Squash? Rounded Pin? Swallow? Square? Diamond? Even good surfers with a solid grasp of shaping theory can find themselves feeling baffled by the range of tail shapes on offer today. Others might have a preference for a particular shape, but have no real idea why. So, we asked Johnny (a walking encyclopaedia of hydrodynamics) to explain the fundamentals of tail shape – arguably the most critical aspect of how a board performs on a wave.

If you’re a surfer you’ve never ordered a custom board before… trust me, you’re ready. Many surfers spend their whole lives buying stock models, figuring they are either not good enough for a custom, or that they are too expensive, take too long etc. Well, just like getting a made-to-measure suit will always fit you better...

Things are heating up nicely on the 2016 WCT title race: just a few days ago we had King Kelly smoke everyone in small but perfect Chopes, and a change of yellow jersey as John John squeezed past Gabriel in a nail-biting, near-perfect semi. With everything to play for and fingernails bitten down to the stump, it was action stations this week at the Basque Country Surf Company as Johnny put together Gabriel’s Trestles quiver...