Blood Feud between World Surf League and master surfboard shaper Matt Biolos intensifies after WSL’s repost of Ultimate Surfer contestant video, “They pulled back. Rescinded. Cancelled. They needed someone like me to show them how it was not a very good idea.”

Tables turned etc!

Less than one month ago, and with very little coaxing, surfboard shaper Matt Biolos unleashed on the WSL after the billionaire-owned sports league threatened legal action and the possible deleting of his personal IG account for reposting a photo of Carissa Moore. 

“If you’re incapable of breaking even without extorting your fans then you should be in the business,” Biolos, whose surfboards are, or were, ridden by world champs Carissa Moore and Tyler Wright, as well as Griffin Colapinto, Kolohe Andino, Yago Dora and Caroline Marks, posted in response. 

When BeachGrit called, Biolos said, 

“I have long-term friends working in the organization… But it doesn’t mean I’ll bow down to the barely-surfing- outsider-corporate-executives who invaded our culture and don’t really understand it but are willing to alienate the core followers and lifers who the precarious stack of cards is built upon so they can chase Main Street dreams. They are scared to death to charge pay-per view on the events because they damn well know that a lot of the public with tell them to fuck off. The viewership will tank to the point that sponsors will run for the hills. So what do they do? That come up with some scheme to come after us, the fabric of surfing’s existence, all us independently owned and operated surfboard builders who supply boards to the athletes.”

Now, a switcharoo after the WSL posted a video of Lost team rider Luke Davis, footage owned by Biolos. 

The WSL-supplied caption, a masterpiece of short-form prose. “When the barrel provides a head rinse, it’s on you to provide the shampoo.”

“I bought all this footage from Luke. Should I send you guys an invoice?” wrote Biolos, the mood of his coup de grâce emphasised with a laughing emoji.

Before being removed, the video had been viewed 137,000 times.

Users of Instagram were quick to side with the World War II enthusiast, whose surfboard models include the V2, named after the world’s first long-range guided ballistic missile that was hoped to be game-changer for the Third Reich, and who recently debuted his new cool-mom-that-will-let-everyone-drink-at-the-house-as-long-as-no-one’s-driving look, on Stab magazine.

“Solid,” wrote one.

“That was a little joke on my side,” Biolos told BeachGrit. “They pulled back. Rescinded. They cancelled the whole program (charging board builders a fee to repost content). Pretty smart on their part. They just needed someone like me to show them how it was not a very good idea. We’ve all had bad ideas.”