Words Ben Mondy
“Forget the numbers, forget the dimensions plugged into the machine, and go with the eye. Beauty always has a way of prevailing.” That was John Carper talking about a four-inch thick 10’6” he made for Shane Dorian in this first episode of Board Stories. It had been made with love, ridden with courage, destroyed by nature and rebuilt with care. It was also the board that formed the template for the Jaws paddle in revolution. Both Shane Dorian and John Carper, along with input from Jaws pioneer Ian Walsh, tell the genesis of a surfboard that would give Shane one of his best ever waves and become a template for what was possible at Jaws. Remarkably the board was also brought back from the dead after it had been punctured on the rocks at Jaws with Carper hand fixing the 132 dings it had suffered. “I have an emotional attachment to this board and it has a fantastic story,” says Dorian, “and this episode of Board Stories takes us through that journey.” Shane Dorian’s PBU Paddler.
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