An Interview with D'arcy

I am a self confessed surfboard voyeur; if I am not surfing, looking at boards in a shop, talking about boards or perving over boards online, then I am normally asleep. There is something about the lines and depth of a good board that kick-starts the organic youtube in your head, mind surfing endless right handers at your local break. You realise you must have that board.

Okay, enough board geek confession from me. Instead I would like to tell you about the best personal playlist mind surf moment I have had recently. The board was the 'Pirates Door' and the shaper was Stuart D'Arcy. I actually seem to have found out about D'Arcy the wrong way round, not really understanding the prestige that goes with the name. I only had to start looking at his other boards like the 'Snubbed' and the' A-Bomb' to know how much talent, knowledge, experience and pure stoke goes into designing these craft.

I thought it would be really cool if I could find out a bit more about D'Arcy, his boards, the people he has worked with, his relationship with the wet stuff and more than anything what makes his boards magic.

Darcy has very kindly agreed to spare you guys at home some of his valuable time that could be spent making magic sticks and answer some carefully selected questions.

SB: Hey Darcy, thanks a lot for the time, how have the waves been with you?

Darcy: Hi James the waves have been small, clean and consistent and not many people out as the men in the grey suits have been hanging around. Life is wonderful

SB: When did you first start surfing? Who did you look up to as a grom?

Darcy: I started surfing when I was 8 years old. I was the first in my family to surf. The beach was up the road was in a bay so always small but perfect for a grom. I didn't have much of a surfing influence

around me as surfing was still for outcasts. (Deadbeat, long haired hippies as my father would say) When I started high school in the bigger town of Cronulla, the influences of my new friends opened my eyes to our local surfing heroes, Jim Banks, Ross Marshall and the wider world of Shayne Horan, Mark Richards, Wayne Lynch etc.

SB: When did you begin to start getting interested in shaping boards?

Darcy: When I was about 14 I started hanging out with my sisters boyfriend who shaped and glassed boards in his Mum's laundry as a hobby (man he talked a lot) and he encouraged me to do it myself. This was in the late 70's. I made a couple of boards for myself and friends, stripping down old boards and reshaping the foam and glassing them in my Auntie's new garage, but I ended up making such a mess, leaving resin all over the floor that this was a short lived endeavour.

At 15 I was picked up by Gordon & Smith and started riding for their team. Working with the head shaper Terry Bishop, I would spend hours in the shaping bay learning the intricacies of his shapes. He

always said, "Know what you ride!"

SB: Do you think the fact that you surf to a very high standard has any bearing on your understanding of the mechanics of surfboards?

Darcy: Definitely! I think it's essential for a shaper to be able to surf to high standard so they can feel the finite differences of each board. Being able to feel the difference in shapes allowed me to experiment in more finite changes and I learnt so much quicker. Back then it was all hand shaping too. I lived in Torquay, Victoria at that time where there are long right hand points which helped, surfing the same wave every day.

SB: What percentage of the boards that you make are custom orders? What advantages does a custom made board have for the average surfer?

Darcy: 98.5% of my boards are custom. my passion has always been the end result to the customer. I like doing one board at a time for a person and making every board better, it's all about the customer getting the best board possible for his or her particular ability and place they surf. A true shaper will make a board that allows the surfer to evolve and have more fun.

SB: You have worked with some pretty amazing pro surfers in your time, how different is it to make a board for an pro athlete?

Darcy: The pros are easy to shape for as they can feel the subtle differences and can explain what they need!

SB: I have read so many amazing testimonials for your surfboards and I think that they look amazing, what advice would you give to a young shaper starting out?

Darcy: Always do the best you can, take your time, listen to the people riding your boards and trust your gut feeling. The best education and understanding of the craft will always come from hand shaping. Learn everything from start to finish, hand shaping, glassing, sanding and finishing. (Wax on, Wax off) A machine is a tool, not a shaper..!!

SB: I love the look of your small wave board the Pirates Door. From your quiver, do you have a favourite shape?

Darcy: The Dragon is my favourite go to short board, smooth and fast while the Pirate Door is just too much fun in small gutless waves.

SB: What do you think about the shift towards more sustainable materials being used in board manufacturing?

Darcy: I love that people are looking to a better future but some larger companies are using the green/eco angle as a marketing tool and manipulating the facts. I am all for lean and clean manufacturing in the use of all materials. My boards are made to such high standards that many customers don't return for years. This has higher eco value to me!

SB: Can you remember your first surf board? Have you still got it?

Darcy: My first surfboard was a Colonel Sanders coolite foamy [KFC] that came with a bucket of chicken.

SB: How can I get my hands on a Pirates Door in Europe?

Darcy: Thats a hard one! Most of my international customers have them shipped from Australia. I would love to come back again one day soon and shape and meet new people.

SB: Great thanks to Darcy for the time he spared for us when he could have been waving his magic shaping tools and making more boards that would all probably make it into my personal playlist. Lets hope Darcy does come back to Europe and spin a few boards out as I have my eye firmly set on a customized Pirates Door.

Thanks for Bo Bridges for the cover photo.