The Surfboard Guide

On this episode of The Surfboard Guide we connect with Alex Crews of ACSOD Surfboards to discuss The Fox Tail, his ode to the midlength twin fin long fish, and our latest review on The Surfboard Guide. Alex discusses his inspiration for The Fox Tail, and also we chat about his brother Mitch surfing the Fox Tail out perfect and pumping Kirra earlier in 2022. To learn more about The Fox Tail, check out our full review at youtube.com/thesurfboardguide

Welcome back to The Surfboard Guide Podcast after a bit of a hiatus... Apologies! In this episode we speak with Dylan Perese of DP Surfboards from the South Coast (Coal Coast) of NSW. Dylan shares how he got into shaping and surfing, the regular confusion between him and anoither well known shaper named Dylan, ans his board the Zen Twin which we have just released a full review of. We hope you enjoy the podcast, and we are hoping to put out regular episdoes after a bit of a break! Enjoy! 

In this episode we chat with Alex Crews of ACSOD Surfboards,  and learn where the name "ACSOD" came from, and also Alex's fondness of rap music. Alex discusses what it's like being a shaper on the Gold Coast surrounded by some of the best high performance surfboard shapers on the planet. Alex also shares what it's like to have a feedback loop via a brother who is one of Australia's best surfers, and also making boards for some of the worlds best surfers.

We catch up with Rupert Partridge who is the Group & Brand Marketing for URBNSURF Australia. In this episode we learn a lot about URBNSURF and their Wavegarden technology, and also a little about wave pool technology in general. Rupert shares what it was like opening Australia's first wave pool with so much hype and demand, and then having quickly shut things down due to COVID, and try to operate the business through stringent Melbourne lock-downs, including a few re-opens and then shut-downs. We also learn about the plans for URBNSURF to open more locations across Australia! Enjoy! 

We chat with WSL World Tour Surfer Connor O'Leary about his time qualifying for the world tour, the ups and downs of the world tour, and also what it's like competing internationally with the uncertainty of the COVID. Connor shares with us some of his favourite Channel Islands surfboard models, what its like working with Britt Merrick, and also shares his take on literage, and alternative EPS technologies like Spinetek. Enjoy!

We chat with Alex Gray about his career as a Professional Surfer, whether it was his early beginnings on the NSSA, as a competitive surfer chasing the WQS, competing on the Big Wave World Tour, or travelling the globe as a paid free surfer. Alex shares some of the challenges he's been through like the loss of his brother Chris, how Alex almost died himself, and how he's made a positive out of this for himself and others with things like his surf therapy and public speaking. Enjoy.

We chat with Malachi Boyce from Route One Surfboards located on Californias Central Coast. Malachi discusses surfboard design and the search for more sustainable surfboards materials, what inspires him to shape, and why on a good day on Californias Central Coast - localism is alive and well. Enjoy!

We chat with Justin Ternes about how he came into shaping, working with amazing shapers like Chris Christenson, and his commitment to building high quality surf craft, which lead him to Dark Arts. We delve into the Dark Arts construction, and what it is like making  Dark Arts carbon wrapped boards for some of the worlds best surfers such as John John Florence (Spoiler: you might JJF on a Dark Arts wrapped Pyzel in 2021 WSL events)

Richie discusses the boards he rode on tour and the shapers he got to work with from Greg Webber to Luke Short. Richie also talks about coming back from his health issue and getting back into surfing and designing boards to make the progression back towards where he was much easier. We also delve into Richies shaping and design and even branching out into creating his own board label that is soon to be released - Volume Shapes. He also shares his experience working with FCS and some of their top athletes designing fin templates and models with surfers such as Julian Wilson, Mick Fanning and Filipe Toledo.

In part one of a two part podcast, Richie chats about how he got into surfing and subsequently competing. Richie also discusses the highs and lows of life qualifying for and competing on the world tour and what it was like competing against Kelly Slater amongst some of the other best surfers in the world. Richie shares how his competitive career was cut short with a health scare that almost claimed his life, and also how his competitive career almost didn't start due to a tsunami that hit while on a surf trip to G-Land with mates that almost took his life. Part two we discuss Richie's boards/shapers he worked with on tour, and what it's been like designing and surfing boards after tour to adapt to his surfing as he progressed from a point of not surfing.

In this episode of The Surfboard Guide Podcast, we catch up with Blake Peters from Panda Surfboards. Blake discusses how he got into shaping, and also what it was like to move a somewhat established business in Australia, and trying to get it up and running in the U.S. We talk about Blakes fondness for alternative shapes, and I tell Blake how much I Love the Shiitake Twinzer he shaped me. Many times. Blake also shares why he thinks a lot of the EPS technologies are a waste of time...

We catch up with Noel to discuss how he got into surfing and his foray into the world of competitive surfing. Noel explains how he got into reviewing surfboards, and what drives him to continue to put out high quality surfboard reviews for the surfing community. Noel shares his favourite boards, the few boards that he'll always hold onto, and what he is psyching on at the moment! Enjoy!

We catch up with Matt Parker to learn about the man behind Album Surfboards, how he got into shaping, and what motivates him to make some of the most beautiful boards on the planet. Matt explains what it's like coming from San Clemente and Trestles, a hotbed of high performance surfing and shortboards, and how Matt's style of more alternate craft is becoming more familiar in these line ups. We discuss what it has been like shaping alternate craft for Josh Kerr post World Tour, and why Josh's performances on Matt's alternate craft over the last few years have more people intrigued in what Josh is riding that when he was on the World Tour. Matt goes through what he has been shaping for everyones favourite surfer Asher Pacey and what models he's been riding, and how on a recent trip to France surfing with Asher and Josh, the World Tours best surfers would stop and watch Ashers waves fully absorbed in his approach to surfing a wave. Thanks for listening, and I hope you enjoy the episode!

In the second instalment of the podcast with Nick Blair, we discuss surfboard design and technology and whether this has plateaued, Nick gives us a really detailed breakdown of his EPS surfboard tech called Karboload, we discuss whether we are moving back towards longer boards after 10 years of really shortening our equipment, some advice for the average surfer buying or ordering a new board, and we may also discuss my fondness of Dane Reynolds and anything Dane does. Oh, and we also talk about a surfboard that was shaped like a penis and became a board model...

Nick Shares with us learning to shape as a 15yo in Sth Africa, how he was able to learn from some of the worlds best in S.A and abroad, how Mick Fanning accidently helped grow Nicks brand and helped to get Joistik under the feet of some of the worlds best surfers on Australia's Gold Coast, how he's ended up calling Sydney Australia home - and why Sydney has been great for his business.

We chat with Britt Merrick of Channel Islands Surfboards about how he grew up into surfing and then shaping, what it was like shaping for Kelly Slater and the Momentum Generation, to now working with incredible talent like Dane Reynolds, someone who knows surfboards better than most. Britt shares some of his thoughts about surfboard design, surfboard technology, the search for the perfect board, and all the variables between. And, Britt even let's us know what his father the great Al Merrick is up to now that he has stepped away from shaping... Thanks for listening!

Welcome to our first podcast with one of my favourite shapers James Cheal from Chilli Surfboards! In this episode we discuss how Chilli got into surfing and shaping, and how that lead to him shaping boards for some of the worlds best surfers, including Andy Irons, Kelly Slater and other top surfers. We discuss what it was like shaping boards for Andy Irons when he was at the top of his game competing for world titles, and then subsequently shaping quivers for Bruce Irons to help him qualify for the world tour. We chat about shaping boards for Mitch Coleborn and Jay Davies over the last few years, and how good they have been for feedback and the development of two of Chilli's latest models, the Hot Knife and the Volume 2. Chilli gives advice for those ordering a surfboard, and the importance of volume and length. And we even discuss PU and EPS, and the importance of glassing and blanks. Chilli even tells us about his experience with Kelly Slater and his competitive nature when he wouldn't let Chilli's 10yo son beat him in a basketball game! Haha! Give it a listen and let us know your thoughts! Hope you enjoy!