tails will not help with generating speed in smaller waves. If you look at Bob Mctavish’s tracker designs you will see two very distinct varieties. There is the earlier or narrower tail style, which then progressed through to the later, wider tailed variety. His newer reissued ones have minimal bottom roll and harder edged tails too. Its all about speed and usability. Anyways as the rail on my single fin design is driven off the bottom and the board starts
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CLOSEOUT: COLUMNS
Matt Williams, The Factory Surfboards
the inertia and drive of the board for a more positive result. The following example from Tom illustrates the pendulum between rail and fin quite well. (Bear in mind that board rail shapes have changed but the logic still applies) I’ll use this story because It relates to Gerry Lopez surfing pipeline and almost every surfer of every age has at some point had etched into his mind a slow motion reel of Mr Pipeline dropping into one of the aforementioned bombs and it will help to visualise this as you read the next few lines.
to come out of the bottom turn and sit on its belly more, the hard edge has been doing it’s thing to allow more release from the rear and less drag momentarily to get you out onto the open face. From here as the cutback is initiated the fin starts to spiral out and cavitate slightly as the drag increases and the battle ensues between rail and fin. It’s neither right nor wrong – but just the way I like my boards to behave. I like the idea of being able to put a board anywhere I like, and in order to do this in a single fin I have to try to incorporate more speed knowing full well that this speed will be washed off significantly any time the board turns back to the power source. You can actually feel it lose drive once you’re tuned into what’s happening, hence the need to really harness the speed down the line and off the bottom, so that by turns end you aren’t completely flatfooted and left behind as the wave marches on. Or worse left stranded mid turn and washed over the shoulder as another section peels off down the line without you. Obviously I am no doubt a product of surfing fast down the line Gold Coast point waves
and it is reflected in some of my designs and preferences. Yet again this is another example of the pendulum effect where to gain an aspect of performance we lose an opposing aspect of performance. But as it stands I prefer a board that is faster off the bottom, faster in a straight line out to the shoulder and the trade off is losing speed through turns – generally the longer rail line of the midlength helps to overcome some of the loss of speed and more readily get back up to speed once in the white water. However it’s not designed to sit in the white water. It’s designed to draw arcs on the face. Accordingly this type of board needs to be surfed in a very distinct way the same as any Alaia or hot curl etc. You will see guys on my midlengths overcoming the single fins white water shortcomings by adjusting their position on the board as well as the height of their stance by crouching when in the pocket or extending their bodies coming out of bottom turns. Here they use their body weight and centre of gravity to affect
“The most beautiful rail surfing I have ever seen is Gerry Lopez dropping in at pipeline. If you study the drop, he is riding off the down rail in the nose – like an Alaia. The fin is way behind him and is often out of the water. A great surfer once told me that he would watch Gerry sideslip down those horrendous pipeline faces and that is how he could set up for the tube so perfectly. He could slide the fin out if he wanted to stall back in the pocket or put it in if he wanted forward momentum and do a bottom turn. There is much to be learned from the front half of Gerry’s boards and his surfing.“
I WOULD ALSO ARGUE THAT THERE IS JUST AS MUCH TO BE LEARNED FROM THE REAR HALF AS WELL. Now a few things come to mind here, Gerry’s use of controlled slide or “la-la” to stall momentum in the wave is an ancient Hawaiian technique that has resurfaced with the Alaia movement. It shows you that when the board is not on rail and the fin is not engaged then there is almost no forward SPRING 2016 | SMORGASBOARDER
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SMOKE SIGNALS
Roger Hall’s Double Hot Curl design in action top and bottom. Photo: Mark Bishop
AS SURFERS WE PAY SO MUCH ATTENTION TO THE FINS AND REAR OF OUR BOARD.
momentum other than gravity/inertia. So you could argue that almost all of a surfboards forward momentum other than from weight and inertia/gravity comes from the rail and from the fin setup. It also shows how the hard edge wants to release water, not hold it – the Alaia and its friction free abilities are also testament to this. Secondly is an idea that a lot of surfers aren’t tuned into, which is, that the front half of the rail or the forward rail in the board is in use a lot more than you can imagine. As surfers we pay so much attention to the fins and rear of our board, we refer to the bottom rail in the rear as “the engine room” but in reality it all starts at the front half of the board where first contact is made with the waters surface. This is why performance shortboards with their multiple fins and hard edge bottoms still keep a round rail around the halfway point – so that there is hold when coming off the bottom for a bottom turn. (The most important turn in surfing – which shows the value of the rolled rail). 74
A modern shortboard will drive out beyond the wave face with ease. Interesting to note though is that it’s the exact opposite to the rear half, which often has a very square rail bottom getting progressively squarer on the top edge too becoming almost Alaia like in appearance. As such this is where the fins are located. So even at a micro level you have a battle of hold and release between fins and hard edge in the rear of the board, a
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Surfer Jordan Rodin on a Derek Hynd Free Friction Finless design. Photo: Giang Alam Wardani
speed is washed off in a turn because the fin and the down rail fight each other and cause drag. This is why the singlefins were dropped so quickly when the tri-fin came in. pendulum effect within a broader pendulum effect if you will. A really simple breakdown for that bucket load of information is this: 1. Rounder rails in the tail will hold more speed through turns on a slower wave than a hard edge will. However they will become a hindrance once a critical speed is achieved. And conversely: 2. A hard edge in the tail will help to create the speed and release to get you out beyond the wave face but then will fight the fin and create drag when cutting back to the power source. At this point I probably don’t need to mention the pendulum effect you must be getting the idea… Tom put it to me like this: “Down rails in the tail make the board quicker and ride across the shoulder faster, but are slower in the whitewash. Working with a fin, they turn with long arks and
Rounder rails through the tail, with a bit of thickness, allow for tighter arced turns without speed washing off. As a board turns, the rounder rail in the tail will suck water over the back of the board and pull the rail into the wave. The foam floats and will jump out of the water as the turn ends and speed is maintained. However, in bigger waves where longer turns are necessary, the round rail will skip out. The tight ark turn only works in smaller waves where the rider is not going so fast.”
I think at this point though you’ve likely reached your cranial saturation tolerance and to go any further might induce you into some kind of delirium when you lie down tonight. So take a breather, slug some water, have a half-time slice of orange. We will continue this line of examination for another two instalments. Next we cover longboards and the other half of our slow speed surfing odyssey before moving onto the inverse side of rails, which is the high speed or higher speed surfing as mentioned. Till then I leave you with the immortal words of Queens of the Stone Age… “It’s been a good night, JW here not saying good night… just sayin”
So there it is in the most complicated and intense nutshell known to mankind.
IF YOUR STILL WITH US AT THIS POINT GIVE YOURSELF A PAT ON THE BACK, YOU TRULY ARE A SURFBOARD NERD IN THE MAKING. SO KUDOS TO YOU - YOU BIG GEEK. SPRING 2016 | SMORGASBOARDER
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CAN YOU DIG IT?
managed to get quite a fair quota of waves, which is amazing considering everyone around us was either on paddleboards or 30ft longboards (okay, a slight exaggeration).
El Nino’s latest softboard to the stable is quite a revelation. For starters it is a quad and I just love quads but I have never seen a softboard with a four-fin setup (although I think quite a few are now following suit). The board features a really modern style planshape with plenty of volume under the chest for easy paddling. So despite it being quite small of stature standing at only 5’5”, it can float a rider with a big fat arse like myself weighing in at a whopping 90kgs. This extra volume (it’s 49L to be precise) in all the right places makes it a little ripper of a soft shred sled. It also means it can be ridden by beginners right through to a more experienced surfer. The kids and I took it out in a variety of conditions ranging from ripples to small Spring Sunshine Coast wind slop and we still
The board has 2 stringers, high grade EPS core, tail pad (also new), leg rope and fins (standard). If you are after a softboard that you and kids can ride, it really is a little beauty. • Easy to paddle • Easy to catch waves • Because it is a quad it is faster than all other fin set-ups (sorry, slight bias there) • Handles nicely on the wave • At 5’5” it is easy for the kids to carry meaning it is one less thing you have to lug down the beach
EL NINO SPADE 5’5 QUAD $399.95 ELNINOSURF.COM.AU
DOES IT WORK? TRIED AND TESTED
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It’s not called The Observatory for nothing...
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www.treehuggerwax.com SPRING 2016 | SMORGASBOARDER
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IN-DEPTH WAVE DESCRIPTIONS
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CLOSEOUT: LIVE IT UP
BOOKS
SURFBOARD
ARTISANS FOR THE LOVE TOM WEGENER
Kaikoura Coldwater Classic
What is Value? Is it money or something else? Local Australian surfboard artisans live in a world which puts money second to that “something else.” They have managed to create an amazingly resilient and sustainable industry because of it. Surfboard makers describe their work as “soulful, passionate and love,” not “profitable or lucrative.” Wealth is seen in terms of friendships, creativity, freedom and the pursuit of art. The local surfboard industry has survived the global financial crisis, the high Australian dollar and mass cheap imports, while many Australian manufacturers have not. It seems clear they are doing something different – something right. This book questions the norms of economic neo- liberalism. Should the bottom line be love and creativity, and the money/profit aspect of business merely support this end?
On the NZ Queens birthday weekend 3rd - 5th June, Kaikoura’s waves came alive with surfers from all around the Island. Photographer Ben McLeod covered the event.
Tom looks into the mind of surfboard artisans to discover how they see the world. He is a very well respected surfboard artisan himself and he takes us on a journey through his life and experiences to illustrate the culture which shapes their lives. This is a journey which may change the way you view the world and your measure of value.
“It was a wicked weekend, the weather was awesome and the swell was pumping. From the groms to the men in the comp to the free surf at Mangas and Kahutara, the surfing was at an incredible level!” What more can you ask for a day’s surfing? www.sisa.co.nz
Tom Wegener’s book, Surfboard Artisans For The Love is available at www.tomwegenersurfboards.com $39 SPRING 2016 | SMORGASBOARDER
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CAMP ON THE BEACH IN FRONT OF THE ICONIC LION ROCK, AT ONE OF NZ’S TOP SURF BREAKS
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SURF CAMP PHONE: +64 9 8128 815 EMAIL: pihacamp@xtra.co.nz
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ITS ALL ABOUT SURFING! 80
Cnr Kingsford Smith St & Lyall Parade, Lyall Bay, NZ
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0508 CHCHSOS
WWW.CHCHSOS.CO.NZ
WORDS: BARRY JAGOE PHOTOS: RICKYLUV
LOGGERHEADS MALIBU CLASSIC The LoggerHeads Malibu Club is a longboard club for men, women and children located in the Nambucca valley, surfing monthly at Valla, Nambucca or Scotts Head beaches. Each year in July we hold our popular LoggerHeads Malibu Club surfing contest at Scott’s Head, with three great days of competition and fun including competitor and raffle board giveaways. Scotts Head point is the ultimate venue for longboarding in the Nambucca Valley area, being well protected from the cold southerly winds and offering surfers a sand bottom point break, that on its day can produce a ride that seems endless! The travelling surfers encounter a time warp of country soul, combine that with the LoggerHeads reputation for “having fun” .... and you have a formula that’s hard to beat! This year we hosted our annual Malibu classic for the 32nd successive year, attracting surfers from Noosa to Victoria. The event was staged over the 22nd to 24th July, under warm, spring like conditions on the Friday and Saturday, but returning to cool winter conditions on Sunday for the finals.
QUALITY SURFBOARDS LONG OR SHORT SHORT OR LONG TERM RENTALS WWW.RAGLANLONGBOARDS.CO.NZ
Waves ranged from 1’ to 3’ over the three days of competition, with favourable off-shore winds for the better part of the event. 150+ competitors attended, ages ranging from 14 to 70! The standard was of high calibre, with many Australian champions from the past and present participating. Some of the standout performances over the three days came from 15 year old - Samara Cribb of Evans Head, who took out the Munro Surfboards – Open Ladies, surfing with style well beyond her age, as did Clancy O’Niell, from the Clarence, winning the Rob West – Memorial – Old Mal division, on a surfboard some 30+ years older than him & placing 4th in the Bennett Surfboards – Juniors! For a rundown on all the results go to: loggerheadsmc.wixsite.com/loggerheads SPRING 2016 | SMORGASBOARDER
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FMS
SURFING FITNESS, SURFING INJURY, SURFING PERFORMANCE...
by Peter Hogg (APA Titled Sports Physiotherapist)
WHAT IS THE FMS?
WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS?
(Functional Measurement Screen) Essentially the FMS is a series of tests that profile an athlete that is ready to start a training program.
The FMS is a simple, quantifiable group of tests that can be executed by a sports physiotherapist or coach. The outcomes are grades for each test that assist in identification of asymmetries in healthy individuals. It is ideal for a surfer about to commit to training including those who are coming back from injury. The tests identify compensatory movement patterns very early that generally lead to poor biomechanics and injury risk factors. Essentially the FMS can be introduced as a participation physical examination to determine deficits that may be overlooked in traditional medical and performance evaluations.
WHAT ARE THE TESTS? The seven test that make up the FMS are: 1. Deep squat, 2. Hurdle step 3. In-line lunge 4. Shoulder mobility test 5. Active straight leg raise 6. Trunk stability push up 7. Kneeling trunk rotatory test
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WHAT DOES THE FMS BATTERY SPECIFICALLY IDENTIFY? All of the tests combine results to produce a score of range of motion, stability and motor control (all very important in surfing). Personally, I like the simple scoring method as there is no confusion after testing, what needs to be trained. For example the “trunk stability push-up” (test 6) assesses trunk stability well, and would relate to efficiency of transfer of forces when paddling. “Kneeling rotatory stability” (Test 7) assesses functional multi-plane trunk stability with asymmetrical upper and lower limb movement (again relative to surfing).
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Surfing is becoming an extremely popular sport. Recently at the Rio 2016 Olympics, it was confirmed that surfing will be included in the 2020 Olympics. The government is increasing federal funding toward surfing and the Australian Sports Commission funds high performance training centres. We are also seeing other training/surfing venues popping up including Kelly Slater’s wave pool - and don’t forget the aerial ramps at Lennox Heads. From a Sports Physiotherapist point of view there is a calling for better athlete preparation -fitness, injury management and performance.
Image courtesy of Peter Hogg, Noosa Sports and Spinal Physiotherapy
Some sports physiotherapist and sports coaches are utilising a Canadiandesigned program for physical preparation and it is being applied to surfing. Essentially we can only change and coach what we can measure! It’s a little philosophical, however measurements and re-measurement is a strong platform for development, so let’s see what’s involved.
WHAT ARE THE KEY COMMON ISSUES FOR SURFERS?
WHERE CAN YOU GET FMS TESTING?
There are many but upper thoracic spine flexibility combined with shoulder flexibility issues are common. Lumbar strength and control inadequacies are also common.
Peter Hogg at Noosa Sports & Spinal Physiotherapy Centre is trained and has all the test equipment and experience. The first session is the screening. Once this is completed, a program is drawn up and demonstrated during the following week.
WHAT ELSE OTHER THAN THE FMS SCORING IS OF VALUE WHEN TRAINING? Injury history is imperative. Past injuries regularly restrict surfers from optimal performance. Peter Hogg-is a “APA Titled Sports Physiotherapist”, owns Noosa Sports and Spinal Physiotherapy Centre and 5 x Olympic Team Physiotherapist.
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Tom Wegener
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In this 2016-17 instalment of The Blank Pages, we present some of Australia and New Zealand’s most active and hardworking surfboard shapers. Go find your match, and get your dream board on the way for Summer!
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Photo Yasuma Miura
Surfboard Artisans Stand Proud: You Are Important By Tom Wegener
You are keeping the industry alive and vibrant. You are evolving, renewing, re-energizing surf culture. You are the best part of the surf industry. You are important! I have spent the last three years working on a PhD on the surfboard industry at the University of the Sunshine Coast. I found that there are small surfboard factories all over Australia because of a unique, special surf culture. This culture has created a resiliency which has let the surfboard industry rebuff the threats of globalisation, the global financial crisis, and the high Australia dollar (from 2009 – 2014). There are three essential elements of the surfboard industry, a culture which supports innovation, a low barrier of entry, and a belief that one can become a surfboard artisan. Surfers are hungry for the next breakthrough. They want to try the next thing. Innovations are valued. This goes back to Bill Wallace’s innovations with toothpick designs and then the nearly immediate acceptance of the Malibu designs brought by Zhan, Noll and crew in 1956. When Simon Anderson won Bells on a thruster, it was only a matter of months before it was the dominant design. This carries on today with Hayden’s development of the Hypto-crypto, Thomas and Dead Kooks longboards, and I have found this with my alaia and finless designs. There is a culture which supports new surfboard designs. There is still a low barrier of entry into the industry. At the turn of the last century the raw materials were slabs of wood. Then plywood and framed boards, mostly in the shape of toothpicks and for a short time Okinuis. Then Balsa, EPS sandwich boards (Simmons very short lived), and then dominance of Polyurethane and fibreglass for five decades. But now, we are going way back in design with alaia boards based on the ancient Hawaiian design and revisiting hollow wood boards. This is largely on the back of an abundant, inexpensive supply of paulownia in Australia. The future is expanding into EPS, carbon fibres, and a whole new warehouse of materials. Grant Newby is revolutionising surfboard construction with vacuum bagging eps and paulownia sheets from his garage in suburbia. His innovations are radical and happening now. The materials are still simple and the barriers of entry into the surfboard industry are minimal. You may be the next great surfboard artisan. If you work hard and believe in yourself, you can do it. But there is so much more to the picture. The culture that spins off from new surfing forms who we are. It moulds our identity. There is nothing more important than who we are – our identity. Just like McTavish, Greenough and crew created the shortboard revolution and changed the way surfers view themselves. And the way MP, Mark Richards and Simon Anderson’s innovations in surfboard design created a new surfing, so new culture is formed and a new surfer identity was formed. It is continuing to be formed today. Example, big wave surfing, the finless revolutions, SUP surfing, the hipsters with the new fad of 12’ gliders… New boards are leading the way to new surfing genres and surfing. This is where surfing is different from other sports; the playing field and equipment are changing. There are no rules. At the centre of this is the surfboard artisan; the culture generator. You are important. The spinoffs continue to flow out of the vibrant surf culture including SUPs, kite boarding and wake boarding. Surfing’s influence spreads widely to fashion, music, photography, movies. Is there golf music? No. Is there surf music? Yes. Surfing has become a major element of the Australian identity. Surfboard makers are shaping this nation. You are important. The value of surfing is utterly undervalued in Australian society, which is probably a good thing. It is still soulful. Surfing is far more valuable than mining. When the coal is gone, we’ll still be surfing. Mining does not form culture or identity. It is a net loss (chunks of Australia are sent off in ships) while surfing is a net gain. Surfboard artisans are at the centre of a huge part of Australian value. You are important. Tom Wegener has written a book, Surfboard Artisans For The Love, which explains these concepts - essential reading for surfboard makers or anyone interested in understanding surf culture. Order yourself a copy at www.tomwegenersurfboards.com
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South Australia
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Ding Repairs
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Stuart Surfboards
By Stuart Smith
My career kicked off in the golden era of surfing in the early 80’s, where meticulously handcrafting and fine-tuning the perfect surfboard by hand was the norm. Fast-forward to the 21st century, 3D shaping has stripped away much of the handiwork and skills lost to time, you find in most surfboards now this craft has been lost. I have honed my passion for shaping surfboards by being mentored by legends such as Terry Fitzgerald, Thornton Fallander, Richard Harvey and Tony Dempsey who helped shape the surfing scene to what you see today on the east coast. Mentoring with these icons fuelled my passion to start Stuart Surf Designs in 1984 where I have now researched and tested hundreds of boards, fine-tuning them to deliver the goods when the swell is pumping and when it’s not. On top of the Stuart Surf Designs brand I make the Xanadu brand under license in Australia. Based in San Diego, U.S.A., Xanadu is a master shaper where we work collaboratively to bring to the market the best, most progressive and current designs available, with over 50 years of combined shaping experience in every surfboard.
“ On top of the Stuart Surf Designs brand I make the Xanadu brand under license in Australia.”
Bender Mini-gun
FX-Rocket
Queensland
2016-17 SURFBOARD MAKERS DIRECTORY
2576 Gold Coast Hwy, Mermaid Beach QLD P: 07 5572 0098 E: stuartsurf@hotmail.com W: stuartsurf.com.au Stuartsurfdesign ` Stuart Surf Design
BOARD BUILDERS BUSINESS PROMOTION | SPRING 2016 | SMORGASBOARDER
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Harvest Surfboards
Harvest surfboards is a family owned and operated business headed by master shaper Jack Knight alongside his sons. Our focus is on vintage inspired surf craft all custom hand shaped and designed specifically for the individual. We offer a diverse range of shapes created from a blend of both new and old ideas. We are a boutique surfboard company, we only do a very limited number of boards each week (between 3-5). This allows us to focus on the quality and finer details and also lets us spend more time with the customer to create their perfect board.
24 Christine Ave, Miami P: 07 5576 5914 E: hello@harvestsurfboards.com W: harvestsurfboards.com Harvest Surfboards available at Underground Surf Noosa and Board Culture Miami
Matt Williams
The Factory
by Matt Williams
After doing my apprenticeship and shaping for Tom Wegener for 6 years I decided to take over The Factory Surfboards in Moffat Beach. After really mastering the finless, noseriding and general longboard shaping, I wanted to learn more about shortboards and performance through Paul Carson. While mixing finless bottom contours and rail templates with performance designs and traditions, I have found that our surfboards really do work. Here at The Factory Surfboards we want to put you on a surfboard that works for you, not just the pros.
Dean Geraghty
“ We want to put you on a surfboard that works well for you not just the pros.” MATT WILLIAMS
From custom surfboards to glass jobs, ding repairs to professional restorations, factory surfboards are here for you and your surfing needs.
Geraghty Custom Shapes
by Dean Geraghty
“Since I was 14 years old my life has been dedicated to surfing!” At age 17, during Dean’s competitive career, he started to develop a keen interest in shaping. Multiple championship wins afforded him knowledge of performance surfing and functional shapes. After 14,500+ boards, his knowledge is now available to you, from the comfort of your home. Let Dean design your next board online for you over Skype and watch your board take shape in front of your eyes, as done for his team riders and clients around the world.
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GERAGHTY CUSTOM SHAPES P: +61 (0)42 2442 044
E: deang@geraghtyshapes.com
W: geraghtyshapes.com Design Online... Skype Dean: Dean Geraghty Shapes
THE FACTORY SURFBOARDS 15 Allen Street, Caloundra, QLD P: 07 5492 5838
williams.h.m@hotmail.com thefactorysurfboards.com.au
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2016-17 SURFBOARD MAKERS DIRECTORY
Classic Malibu
by Peter White
Peter still shapes on site at Mary St, Noosaville so you can watch your special board being hand shaped by a true master. Check out their new store where they have 100’s of styles on offer, from high performance EPS short-boards to those heavy logs.
From September 2016 to September 2017, every board will feature the 50 year logo to celebrate his long-standing achievements in the industry.
16 Mary St, Noosaville P: 07 5474 3122 E: info@classicmalibu.com W: www.classicmalibu.com @classicmalibu t @classicmalibu1 ` Classic Malibu Surfboards Noosa
Peter White of Classic Malibu, shaped his first surfboard in his parent’s garage at the age of 13. After making himself a board, his mates lined up to custom order one for themselves.... and it just went on from there. He travelled the world at 21 shaping boards in England and Spain, and over the years has made boards in the USA, Taiwan, Japan and more recently for the up and coming surfers of Hainan Island in China. From the late 60’s to the mid 80’s it was all short-boards, however, his move to Noosa Heads in 1987, prompted him to make longboards which were more suited to the Noosa Point breaks. Hence the Classic Malibu Brand evolved. Peter established himself as the most innovative and best long-board designer back in the 1980’s and continues to develop new models to this day. With the most recent model(the powerhouse), developed with the input of his team rider Nic Jones, being well sought after with locals and many top surfers throughout the world. It hasn’t always been easy, (fire destroying his factory and lifelong collection of boards in January 2015), but when you love doing what you do, it makes life great no matter what.
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The Blank Pages
Stewart Maxwell
DZ Surfboards
Koma Surfboards
Beck Surfboards
Maximum Surf
Dan Zubalj handcrafts his boards from start to finish using quality, locally sourced products. He loves creating single fins and working with resin tints. He can customise almost any shape, from shortboards to longboards and anything in between. Dan’s passion for surfing and shaping means his boards do not disappoint.
Goran Peko is a one-man band. He runs the north Gold Coast’s most reliable ding repair service, is renowned for his amazing vintage surfboard restorations and can shape one hell of a cool custom surfboard. His speciality are big guys boards because he is one himself.
The man is back to work in a new little factory at Pt Cartwright, Buddina. Joel and his girl Rommie (Captain Romulus) have set up a shaping bay and art studio to concentrate on custom art and surfboards. Come see them for a truly unique new board tailored specifically to what you want.
You can’t be restricted by models. As I say, “Free range is better than battery hens.” I like working with people one on one, to specifically shape a custom board to suit their surfing, whether it be a lightweight mal or a performance shortboard, to everything in-between. All boards made in house from start to finish.
P: 0406 521 571 E: beckboards@gmail.com becksurfboards ` Captain Romulus
P: 0400 338 098 E: maximumsurf@bigpond.com W: www.maximumsurfboards.com.au
32 Ereton Drive, Arundel M: 0401 016 088 E: dzsurfboards@hotmail.com @dzsurfboards ` DZ Surfboards
7/39 Bailey Crescent, Southport M: 0402 863 763 ` Koma-Surfboards
TRIED & TRUSTED
blanKS and run Family owerned55 years for ov
oUR ConSISTEnCy IS THE bEST In THE woRlD blanKS: A multitude of different
lengths, rockers and weights
STRInGERS: An extensive
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Nee-Pro Kneeboards By Michael Watkins
With Nee-Pro Kneeboards you’re investing in a customised board to suit your exact surfing style and to improve your surfing capabilities. Michael takes time with every client to discuss their board and has even taken time to watch them surf. He will go into an in-depth conversation on your needs. Michael is an innovative craftsman pushing the boundaries of design and construction, exploring all the latest materials and technology with the sole purpose of improving your ride experience.
Custom art, laminates and sprays available.
M: 0415 234 806 E: info@ neeprokneeboards.com.au
` NEE-PROKneeboard-Surfing W: neeprokneeboards.com.au
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Man’s Best Friend
Photo: Bowie Pollard
Now available at Beachbeat
Alex
164 Alexandra Pde Alexandra Headland
QLD 4572 P: 07 5443 2777
Caloundra
119 Bulcock St Caloundra QLD 4551 P: 07 5491 4711
Factory
20 Fishermens Rd Maroochydore QLD 4558 P: 07 5479 2811
Fresh Bertlemanns in store. Be quick.
www.beachbeat.com.au BOARD BUILDERS BUSINESS PROMOTION | SPRING 2016 | SMORGASBOARDER
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New South Wales
SticksPhotography
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DID YOU KNOW?7 Bayldon Drive, Raleigh, NSW | 02 6655 7007 | info@outerislandsurfboards.com | outerislandsurfboards.com | outerisland.blogspot.com Outer Island Surfboards 96
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Mark Rabbidge Surf Design Mark Rabbidge has been a leader is surf craft design since the 1970s having shaped and worked for many of Brookvale’s iconic surfboard manufacturers of the day, most notably Hot Buttered where he saw and helped spearhead the many changes in surfboard design through that period. Instrumental in the resurgence of longboarding, Mark competed on his own boards and finished a close second in the 1987 Word Title with spots in the top five over the next five years. Married to former surfing world champion, Pam Burridge, Mark spent many years on the tour, giving him invaluable insight into the highest level of surfing of the 80s and early 90s. He shaped many boards for pro surfers over that period, the most famous being Tom
Curren who tore apart J-Bay on a 6’6 Rabbidge rounded pin. Today he continues to hand shape custom surfboards from the quiet NSW South Coast hamlet of Bendalong. All boards are handshaped to suit the individual. Mark’s mastery of the nuances of surfboard shaping can’t be acquired with a computer software package.
“I shape anything as long as it is fun, from shortboards to longboards, single fins, fishes, fatboys, four plays (quads), micros, guns and finless creations.”
P: 02 4456 4038 M: +61 427 767 176 E: sales@markrabbidge.com W: markrabbidge.com
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Photo: Jill Carter Surfer: Glen Carter
Ron Wade Surfboards
Established in 1967, Ron Wade headed a highly successful surfboard manufacturing business in Mona Vale on Sydney’s Northern Beaches. In 1969 he also opened retail shops at Collaroy Beach and a second factory and surf shop on the Gold Coast. 49 years on and his reputation for producing high quality performance surfboards continues thanks to his team surfers who provide invaluable feedback on his designs.
New Address 8 Angorra Road, Terrey Hills, NSW
For the more experienced surfer, why not order a “Custom Surfboard” so you can put your own personal touch into the overall design of your new board.
M: 0410 443 776 E: sales@ ronwadesurfboards.com.au W: ronwadesurfboards.com.au
Riley Balsawood Surfboards by Mark Riley
RILEY BALSAWOOD SURFBOARDS AUSTRALIA celebrated 20 years of hand building balsawood surfboards this year. Mark’s vision back in 1996 was to bring back the magic material of balsawood to relive the history and romance of the 1950’s. Not only did Mark get swept away with the romance it was the physical properties of balsa with the strength to weight ratio that was extremely high which helped create boards that would last longer and never need to go to landfill. Today he shapes his solid balsa classics as well as a range of performance surfboards built with a recycled EPS foam core combined with a 2-3mm balsa skin. This makes the boards super light but also very strong. Shortboards, fishes, minimals, little longboards, high performance longboards and even paddleboards, there is literally nothing he can’t shape. Every board is hand built, unique and can be tailored to suit the rider. Need a particular stringer detail or inscription with the board and a fin with real wow factor? He can do that too.
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Mark also has a range of his own timber fins, raw balsa/ cedar DIY board kits, instructional DVDs, blanks and tide clocks right through to fin boxes with wood covers, fin box install kits, board grip, tail pads, board racks, Aussie-made leashes and more.
156 President Avenue, Miranda NSW M: 0412 376 464 E: mark@riley.com.au W: balsasurfboardsriley.com.au rileybalsasurfboards ` Balsa Surfboards Riley
Black Square Surfboards by Ryan Chelman
For the last 10 years Ryan Chelman has been quietly honing his design, shaping, and glassing skills under the guise of BLACK SQUARE SURFBOARDS. Choosing to take the long way around, Ryan has shaped and tested all styles of boards, giving him an intimate understanding of what works. From this experience BLACK SQUARE SURFBOARDS are able to produce the right board for the customer, finished off to the highest industry standards. From his signature fish design, single fins, performance thrusters or longboards, you will get the right board for the job!
3/26 Jindalee Road, Port Macquarie NSW M: 0407 604 753
info@blacksquaresurfboards.com.au
blacksquaresurfboards.com.au ` Black Square Surfboards
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Soul Arch Surfboards
McKill Surfboards
by Robbie Marshall
Soul Arch surfboards is situated in Broulee on the South Coast of NSW and with a desire for all things surfing, whether it be short boarding, long boarding, and with fishes and single fins being our niche, whatever it is you are after, we have you covered. In recent months we have taken a refreshing turn which has seen us flourish into exactly the business we want to be, going from boards being contract glassed to boards shaped, glassed, painted, sanded and polished all under one roof by owner Robbie Marshall. Let’s design your new pride and joy.
Shaping for 16 years Luke is a one man show from design, shaping, laminating and finishing. He also has lots of experience with Epoxy sandwich construction and vacuum bagging techniques. M: 0404 348 131 E: enquiries@ soularchsurfboards.com W: soularchsurfboards.com soularchsurfboards ` Soul Arch Surfboards
The McKill brand is dedicated to creating premium quality performance boards using the best materials on the market and to provide surfers of different levels with the best possible equipment. R&D and Team feedback is key to achieving optimum designs.
M: 0478 154 456 E: mckillshapes@gmail.com W: mckillsurfboards.com @mckillsurfboards ` McKillSurfboards
Wayne Webster
Classic Surfboards
Webster Surfboards
Entity Surfboards
Jackson
Our focus is on high-performance surfing, and board design for big and small waves. We use world class quality materials and offer excellent workmanship. With Wayne’s 23 years shaping experience, and by communicating closely with our customers, we aim to ensure surfers get the right board to suit their surfing and better performance.
“For over 15 years on the South Coast, all our surfboards have been made inhouse, shape to shine. Custom boards range from traditional PU to EPS epoxy and composite sandwich. We also offer resin tints, pigments and cloth inlays. “Surfing with a lot of our customers, it’s a true custom experience. Talk to the guy who designs and shapes your board!” Daren Glennan
Established in 1957, Jackson Surfboards have been a Cronulla institution for almost 60 years. Jim Parkinson’s designs are established classics, from traditional logs and performance Malibus, to shorter retro twin fins and high performance short boards. Jackson captures both the tradition and performance needed in a classic board.
1/13 Clark Street, Ballina, NSW P: +61 416 049 205 E: info@webstersurfboards.com.au W: www.webstersurfboards.com.au
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1-2/2 Regmoore Cl, Culburra Beach NSW P: 0423 987 492 W: www.entitysurfboards.com.au
P: 0408 480 124 E: Jacksonsurf@optusnet.com.au W: www.jacksonsurfboards.com.au `
Phantom
by Chris Garrett
I custom craft boards for surfers at all levels so they can surf freely. Expert advice, quality materials and one on one personal service guaranteed, from my shed to yours, hand-built for you.
P: 0424 450 690 E: phantomsurfboards@gmail.com W: chrisgarrettshapes.com.au chrisgarrettshapes. ` chrisgarrettshapes.
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Get back to the roots...
with paulownia
Our buoyant, lightweight timber floats all around the world. • Tom Wegener preferred alaia blanks • Alaia & Kite Boards • Long Boards • Hollow Boards • Chambered Boards
Native Hawaiian surfer with alaia board, circa 1911
Buy the lownia Best Pau ralia ust Timber A r. has to offe SURFBOARD SUPPLIES Contact David Evans P: 03 9588 2533 E: info.sales@paulowniasurfboardsupplies.com
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Oke Surfboards To run a family business for over 47 years, especially when it is a custom surfboards business, means you must have built something pretty special. Together, Neil “Chok” Oke and his two sons Dan and Rory are the family behind Oke Surfboards. All Oke Surfboards are still handmade start to finish at their Braeside factory using all Australian materials. Their loyal clientele, which continues to grow and grow, range from the very young to the young at heart, from groms to rippers, ladies and crusty old sea dogs. With such a down-to-earth bunch, it’s plain to see why people from all walks of life can relate to these guys. One thing they all have in common is an appreciation for well-made custom surfboards.
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Board Range: Performance shortboards through to fish, midlengths and longboards.
1/1-7 Canterbury Rd, Braeside P: 03 9587 3553 W: www.okesurfboards.com @okesurfboards ` Oke Surfboards
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Island Surfboards
Island Surfboards began in 1969 when two surfers decided to make some boards for their mates. They enjoyed every surfer’s dream of uncrowded waves, pristine coastlines and a relaxed working atmosphere. Since then the Phillip Island area has grown, and Island Surfboards has grown with it, to become one of the most respected names in Australian surfing. For almost 50 years Island Surfboards has been passionate about producing, preserving and teaching surf culture. We have a highly experienced and dedicated team of shapers, finishers, riders and surf coaches. Over many years we have gained a reputation for producing premium custom made boards, apparel, accessories and surfers. Our products and services supply surfers, surf schools and the general public locally and all around the world.
The Island Factory Te am
‘SLIM’ (Greg Hyndman) Glassing Years at Island: 30 years Industry Experience: 35 years Skills: Glassing / Finish Coats / Pro Finishes Favourite Task: Turning custom shaped blanks into finished boards Interesting Fact: First started making boards at 16 years of age
‘ADZY’ (Adam Vyverberg) Dings, sprays & shaping Years at Island: 12 years Industry Experience: 15 years Skills: Boards Sprays / Ding Repairs / Custom Shapes / Sanding Favourite Task: Creating Customs Interesting Fact: Adzy has a new Range coming out soon; and 99% of repairs are just Sandys boards
‘PUD’ (Pete Coffey) Glassing & Tints Years at Island: 3 years Industry Experience: 40+ years Skills: Glassing / Tints / Sprays / Sanding Favourite Task: Designing specialized tints and sprays Interesting Facts: Started at Klemm Bell Surfboards in 1967; and his son James also works with him
‘RINGA’ (Glyndyn Ringrose) Custom Shaper & Team Rider Years at Island: 23 years Industry Experience: 35 years Skills: Custom Shaper / Team Rider / Surf Coach / Innovation Favourite Task: Developing new designs and custom designs Interesting Facts: Highest Ranking 20th in the World on the CT; and Glyndyn is a WSL water patrolman
‘JIMMY’ (James Coffey) Sanding & Repairs Years at Island: 3 years Industry Experience: 15 years Skills: Sanding / Repairs / Glassing / Decals Favourite Task: Turning custom shaped blanks into finished boards Interesting Fact: Is the second generation to work at Island
‘HOGES’ (Greg Hogan) Custom Shaper Years at Island: 23 years Industry Experience: 40+ years Skills: Custom Shaper / Factory Manager / Innovation / Surf Coach Favourite Task: Fitting New Customers with a Custom Designs Interesting Fact: Has been shaping since 13 years old
Sandy Ryan
Hoges Single fin A modern take on an old classic, the Single Fin is made traditionally with tints, polish and a hand made glass fin but also boasts added performance. This board will perform in any conditions from bechies to hollow reefs in the 1-6ft range. Ringa Bat Fish Perfect for everyday beachies up to mid sized reef breaks in the 1-4ft range, the Bat Fish is a careful balance of performance and fun to ensure plenty of waves in average to good conditions.
E: cowes@islandsurfboards.com.au W: www.islandsurfboards.com.au ` Look for Island-Surfboards
STORES AT: 147 Thompson Ave, Cowes P: 03 5952 2578 225 Smiths Beach Rd, Smiths Beach P: 03 5952 3443
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Darren Minchin, Tree to Sea's primo wooden surfboard builder recently spent a week or so in Bali testing a couple of new ECO boards he built using the vacuum bag, recycled polystyrene blank method.
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Experience surfing like never before...
Dickson Surfboards Open for fun, frivolity and a fair bit of boardmaking, The Surfer’s Shed is where Darren ‘Dicko’ Dickson, Deano and Marissa (who makes all the covers, leg ropes and does wetsuit repairs) ply their trade. Tow boards, longboards, shortboards, old school, new school... You name it, we do it, along with some of the sweetest resin work and sprays you’ve seen.
10-12 Phillip Island Tourist Rd, Phillip Island, VIC (Next door to Rip Curl Phillip Island) Entry: Adults $4.50, kids $2.50, family $12.00
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4/10 Baines Crescent, Torquay M: 0437 246 848 E: dickosurf@gmail.com @dickosurf ` Darren Dickson Surf Boards
TheIslantisSurfExperience
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ZAK Surfboards
by Zak Koniaris
The Surfboard Studio Have you ever wanted to make your own surfboard? The Surfboard Studio offers world-class instruction and tuition in surfboard shaping, design, glassing and sanding, all based conveniently in Melbourne and affiliated with a stalwart of Melbourne surf culture, Zak Surfboards. The aim is to teach not only the art of surfboard shaping but to share the handcrafted skills as well the computer CAD / CNC machining and knowledge of how surfboard designs work in all sorts of waves. As a student of the Surfboard Studio, you will be both the customer and the shaper. Going through the custom order you will discover how to get the right dimensions and style of board to suit the waves you want to surf. Your surfboard will be shaped in a methodical way with a proven formula. Any small mistakes that may occur through the process can be easily corrected, so your board, although shaped entirely by yourself, will be of a high quality and you will be extremely pleased with the result in our state-of-the-art Melbourne factory.
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The Surfboard Studio is also your one-stop shop for all your shaping and glassing needs. Either shop online or drop in to pick up blanks, cloth, resin and everything else you might need or come in and see the Zak Surfboards crew at their Thornbury store for any help you might need with retail gear.
Learn to shape your own surfboard, taught by board builders with over 50 years of collective surfboard making experience. Meet the crew.
Zak shaped his first surfboard at 13 in a lean-to down the side of his parent’s house in Viewbank, and offered surfboard repairs to mates and local surf shops during his teenage years. He would catch a bus all the way to Trigger Bros to pick up blanks and resin and remembers being told there wasn’t a cent to be made in shaping surfboards. Indicatively, Zak kept shaping and repairing boards. His first store packed 86 surfboards, a wall of accessories, a bunch of skateboards and wetsuits into a 6×3 metre shop. Zak Surfboards now located at 307 Victoria Road, Thornbury stocks over 1000 surfboards offering customers the best of the best Victorian shapers as well as boards from leading shapers around the world. “We passionately support local shapers,” says Zak. “We’re proud to provide a hub for quality Victorianproduced surfboards, shaped for Victorian surf conditions. Boards from guys like Maurice Cole, Greg Brown, Rousa, Simon Forward, Ken Reimers, Vanda, Michael Anthony, Jordan Noble, Sean Nettleton and Darren Dickson. We’ve also sought out boards from the likes of Eric Arakawa, Jeff Bushman, John Pyzel and Matt ‘Mayhem’ Biolos to give our customers a choice of the best from Australia and internationally. The Surfboard Studio sees Zak returning to his first love – making surfboards.
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South Coast Surfboards
by Ian Chisholm
Ian Chisholm had a vision to build a surfboard manufacturing business for the open minded surfer like himself. The process was to build quality hand crafted product, with the focus remaining on alternative functioning shapes and designs. Torquay, Australia, home of the famous surf break “Bells Beach” was his place of choice. Fast forward to more than 10,000 shapes and over 7000 laminations later, Ian is still forging a path in the surf industry for producing the finest hand crafted surfboards. He is one of the only few board builders left in today’s manufacturing industry who can build premium boards from design & shapes all the way through to the finished product. Ian has worked alongside many reputable surfers that have helped him advance his shapes and develop his skills over the years. These days he is working closely with Craig Harvey, Ben Considine, Jye Whyatt, Billy Whitton, Angela King, Candra Jordan and CJ Nelson to produce a premium range of surfboards from high performance short boards up to small wave gliders, function, quality and attention to detail are always his main focus.
MAD Surfboards
4D Surfboards
Daniel Mielo
Michael Anthony otherwise know by almost everyone as “Tichy” has been surfing for 49 years and shaping for 38 and has even done some time under the watchful eye of Al Merrick.
4D surfboards has been a recognised name in the surf industry for the last 10 years. Shaper Simon Forward has been shaping boards for over 15 years and with his knowledge of board designs and the latest computer cutting technology, 4D surfboards has become one of the leading companies to produce surfboards, standup paddle boards, preshapes for other shapers and Surf Lifesaving Australia registered nipper boards.
Daniel is the newest member of the Surfboard Studio and is also our go to repair guy. In another life, Daniel studied aeronautic engineering and has transferred this knowledge base to his love of surfboard design and his continual experimentation with composites to the teaching environment at the Studio.
by Michael Anthony
These days as MAD (Michael Anthony Designs) he loves shaping simple boards that work – including one particular magic carpet that was pulled off the racks at Rip Curl in Torquay before being served up to Kelly Slater in the Bells comp the year it was shifted to Johanna. You’ll find him surfing his own magic carpets around the Surf Coast, but especially at Bird Rock when it’s on, and at onshore Bells.
by Simon Forward
4D surfboards can be freighted worldwide, nationwide and locally.
born in Columbia
Daniel has been taught by a number of local shapers and brings that Columbian passion to all the classes he is involved in.
1A Fink Street, Preston, VIC 3072 P: 0438 416 738 E: info@thesurfboardstudio.com.au W: thesurfboardstudio.com.au
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Mr Damage Surfboards by Mark Benson Mr. Damage specialises in custom surfboards from logs to shortboards, fishes, funshapes and singlefins.
2016-17 SURFBOARD MAKERS DIRECTORY
The Ding King
At the DING KING we make models but specialise in custom boards designed just for you; where you surf, how you surf and how you want it to look and last!! Leighton Clark (Clark surfboards) has been building boards in SA since 1982 and has worked at most major board manufacturers in Adelaide. Robin Green (Robin Surfboards) has fast been establishing himself as one of the best custom board builders in Adelaide. His attention to detail and artistic talent is second to none.
Our shaper Mark Benson has 28 years industry experience and can also be found laminating, sanding, spraying & polishing. We also do restorations and repairs. Currently we’re working on 5 new models for summer.
Our glasser Mick Higgins has been an industry legend for over 40 years. His work is recognised worldwide. Together have collaborated in an APS3000 shaping machine. The only one in S.A. We can cut what you need and together with over 300 Burford blanks in stock, we can supply you with all you need for your next board or backyard project.
Call in for a e chat anytim day. ri F to y da Mon
Our priority being ‘’full gloss’’ sprayed or resin tinted ‘’Modern Singlefins’’ (pictured). to bring a little bit of retro fun back into the hipster’s quiver..!
Shed 2 - 44 Hill Street, Port Elliot SA M: +61 416 199 764 E: mark@mrdamagesurfboards.com.au #mrdamage ` Mr. Damage Surfboards
Unit 7 & 8, 9 Chapman Road Hackham, SA 5163 E: leightonclark01@yahoo.com.au M: 0422 443 789 ` thedingkingAUS
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FROM N.Z. $1,250
Minimum 3 Days PACKAGES AND ACCOMMODATION TO SUIT. Call B.J. to tailor a package that works best for you.
Build a board, mrdamage surf & stay with Bryan
CSA Surfboards
‘BJ’ Smith
In the past 40 years I’ve been making surfboards, if I had a dollar for everyone who told me they would love to make their own surfboard, I’d be retired by now. So come and make both our dreams come true. Join me in the NZ surf Mecca of Taranaki for a surf trip, as I walk you through the process of shaping, glassing, sanding and finishing your own surfboard. Surf the secluded waves on your door step or visit the famous breaks in this region. Surf, fish, jetski, sight-see or simply relax your time away after the creative process of making your own board.
Cain Aldridge (CSA) has been shaping for 18 years. He solely hand shaped for the first 11 years before adding a CNC machine to his tool kit. He is more than a shaper/designer; he is a surfboard builder. Skilled in all areas including hand shaping, design software, fiberglassing, resin tints, pin lines, making fins and artwork. SEASONS SURFBOARDS E: seasons@xtra.co.nz P: +64 2 173 2766
seasonssurfboards.co.nz
10 Seaview Rd, New Plymouth, NZ P: (06) 751 2123 M: 0273 154 557 E: cain@csasurfboards.com W: csasurfboards.co.nz
Piha Surf
Quarry Beach Surfboards by Graham Carse
In 1989 Graham Carse decided Dunedin needed a shaper with an extensive knowledge of local conditions and the craft needed to master these magical places. Graham learnt shaping in the ‘70s working with fellow surfer and friend Steve Teague under the label Slick Sticks. Initially, Graham shaped from his back yard through the ‘80s, then went on to make shaping his life’s work under QB. He’s still a keen surfer, having won the Fossils title at the National Surfing Championships in 2011, and is currently ripping on a 5’7” nugget from “the quarry” itself!
As a good surfer himself, Cain spends a lot of time in the water to keep designs current. Growing up in Opunake (Taranaki, NZ) and surfing some of the world’s best spots helped him understand the ocean and what works where.
“Whether you’re learning, soul trimming or ripping; Cain is a shaper you can trust to make a quality surfboard that will work specifically for you.”
by Mike Jolly
The man behind the moustache shapes awesome diamond back longboard quads that deliver high-performance rides you wouldn’t think possible on a big board. QUARRY BEACH SURFBOARDS 75 David Street, Caversham, Dunedin NZ P: +64 3 455 7414 M: +64 27 518 8678
E: grahamcarse@xtra.co.nz
W: qbsurfboards.com
Indeed all of Mike’s boards - from fishes and thrusters to big boy boards deliver enough grunt to tackle the powerful breaks Piha’s become famous for.
122 Seaview Rd, Piha New Zealand P: +64 9-812 8723 E: pihasurf@xtra.co.nz W: www.pihasurf.co.nz
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SURFBOARD
DINGS
CRONULLA
RILEY BALSA s n o SURFBOARDS ti ra airs & Resto WOODEN BOARD REPAIRS
Rep
Queensland
AGNES WATER/1770
REEF 2 BEACH Mon-Sat, 9-5pm, Sun,10-4pm 07 4974 9072
NOOSA REGION
SUNRISE SURFCRAFT Round the clock 0421 140 653 Sunrise Beach
COOLUM
COOLUM BOARDROOM
2 Park Street, Coolum Beach 07 5408 4600
WARANA
THE DING HUT 6/ 39 Technology Drive
THE FACTORY SURFBOARDS
Monday-Friday 9am-5pm, Saturday 8am-12pm (07) 5492 5838
Mon-Fri 9am - 5.30pm Sat 9-12pm 0401 016 088
SOUTHPORT
KOMA
Mon-Fri 9am -5pm, Sat 9am -12pm 0402 863 763
THE DING SHOP
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MT WOODGEE 2 Stewart Rd (07) 5598 2188 Sun-Fri, 9am - 5pm Sat 10am - 4pm
MAXIMUM SURFBOARDS 46 Currumbin Creek Rd Mon - Fri 9am - 5pm Sat 10am - 3pm Sun by appointment 0400 338 098
New South Wales
TOMBSTONE SURFBOARDS
MIAMI
02 4226 1322 info@watermanssurf.com.au watermanssurf.com.au
CURRUMBIN
MOFFAT BEACH
GC SURFCRAFT REPAIRS Fibreglass 6’6 / 215/8” / 29/16” / 32L FINS: 5 FCS II
1730 Gold Coast Highway (07) 5535 0288 Sun-Fri, 9am - 5pm Sat 8:30am - 5pm
YAMBA
LABRADOR
MUSIC
MT WOODGEE
Mon-Fri 7-5pm Weekends on mobile Paul (07) 5437 6666 or 0414 015 370
CLASSIC Fibreglass or Carbon Fibre 9’5 / 23” / 31/16” / 69L 10’ / 233/4” / 31/4” / 88L FINS: Single
BURLEIGH HEADS
Mon - Fri 8.30am - 5pm, Sat 9am - 1pm 0404 804 498
PLANK SHOP 02 6645 8362
Tues - Fri 9am - 4pm, Sat 9am - 12pm 0432 330 826
COFFS HARBOUR
SURF CRAFT REPAIRS
JIM NEWTON 4/6 Druitt Court Open most days, just call. 0402 864 062
CENTRAL COAST
BUCKOS SURFBOARD & SUP REPAIRS AND RESTORATIONS
Mon-Fri 10am - 5.30pm Weekends by appointment 0422 304 078
Mon-Sat 9am-4pm 0412 376 464
WOLLONGONG
SKIPP SURFBOARDS
Mon - Fri 9-5pm Sat 9-4pm, Sun 9-3pm 02 4228 8878
SHELLHARBOUR
BROWN DOGG 7 days a week - Just call 0416 455 985
South Australia MID COAST
THE DING KING
Clark Surfboards Mon - Fri 9am - 5pm 0422 443 789
LONSDALE
MID COAST SURF Call us for a quality repair 08 8384 5522
SOUTH COAST
MR DAMAGE SURFBOARDS
Call Mark 0416 199 764
JERVIS BAY
mark@mrdamagesurfboards. com.au
INNER FEELING SURFBOARDS
New Zealand
Seven days, 9am - 5pm 02 4441 6756
RAGLAN, NZ
Victoria
RAGLAN LONGBOARDS
BELLARINE PENINSULA
7 days, 10am to 5pm except winter - catch us if you can +64 7 825 0544
ROUSA SURFBOARDS
Mon-Sat, 10am-5pm, 0403 693 333
THORNBURY
ZAK SURFBOARDS
Mon - Fri 10am - 6pm, Sat 10am - 5pm 03 9416 7384
TORQUAY
STONKER
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