João Mendonça is just eleven years old, a mere cub, yet he's already asserting himself in the bear pit.

Last October Kelly Slater said he was retiring, now he says he was misunderstood.

The central wooden stringer has been a mainstay in surfing for over sixty years. This week on The Carve Up the fellas talk to Nick Miles who's X-Core blanks are challenging the norm.

Not from nowhere did Mason Ho chop hop into the spotlight, his lineage is rich with success. And though Mason is taking a different path than his father, uncle, and sister, he's similarly adored.

"When I build big wave surfboards, it's a like building a parachute," says Chris Christenson.

"It has to work."

It's the reprise of a wunderkind, and for some reason all filmed in monochrome