In this episode, Luke Howarth from Howie shapes and I discuss fin placements and fins. Fins can seem like a simple aspect of a board to some and extremely complex to others. We both love fins and learning about them, but we are not fin experts.

I would suggest many shapers have concentrated more on their designs over the last couple of decades since the introduction of fin systems. The good old days of purchasing a board with the fins selected by the shaper to work best with the board would simply be glassed on. There was no second purchase to enable the board to be surfed and there was no excessive lists of fins in catalogues.

For a while it seemed like the most important aspect of fins was their colour or the team rider associated with that fin. I heard people describe fin companies as arrogant and greedy due to their lack of support for the majority of the surfboard industry, only looking to jump on 'HOT' selling brands to ensure their sales.

There is more to fins than that and so I sat down with Howie to chat all things fins. From single fins to quad fins, where we place our fins on boards, what our experiences have been with different fin set ups. We talk about what adjustment to fin cant or toe we have tried to try to improve a boards performance.

It was a great conversation, and I really hope everybody will get something out of it. I cannot stress enough we do not claim to be fin experts and look forward to the feedback from the dust up community about wat they do with their fin placement and fins.

I hope you enjoy our chat about fins...

Send a text

Support the show

Check out the stories on our Instagram home page for photos to accompany each episode.

@the_dust_up_podcast

We hope you enjoyed our conversation. Be sure to rate and review our podcast as well as subscribe.

In this episode I chat with John from Sanded Australia, a surfboard materials supplier on the Central Coast of New South Wales, Australia.

The beginning of John's relationship with the surfboard industry goes all the way back to when he was a young man making boards with his friends. One of his friends was involved in building boats so that is where they sourced their materials - Expanded Poly Styrene (EPS) foam and epoxy resin.

In the years to follow John pursued windsurfing and would become sponsored. This allowed for him to work with his shaper/designer and have a good insight into how the windsurfing community was quick to embrace alternative materials and push the technology of the various constructions looking for an advantage.

Sanded started out from a shed in the backyard as John established himself, made important contacts and built stock. He was able to sustain this for a few years but ultimately had to secure more space. John speaks about the impact COVID period had on his business and the continual growth since. Business has been so good he tells how he will have to look for a bigger warehouse in the next 12 months.

The main driving force behind John's success is his open mindedness and willingness to try different things. The collaborative work he has done with Colan Australia to develop Flax, Basalt and Pineapple cloth has set him apart from other suppliers. Furthermore, John's honest appraisal of the products he tests has surfboard manufacturers at all levels paying attention.

John knows the value of good customer relations and many people I know speak highly of his customer service and quick delivery times. Sanded ships products all over the world and we are lucky to have someone like John in our industry in Australia.

I hope you enjoy our conversation

Send a text

Support the show

Check out the stories on our Instagram home page for photos to accompany each episode.

@the_dust_up_podcast

We hope you enjoyed our conversation. Be sure to rate and review our podcast as well as subscribe.

In this episode I chat with Beau Armstrong from Armstrong Surfboards.

I was travelling home from Queensland when I stopped into the Bennett Surfboard showroom and was greeted by a young man behind the counter, Beau. We chatted briefly and I discovered he made surfboards. I told him I would check out his social media and headed off down the road.

As I drove the many hours back to Victoria, I thought a lot about how I observed the surfboard industry and wondered what draws younger people into the industry these days. In my experience the surfboard is the same everywhere, however it also has its differences.

Beau is a young man in his mid-teens that was looking for a new challenge. As he travelled home from a family holiday, Beau started researching surfboard shaping. After many hours of watching YouTube clips and dissecting what information he could from the videos, he purchased a surfboard blank and proceeded to hack at it in his front yard. Beau had been bitten by the surfboard bug and his journey had started.

I was keen to hear how his journey into the surfboard industry was going, what attracted him to surfboards as well as what his future plans are. It turns out Beau has been fortunate enough to meet great people in the Sydney surfboard industry, and they have provided him with an invaluable education.

I am really excited to kick off the year chatting with Beau as it represents fresh starts and big opportunities.

I really hope you enjoy our conversation...

Send a text

Support the show

Check out the stories on our Instagram home page for photos to accompany each episode.

@the_dust_up_podcast

We hope you enjoyed our conversation. Be sure to rate and review our podcast as well as subscribe.