mandala style boards from an Australian shaper?
Gidday
This guy makes some interesting boards. He can pretty much shape anything, I've got some deluxe boards from him.
Hey B,
I've been checking out the mandala blog out as well.
"The shop next door" in manly had a 2nd hand one for sale!
Other wise check out http://surfboardsbygrantnewby.blogspot.com.au/
He's a really knowledgable shaper and does some great boards that are out side of the norm. He's the head honcho behind the alley fish fry and wooden surfboard days.
Hope this helps
Hey B,
I've been checking out the mandala blog out as well.
"The shop next door" in manly had a 2nd hand one for sale!
Other wise check out surfboardsbygrantnewby.blogspot.com.au/
He's a really knowledgable shaper and does some great boards that are out side of the norm. He's the head honcho behind the alley fish fry and wooden surfboard days.
Hope this helps
Hey thanks for the replies.
Joeyjojo... that's exactly what I was hoping for, thanks a million mate. Newby clearly knows his stuff, his boards look so well evolved. I'm definitely going to get in touch with guy.
And thanks for the link 'uplift'.. looks like some serious love goes into those boards. Just as a point of interest, check out Spirare surfboards http://spiraresurfboards.com and watch the video.. I freakin love the artwork on these boats and the fins from Beach junk are genius.
Thanks guys
B
I was obsessed with the mandala asq's a couple of years ago, and suitably frustrated with being unable to get hold of one for myself, I ended up shaping something very similar myself (with help from an aku machine and a file from an earlier mini SIM project). Worked pretty well, and did almost all of the things I wanted it to do. When I eventually rode a friend's asq, I was pleased to find I liked mine more (because it was what I wanted - not because of any shortcomings in manny's skills). My point is consider having a go yourself...especially if you live somewhere with a surf industry to help you out when required.
It's been a couple of years since my original post, so we were probably "obsessed" with Mandala boards around the same time. Funnily enough, my story reads very similarly to yours!
The ASQ was the board that really took my attention and I ended up building one with exactly the same plan shape, only with slightly increased volume. Just before I finished sanding the board, one came up for sale in the exact dimensions I would've purchased it in new (5’4” x 20.5” x 2-1/2”).
I rode the Mandala first and liked it. I loved the control on rail though hard arcing turns, but I didn't like the way it paddled and found it a pain in less suitable waves. (No fault of the board, entirely my shortcomings as a surfer.)
My ASQ copy on the other hand resolved any issues I had with the original. It turned out to be a very forgiving board in most conditions (I surf steep reefs regularly and beaches occasionally) - After my 5'7" Tomo Nano, the ASQ copy is my go to board when the conditions are less critical. Having said that though, I was in Indo in June for that "once in a decade swell" and dropped into some pretty heavy bombs on it and although I kinda felt like Brad Domke at Puerto Escondido on his skimboard, it put a smile on my face that I couldn't wipe off for hours!
I too suggest if you have the means to make one yourself, have a crack. I'm a hack shaper at best, but a prominent local shaper cast his eye over a board I made once and while I was nervously pointing out little things that were imperfect (as if he wasn't going to notice the flaws himself, duh!) He said "They all work mate.. you'd be surprised how many pros ask me to shape a flaw into a board on purpose because of a mistake made on another board they own".
Thanks for chiming in :)
B.
Yikes...somewhere along the line I missed the date on this. Weirdly, I too now have a Nano as my go to board when it is over three feet, but the asq copy and the Simmons I made before it still get a lot of water time. Again, mine is bulked up a bit in volume to make it easy to get in early, but I am mostly on sand bottom points and reefs ... Nothing too punchy.
Glad to hear of another hack shaper loving his own product.......now to make a wider nano.
Hey all..
I've been frequently returning to http://mandalacustomshapes.com and drooling over the "double rainbow arctail". I've searched like crazy to find an Australian shaper who does something similar but havent managed to find anything close.. apart from some mini simmons designs but they're a little too small for liking, I want something around the 6.0' mark.
Another similar design that got my attention was the 'freakoid' board by ectic concepts http://www.ecticconcepts.co.uk/surfboards/boards/the-freakoid-surfboard. but again, they're on the other side of the globe :(
If any of you know of an Australian mob doing similar things, I'd love to hear about it.
Cheers!
B