MORE the merrier MORE the merrier MORE the merrier MORE the merrier

 

---

Team Riders and travelling board projects

I have several surfers that I look after with boards but I prefer to keep my team small and not give boards away all over the place. I think surfers should come to a shaper coz he makes good boards, I think good boards should sell themselves instead of marketing or advertising, but in saying that, I like having a group of surfers to work with so I can fine tune their equipment to allow them to surf as well as possible. I have a variety of surfers who ride for me, they are of differing ages and skill levels and their feedback is invalueable, but I dont see the point of only having rippers who ride only high performance shortboards when I make most of my boards for the average surfers and for average waves, makes sense to me.....

Another thing I like to do is build project boards occasionally and set them free in the world for people to ride. The boards get handed from one surfer to the next, co-ordinated via online forums. See below for the "More the Merrier" project and the "Takeaway Dim Sim" project.

Team riders

Shane "SHORTY" Jefferson -

A good mate of mine who loves to do big turns and until recently he has detroyed many surfboards with his critical and powerful surfing. I am now shaping him EPS-epoxy boards and they are holding up excellent as well as going sweet for him. A recent 3rd place in the QLD state masters titles held at Alex and Coolum as well as several wins in local boardiders comps are proof of that...

Paul Jones is an all-rounder he rides everything and rides them all well. A good bloke and now a MORE Surfboards team rider. This guy just loves being in the ocean wether its on a SUP, longboard, one of his home made creations or the new Dumpling I have recently shaped him. Check out a bit of his history here -
Longboarding: 1st 2009 Qld 35 titles
Semi's Aust titles 2008 and 2009
Paddle boarding: 14 foot race boards "World champion" 2011 Molokai to Oahu team with
Woogie Marsh.
2012 Aust titles Port Mc, 7th in 20k open ocean Marathon and 5k BOP.
SUP surfing: 2012 2rd sup surfing Kingscliff comp NSW
Short board surfing, 2011 and 2012 shaped and glassed my own 6ft board until Mark
from MORE got me on his 5'9 Dumpling!
2013..........?????????

Welcome to the team Jack Bailey...Jack is a young Kawana ripper who is improving quickly, he also kills it on a kite board...Jacks riding a 5’7” Space Cadet...MORE pics of him soon....

Steve Shearer , Lennox Head
- Steve is a solid surfer with a ton of experience riding waves all over the world and he is also very clued into the weather and the waves, he does the forecast and surf reports for Swellnet. Steve is also a great writer and has recently interviewed Slater, Dane and co. when in Chopes for Swellnet. He is a family man and a dam good bloke too. He is also a very talented water photographer and has taken some great surfing footage and his editting is very impressive also. Anyway, enough pissing in his pocket, check out a little bit of footage below of him surfing a Quadfather I shaped him a while ago...

Nathan Gilkes

Nathan is a longboard rider originally from the Central Coast now based on the Northern end of the Sunny Coast. He is one keen surfer and not your typical mal rider. Nathans approach is progressive, agressive and also throws in a mix of nose riding and new age tricks. His different approach and willingness to ride everything and anything fits the MORE surfboards team well....I am enjoying working with him on his equipment as he continues to push the limits of performance longboarding...,
mp

Nick Carroll is not a team rider but he does ride some of my boards. He is great to work with and gives possibly the best feedback that I have ever had from a surfer and its due to his very thorough knowledge of surfboards and also his journalism skills, so he can explain how a surfboard performs in a clear and detailed manner, that's gold for a shaper. He gives me honest feedback and then discuss possible adjustments and improvements for his next board. He knows the worlds best surfers and shapers and sees all the surfboard trends and its great for me to be able to discuss all this with him, here's a few pics of NC on one of his Fat-Bats....pics by Andrew Sheilds...

PROJECT: MORE the Merrier

PROJECT: MORE the Merrier: Update #17- Been a while...

Ok guys, sorry it has been a while between updates but things have been very busy lately. MORE Surfboards has just set up a little shop and shaping shed at 3 Angourie Rd. Yamba so call in anytime and say hi....The AquaBat has since spent a few weeks hanging around Rye and only got a few surfs because the waves were almost non existent for a while there but Nathan who owns Baha Tacos said he had a few very fun sessions on the Bat. He said it was a very fast board and so easy to catch waves on. He probably didnt ride it as much as he wanted to he said but thats understandable as he was getting married in a few days, so congratulations to Nathan and Jahna, all the best... The board then went to a mate of mine from Yamba who was holidaying in Torquay, Tony and his 6 yr.old son, Oscar took the AquaBat for a few sessions at Lorne and surrounding beaches. Little Oscar surfs really well and has done for 2 years now and he rode the bat but it was like a mal for him but Tony tells me they had lots of fun with it anyway. Tony brought the board back to Yamba and I took it to the Fish-Fry where several people took it for a paddle across at the Alley. I have included some pics of the day to check out. The AquaBat then went to Lennox with Steve Shearer who had massive swells nearly the whole time he had it and surfed the bat at solid overhead Boulders a few times, he said the board went well and he loved the way the Butterfly fins kept the board anchored to the face, as well as the speed and drive that they gave. I did have a bit of trouble getting it back from Steve but thats good because it shows he wanted to ride it some MORE. I have it back now and I will have some pics and footage soon as well as an impromptu interview Steve did so that is coming soon...cheers, MP

ps- a few pics of the bat at the Fish Fry, chatting with Tom Wegener and co., and Nathan with the Abat...and me with the bat and the Sways travelling Amercian board...

http://www.vimeo.com/4409605 and check out this link for some footage of Steve and his bro....

Ok, since Jimi passed the board on there hasnt been many waves of any sort at all so the AquaBats been relaxing and just waiting for the next sign of waves. Butts has had it for a while and was hoping to get some shots with ex-pro ,Toby Martin riding it, but with no swell whatsoever , that hasnt eventuated as yet, still hopeful for when Toby gets back from Hawaii. Butts took the 'Bat' to the RealSurf bbq and from what I have seen and heard it was a pretty loose affair, wish I could've made it ( with my mankini...), anyway I heard that Don ( the main man of RealSurf ) had a crack on the AquaBat, which is awesome because all this started as an idea I posted on the RealSurf forums....Butts has taken some MORE cool shots of the board at the bbq , here they are. Chrisp has the board now and there is some swell as we speak so I am sure we will have some good shots and stories to check out soon.....MORE the merrier t-shirts are going to be available real soon and will only be limited numbers so if you are keen, better get in early...First preference is going to guys who have ridden the board and been a part of this fun little project...cheers, Mark

Jimi has had the AquaBat for a while and his exact words were " I had so much fun. I had a bit of trouble getting it up on rail due to its size but I found the speed down the line was awesome. I surfed fat and glassy 1-2ft Hawkes Nest , mostly on my forehand and it's made me even more excited about the 5'8" Mark is shaping me. A mate got two waves and he rates it too. He was riding a traditional fish which he thought was fast on crappy waves until he got on the AquaBat, not a bad thing to say about it, especially when the conditions suited it" " I like the feeling of the quad, couldnt quite put my finger on the difference, it was loose but drivey and it felt very easy to adjust to surfing it. Have never had so much funjust pumping down the line on a one foot wave before"., said Jimi... I am stoked to hear that Jimi and his mate enjoyed the board so much and hope that many more will have lots of fun on it yet. Its back with its Northern Beaches carer, Butts and he is arranging ex-pro Toby Martin and some other rippers to put it thru its paces soon for a photo shoot, cant wait for that, the results will be amazing I am sure, hope they score some 4ft barrells for the pics...Bombora and Chrisp are next in line but things may change, they usually do...MORE updates soon, if you are interested in riding the board or keen on your very own custom designed Fat-Bat, drop me an e-mail and we will make it happen, cheers, MP

Well, we found the board. It was at a Fastway courier depot in Tuggerah. Unfortunately they treated it like crap and busted the zip on the boardbag and also dinged the tail. ( dont use Fastway couriers if you value your stuff )...Anyway Ben finally got his hands on it after all the drama's and he also fixed the ding in the tail. He got a few sessions on it but the waves were pretty solid and almost too big , he said he would have liked to have had it in a bit smaller and fun waves. It inspired him to clean up his fishy hybrid board and start surfing it again. His missus did the delivery from Newy to the Northern Beaches ( thanks ) where Ian from Surf Decals took it and got straight into doing some of his cool posca pen art. He is pretty good as the pics clearly show. Ian surfed it this morning and said it was a good paddler and went quite well, but he said what nearly all test pilots have said so far is that its a fun and fast board. Well the AquaBat has a few scars and also some new artwork and will be passed around the Northern Beaches over the next few months. Its heading over to check out some Pacific Island reef waves in early September, then it'll be back for some MORE fun around Sydney....I think a few photographers will be getting some good shots of the board in action real soon......MORE updates soon...

A couple more photos of the Aquabat artwork (thanks to Butts)... Click on the image below for a newspaper article about the Aquabat...

Since the last update the AquaBat has been back up to the Sunshine Coast with me where I had a few fun sessions on it and then back home with me to Yamba for a couple very enjoyable surfs at Pippies and Angourie Pt. Then I couriered it down to Craig at Port Macquarie where he had arranged for Mick Campbell to ride the AquaBat, but unfortunately nature didnt play the game, it was raining and blowing to gale for the few days that Mick was home between comps, and guess what happened the day he flew out to the Rip Curl Somewhere comp in Indo yep, it cleared up and the waves were pumping..Oh well, next time maybe. Anyway Craig and his son had a few fun surfs on the board and he even got his wife to take some footage but he tells me his wife didnt do much of a job and missed most of their waves...thanks for trying..The board was then sent on to Ben at Newcastle but hasnt turned up yet, so at the moment we arent sure where it is and are hoping it shows up sometime soon. Ben has tried very hard to arrange his mates and people from his boardriders club to test out the board but it didnt pan out due o the board being M.I.A, but thanks for trying, cheers. heres a few pics of the board at Pippies and one of young Bradley O'malley from Port Macquarie, apparently he surfs pretty well too. Stay tuned to see if we find the board and what its been up to....It will be in he Northern Beaches as soon as we can find it and get it there...MP

Hey there guys, the Aquabat's been with Scot around Coolangatta and was surfed at the 'Superbank' a few times. Scot said he really enjoyed the board and although there was too much volume for him, he still had hears of fun wavs on it. He said that a slightly scaled down version would be great fun. Scot then passed it on to John ( JF from RealSurf ), who surfed it quite a few times, he had sessions at Cabarita, Kingscliffe, Hastings and Brunswick Heads, all fun beachbreak waves. John says he really liked how great the board paddled and he was getting waves so much easier than usual, he also says he was able to take off deeper than before due to the speed and drive of the board, he was the most stoked of all test pilots so far, Awesome stuff JF...He even got one of his sons mate to take some water shots at Brunswick the other day, here are a few shots of him in action on the board and I think there may be a bit of video footage of him coming my way soon ...Jorgo is meant to be next in line , then its heading south to Byron, Yamba, Pt.Macquarie, then the Central Coast, Newcastle and then Sydney..I know there's heaps of keen test pilots in Sydney so trying to get it down there guys, check out JF's pics....cheers, Mark

The AquaBat has been dry for a little while due to lack of swell up on the Sunny Coast but I got my hands on it yesterday ( 2nd July ), and got a few tiny ones at Duranbah which ended up being alot MORE fun than I had expected. The area and volume of the board allowed me to get enough speed to actually really enjoy the small gutless lefts. There was only about 6 guys surfing D'bah so you know its bloody small and pretty bad. This morning my 9year old son, Cain and I surfed perfect but only 1 ft Greenmount, nobody else in the water and a great chance for my son to have a go on the AquaBat. He got onto the waves so easily and was flying through the little sections. After seeing him get so many and having fun, I thought I would get a few too. Again the boards area and volume made surfing tiny waves possible. Here a some pictures that Cain took, I told you it was tiny....I am handing the board onto Scott this arvo at Coolangatta.....another update soon, hopefully with reports of the board being tested in some quality waves....cheers, MP

Ok, the AquaBat went down to Trev at Caloundra and he scored some nice clean waves at Moffats. Trev usually rides a 9'4" so it was a big change but after getting used to the change in size, he said he got quite a few nice waves. He said he thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to ride a different design like this. I dont know if he's getting off the longboard anytime soon but still good to ride different boards sometimes.The journey continues.....

The Noosa boys were lucky enough to score some very tasty waves around Sunshine Beach the other day and put the AquaBat thru its paces. The boys said it was lots of fun in the punchy, clean beachbreak conditions. They also said that the 5 fcs plugs are really good and give you lots of options..looking forward to hearing where it goes next..Some great pics here...Enjoy...

Well it has begun...The 'Aqua-Bat' was surfed succesfully by Fong and then Tiger at Maroochydore on Monday. It was pretty poor waves but both guys got a few waves and both enjoyed the board. There was about 6 or 7 of us there and it was great to finally meet some of the guys face to face. We hung around and talked surfing and boards for a couple of hours . It was a low key but a successful launch to the project. The board will be with Fong for the next week before being passed on to Trev at Caloundra I think and it will be on the Sunny Coast til the 11th of July so if you are keen to have a go please get in touch with me ...cheers, MP

Here she is, she is 6'3" x 20 5/8" x 2 11/16", diamond bat tail, single to deep double concaves thru the fins, fairly low rocker but with extra lift in the tail, medium to low rails that get hard and edgey by the tail, quad fin with 5 FCS plugs to have many different fin options. I am sure its not going to suit everybody but hopefully we all can enjoy it and the whole experience with like minded people...She is off to my glassing factory tommorrow and she should be ready to begin her journey in about a week or 2 ( if I can wait and let her cure )....MORE updates soon, MP

PROJECT: Take-Away dim-SIM

This board travelled down the east coast in 2010/2011. Here's a post from mark at the time of it's travels...

"The board is a 5'2" dim-SIM and the project has been kinda called "The Take-Away dim-SIM ". The board has been floating around the Sunshine Coast for a few months and also had a week or so on the Goldy but has just reached Lennox and into the hands of Mr. Shearer. By the sounds of it, Steve was enthsiastic but unsure about the little slab's ability to perform. Well he struggled for the first 3 waves but once he found his feet, the sboard started to get him stoked and now after 3 consecutive days of surfing it exclusivley he is frothing over this little board. Seems to be the same verywhere it goes, they really dont look like they should go as well as they do, they surprise everyone who them. I am super stoked to hear all the joy this little board seems to be creating wherever it goes on its journey. Mr. Andrew Kidman said he'll have a surf on it next and it is great to have him involved especially with his surfing experience and love for different surfboard designs, can't wait to hear how it goes for him, and Steve said he will do his best to get some footage of Andrew riding it, fingers crossed. If you are interested in having a bash on the traveller, please email me and we'll do our best to get it to you. Its currently in the Lennox area, then it is heading south to Newy, then off to Steak 'n' kidney. It's a good chance for surfers to try a different fun design that they might not usually be able to try, and maybe meet up with other fellow like minded surfers when they pass the board on to its next surfer....cheers"

pics by Michelle Shearer