The noted Australian shaper on misery, Jesus and
Muhammad and pools (of course)…
Two months ago, I edited a print edition of the
Australian magazine Surfing Life. It was
called The Surfboard Issue and one of the features was a series of
interviews, made in the Esquire What I’ve Learned style,
of noted surfboard shapers.
Last week, I ran the interview with Maurice Cole on
BeachGrit, although
the story was quickly pulled down when I was reminded I’d sent a
longer version to the The Surfers
Journal.
Today, the man you know, the man you love, the divine delicacy
Greg Webber, pioneer of concave and curve. Inventor of the banana
board for Shane Herring in 1992 and Kelly Slater in 2016. Creator
of Webber wavepools.
Come inhale those vapours.
I was shaping the nose of a board, deck up with
the nose pointing towards my chest, and I had this incredible
feeling that what I take off with this tool right now will
influence how the board goes through the water. How could I
not fall in love with shaping after that?
I’ve pushed the high performance side as far as I or it
can go. My boards are already a touch too high performance
for the top guys, so what’s the use in pushing even further
out?
My strength as a shaper is that I see the surfboard as a
unit and not a nose, a middle and a tail.
I don’t always do what pro surfers asks. Pro’s
might know more than the average guy but they think they know, with
certainty, how one part of the board works yet don’t recognise the
three or four or five other areas that also influence it.
I’ll always do what a customer wants since
they’ll listen to my points and engage in a meaningful back and
forth.
My biggest fault as a designer, and as a man,
is being shape and surface and function obsessed.
Shane Herring did the hardest, tightest fastest
turns that anyone has ever done and now only Kelly has
come close to doing the same. In fact, Kelly has explored the
banana more than Shane ever had the chance to. I’m indebted to him
for that.
Kelly and I have talked about pools for about 15
years and then boards a few years ago. He approached me
after seeing Herring riding the most extreme banana in my brother
Monty’s profile on Shane.
It’s what Kelly feels. It’s more than just a
moment. He feels connected to the banana board from nose to tail.
They’re more advanced than what he is. If the best surfer in the
world does a turn on a board and it comes underneath his feet with
grip and keeps going around in the same direction he was heading
but his weight is now over the top of the board, because he’s
expecting that turn to be finished but it’s not flattening off it’s
still going, well, that’s a good thing. Because it means he’s got
more to do!
How do you ride a banana? Forward. Don’t stand
on the tail. Stand in the middle. You’re standing in the same place
for your bottom turns as you are for most of your carve turns.
But guess what happens. People get on a banana
and ride it like they riding a flatter rocker board. You’ve gotta
forget about your manoeuvres and just get to know the board by
feeling where it fits in the wave. It can ride higher. It can get
to places you can’t normally.
Where have I been? The wave pool has been
occupying my thoughts since 1999. The process of getting a
prototype built is insanely difficult. It’s bizarre to have
something you know will be by far the best, and that it will make
huge amounts of money for brands and developers, yet the people
with the big dollars seem to be doing everything in their power to
not invest in my company. Maybe having Kelly as a rival has played
a big part in that.
I’m patient and fucking determined.
Misery is letting subtle things get to you.
If I could shape boards for anyone in history,
it would be Muhammad and Jesus. I’d make them two boards each,
one which does nothing but cause issues like
rail grabs and nose dives while another one that glides and carves
so well you don’t even realise there was a board under
your feet. Then I’d ask them to make sure the religions that
they founded will be like the invisible magic board that lets
you enjoy what you are doing without knowing why.
You can buy the magazine here,
single issues, subscription, whatever y’hot
for.
