Computer aided channel bottoms?
Tuesday 13/12 12
Till now channel bottoms have been the sole preserve of hand shapers, however a new cutting tool from AKU Shaper may soon see that change.
Design Outline
Boarding School: Foils
Tuesday 29/11 14
You turn a board on its side and look at its rocker, but do you also look at its foil? The foil of a board - the distribution of foam along its length - is every bit as important yet it's often overlooked. Let Cory Russel get you up to speed.
Boarding School: Rocker
Tuesday 15/11 25
In the second instalment of Boarding School, Cory Russell throws a curve ball at the class. That's right - rocker. The arc of a surfboard when seen in profile. What is it? And how does it effect your surfing?
Bert Burger on making a statement at big Nazare
Tuesday 01/11 29
The West Oz board maker puts high tech craft under the feet of two-time XXL Big Wave award winner Sebastian Steutdner.
Boarding School: Outline
Wednesday 26/10 12
Outline. It's a surfboard's defining characteristic. The first thing we notice when we lay eyes on a board. But how does the outline affect the way it rides? And hows about a bit o' history for good measure..?
Simon Anderson on X-Core Reactor blanks
Thursday 15/09 71
The inventor of the Thruster adds X-Core blanks to his range of small wave boards.
Extraordinary Boards - Kelly Slater's 1996 Indonesian spear
Monday 05/09 16
Slater's steed from the Quiksilver Pro Grajagan gets the once over in the latest Extraordinary Boards. It's the board he rode while punching himself in the head at perfect G'Land.
Non-identical twins: How the modern twin fin beats its older brother
Thursday 01/09 40
"You might as well be riding a unicycle up there," says Matt Warshaw of twin fins and their propensity to spin out. However, modern design and construction has curbed the chaos without losing that footloose feeling.
Extraordinary Boards - Mark Richards 1980 twin fin
Monday 15/08 14
Mark Richards considered it the pinnacle of twin fin design, a board on which he felt he couldn't lose a heat, or indeed a world title.
In this, the first part of an ongoing series, we look at MR's handshaped 1980 twin fin (includes video footage).
Surfboard models and the relentless pursuit of perfection
Monday 04/07 22
Computer shaping can deliver racks and racks of identical model surfboards, and yet board design has never been more diverse. So where are we at with surfboard models?
The History of Asymmetry and the Pursuit of Balance
Wednesday 13/04 51
A surfer falls down the rabbit hole of asymmetry bumping into innovators along the way: Midget, Bob Cooper, Carl Ekstrom, Kelly Slater.
Agave And The Spirit Of Board Making
Thursday 31/03 7
Tequila is made from the Agave plant which is native to Mexico, however it also grows wild in the Adelaide Hills. Cass Selwood finds a different use for Agave, making a wild home-made shortboard from pilfered stalks.