The Dust Up

In this episode, Luke Howarth from Howie shapes and I discuss the subtleties of a surfboard foil or profile.  The distribution of foam in a surfboard is often overlooked but it can have a big impact on how your board performs.

We chat about the evolution of foil in a surfboard and how it relates to the different styles of boards.  I ask Luke about what he thinks of 'swing weight' which is a term commonly used in discussing bigger boards and explain why I prefer to focus on 'momentum'.

You cannot talk about surfboard fo...

In this episode I chat with Scott James from SJS Custom.

Scott first appeared on my radar through social media.  The boards he was creating and the way he was presenting them really stood out amongst the many.

It piqued my interest.  I was keen to chat with Scott to hear more about his back story and it did not disappoint.  Scott grew up in the town of Dunedin on the very south coast of New Zealand.  He told me how he fell in love with the curves of a surfboard and sought out the loca...

In this episode I catch up with Gary McNeill from Gary McNeill Concepts.

I first met Gary when I was working on the Gold Coast nearly 20 years ago.  From the very first meeting I found him to be friendly, dedicated, talented and a real individual pursuing his own path.

Gary grew up surfing competitively, but a few changes in life would motivate him to move from Wollongong to the Gold Coast.  He started working for Nev surfboards.  Soon after starting work, he was promoted to production manager at a time when Nev was one of the...

In this episode we catch up with Damien Cole, former CEO of Varuna surfboards.

The surfboard industry is a fickle beast; it owes nobody anything and we are regularly reminded of this.  Earlier this year Varuna surfboards closed its doors for the last time.  Varuna surfboards was a new type of wooden construction with a focus on reducing the environmental impact as well as improving the lives of Indonesians who had experienced large scale deforestation.

It was great to catch up with 'Damo' and discuss his colorful journey over the last several years.  You see, Dam...

In this episode I chat with Sergio Gomez from Gomez surfboards.

Sergio grew up on the coast of Argentina.  The town was rather large, but surfing was considered counterculture and there were only two surf shops.  Sergio fell in love with surfing and on one occasion when his board was being repaired, he borrowed his friend's brother's board.

The board went amazing!  It was like no other board he had ever ridden, and he took up the challenge to find out why?  Sergio learnt how to shape, glass and sand surfboards and as a young adul...

In this episode I chat with Dylan Perese from DP surfboards and inventor of the soon to be released 'Leashbar'.

Dylan caught the bug for shaping in his early teens and instantly knew this was what he wanted to do.  A couple of years later he left school to focus on surfboards and never looked back.

A member of a thriving surf community south of Sydney as well as an opportunity to work with Graham King was all he needed to establish himself a solid reputation for making great boards.  Speaking with Dylan it is cl...

In this episode, I chat with Daniel Hawes from Shapers Collective, New Zealand.

Howie and I recently discussed the feedback we received about the difficulties currently facing shapers around the world.  Shortly after hearing our chat, Daniel reached out to share a business model he is implementing. 

An Australian expat living in a town named Mangawhai, tucked right up in the north of New Zealand.  After establishing Small Kine Ding Repairs many years ago, it was uncommon for him to come across New Zealand shaped surfboards in his factory.  Daniel had crossed paths with many shap...

In this episode, I chat with Wayne Roach from Roach Approach surfboards.

Wayne's story is a classic tale about a boy that fell in love with surfing at a young age and developed a passion for surfboards.  Wayne or 'Roachy' as he is more commonly known, was a product of the bustling surf industry in Cronulla during the 70's and 80's.

Roachy worked under multiple brands including Jackson, Southern Comfort, and Force 9 before jetting around the world to shape.   An avid surfboard designer who played a big part in the creation of the four fin su...

In this episode, Luke 'Howie' Howarth and I discuss the alluring and sexiest design aspect of a surfboard... Rails. 

Rails come in all shapes and sizes to best satisfy the shaper's accompanying design ideas.  The perfect rail is different for different styles of surfboards.  We discuss some of the shaper's rails that we like as well as what makes a bad rail in our opinion.

I throw a few different rail designs at Luke to get his ideas as well as give an insight into deck channels or ' love handles' and what I learnt fro...

In this episode we speak with Dan Thomson from Tomo Surfboards.

Dan is arguably the most creative surfboard designer of the last 20 years.  The art of surfboard shaping and designing was handed down from his father, Mark Thomson.  Dan and his father would discuss all aspects of hydrodynamic theory to improve their understanding of real surfboard design.

In the mid 2000's Dan moved to America after a chance encounter that led to him riding a selection of 'fish' boards from some of the industry's best.  Around the same time Dan was thinking a lot about the...

In this episode Christian and I talk to Sam Griffiths.

Sam is a passionate surfer who pursued a career in the surf industry.  He started his time in the industry at Rip Curl on the back of his love for surfboards and spent time developing their board program.

When the opportunity to be a team manager a Quiksilver presented itself, he jumped on it.  It was a great career choice for a person who is very personable and has a desire to help others succeed.  He held that role for many years before being promoted to...

After a long wait, The Dust Up is back for 2024!  We kick things off chatting with a truly fantastic shaper and designer - Nev Hyman.

Nev describes himself as a 'Ranga from Perth' in a jovial way, but the truth is he has been heavily involved in the development of surfboard design as well as pursuing future surfboard production methods.

Nev has always attracted the most talented surfers on his team as well as shaping for the best surfers in the world.  His passion for surfboard design in undeniable and there were plenty of challenges to...

In this episode we explore Technique vs. Equipment with Brad Gerlach from Wave Ki.

Brad competed at the highest level and reached number one in the world.  His smooth Californian style did not all come naturally and with some advice from his Olympic diving father, they explored body dynamics in surfing. Fast forward a couple of decades, Brad has created Wave Ki to assist others improve their surfing.

We have all experienced riding boards that 'felt right' and improved our surfing as well as riding boards that 'felt wrong', like they were restricting our surfing.   We...

In this quick episode Christian 'Priddo' Pritchett and I let John 'Robbo' Robertson out of the basement to hear what he has discovered about the WSL's final five for 2023.

Never mind the fact that they wont replace Ethan Ewing if he is injured, we explain how the system needs a slight tweak to ensure the world's best surfers can compete to the world title on finals day.  

This is the first year where this rule has disadvantaged a surfer, costing him even more then the world title but also a shot at a gold medal i...

In this episode I welcome Luke 'Howie' Howarth to  discuss the all important surfboard design element - Bottom Contours.

The bottom contour of a surfboard can be described as either flat, convex or concave.  Its the detail within these three categories that determine a surfboards performance.  What is the best bottom contour for a shortboard, fish, midlength, or longboard?

Bottom contours are used to blend the centre line rocker to a shapers desired rail line rocker.  We discuss the various forms of vee bottom shapes, single and double concave bottom shapes as well as channels and...

In this episode we discuss the Rip Curl Bells Beach Pro, Margaret River Pro and the Surf Ranch Pro.

After a classic intro from Bodhi, we chat about some behind the scenes adventures during the Bells competition.  Unfortunately, the waves didn't turn up but that doesn't mean there wasn't a lot to talk about. (Time 0:1:30)

The next stop on tour was the West Australia Margaret River Pro and the tour finally got some quality waves.  Much to Christian disgust, they didn't take the competition to the box but it was great to see some great pe...

It's been a little while since we put out a shaper interview and with good reason.  There has been some restructuring happening with The Dust Up  and before we welcome Luke Howarth to the team, we wanted to take an opportunity for him to introduce himself to the listeners.

Luke was introduced to the ocean at Avalon on the northern beaches of Sydney when he was only 2 years old.  He built a long and healthy relationship with surfing that would eventually see him compete at a high level and gift him the chance to start shaping boards.  A re...

In this episode we look back on the first three WSL competitions including the Billabong Pipeline Pro, Hurley Pro Sunset Beach and MEO pro Portugal.

We introduce a new member to The Dust Up family, Christian 'Priddo' Pritchett is a lover of competitive surfing, shres the head judging role at Surfing Vic and long time travel partner searching for waves.

We break down the results from each comp as well as introduce a new 'Points Per Surfer' ranking system which doesn't discriminate based on the number of team riders per shaper.

We share...

In this episode we speak with Adam Baldwin of Reclaim Surf.

Adam is based on the Sunshine coast, Australia and very passionate about sustainable surfboards.  In the beginning, he would recycle dis-guarded building materials and other items to create all types of surf craft.

A  health scare prompted him to re evaluate what his priorities are he chose to take time out from his full time teaching career and dive deeper into his passion for building surfboards.

The boards he makes are heavily focused on a more environmentally friendly option with minimum use of...

In 2023, The Dust Up Podcast is launching the first ever Manufacturer's Cup in surfing.

We aim to celebrate the surfboard craftsmen shaping boards for the world's elite surfers.  Each event we will attribute points to the shaper based on the success their team rider has,  for example 17th place = 0 points and 1st place = 12 points.  These point will be accrued throughout the year and the shaper with the most point at the end of the year will be deemed the winner!

In addition we will breakdown as many statistics about equipment as we can find.  The most...

Robbo and I look back at the highs and lows of 2022.

We chat about the STAB Electric Acid Test, new board design from Jim Banks, our choice for best new surfboard model from a big brand, as well as Firewire's decision to use Futures fin plugs exclusively.  We also look at FCS vs. Futures and which system is more likely to win a competition.

We discuss the best and worst moments of the 2022 WSL season, choose our best and worst events, WSL finals day, best shaper/surfer combination, as well as the WSL's decision to b...

In this episode we chat to Tim Just from Fluid Performance about junior development and Grom boards.  Tim is based on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, Australia and has worked with some of the top juniors including Reef Hazelwood, Keely Andrew and Isabella Nichols to name a few.

We wanted to chat about what makes a good Grom board, what to look for if the board is under performing as well as a few tips for groms.

Tim is just back from a trip to the Maldives where he had the pleasure of judging the M...

In this episode Robbo and I discuss the most important surfboard design element - Rocker.  A surfboards rocker will determine how the board goes above all other elements.  We discuss establishing rockers from hand shaping blanks as well as some tips for converting your rockers into a CAD program.  Its no surprise legendary designer Greg Webber is a major part of out discussions as well as identifying a few rocker trends in modern day short boards.

There is so much we could talk about when it comes to rocker but here is just a small sample.  The big...

In this episode we speak with master craftsman Chris Garrett of Phantom surfboards. 

 Chris is a self-taught shaper that was happy to make all the mistakes and forge his own path.  The Phantom brand experienced a rapid rise to the top with many of the best surfers ordering boards.  In the end the stress of running such a large business took its toll and he walked away.

Team riders such as Dave Rastovich and Nick Wallace allowed Chris to experiment with his designs so they always looked different.  If you didn't recognize the boards for their...

In this episode we kick off our surfboard design element conversations starting with - Planshapes.  Robbo and I talk about creating planshapes as well as some of the different planshape designs such as wings or flyers, side cuts and asymmetrical.  We discuss our observations about what is currently under the feet of the world tour surfers.  Last but not least, we tracked down shaper extraordinaire - Dusty Kochenbols to talk about the highs of shaping. 

Send us a text

Support the show

Check out the stories on our Instagram home page for photos to a...

Speed Defies Gravity
We chat to master craftsman Stuart D'arcy about how he started shaping surfboards, what it was like shaping for world champions and the rise of hand shaping in the next generation.  We discuss the importance of working with the right shaper to improve your surfing and never accept anything less than the best quality materials.

We introduce a segment called 'Surfboard Myths' and discuss the validity or abuse of the fourth dimension... Volume.

Hope you enjoy!

Send us a text

Support the show

Check out t...