Since Dad began shaping boards, the numbers have always been small and the aim has always been to make them as well as we possibly can. Having a hand on every board has been a big part of that. No offshore manufacturing, no mass-scale production. Just boards built properly by us and the people we trust.

Which brings us to a question we get asked again and again:

“How do I get my hands on one of your shapes?”

If you asked Dad that 30 years ago, the answer probably would have been, “Give me a call.”

That basically hasn’t changed to this day.

Yes, there are a few more avenues to make contact now. More than we would like, really. Instagram, five email addresses, a website, in person at the local, Facebook, WhatsApp, three phone numbers... the list goes on.

But at the heart of it, you’ll still end up speaking to either Simon or me, Dash, Simon’s son.

That’s how we like it.

Building that relationship with the person who is actually going to ride the board is what it’s all about for us.

So, why are there three Au Go Go’s in a SharpEye showroom?

Back to the question at the heart of this story.

Why are there three Au Go Go’s sitting in a showroom mostly dedicated to the high-performance, elite SharpEye range?

Well, because in a lot of ways, it’s exactly where they belong.

Let me explain.

About 15 years ago, Dad was building every board from start to finish by hand. Hand shaping each board, templating, glassing, sanding, finishing, making the fins…Three or four boards in a week was a busy one.

You can imagine how little time there was either side of that to do the things Dad loves. Surf, raise us kids, spend time in the garden or just have some room for whatever else life holds.

As Torren’s surfing and Dad’s shaping began taking up more and more space in the surfing world, and interest grew something had to change.

Not the way the boards were designed. Not the quality. Not Dad’s involvement.

We just needed some help from the right people.

Enter The Glass Lab

It started with Dad meeting Adam and Burnie, the dedicated surfboard builders behind The Glass Lab.

They had just moved into a new and, quite honestly, beautiful factory just up the highway north of Byron. Like Dad, they had a lifetime of knowledge in surfing and surfboard manufacturing.

The relationship was built slowly at first.

Tentatively, each little detail of how Dad liked his boards glassed, sanded and finished was translated across.

I remember carrying Dad’s handshapes into the factory with the fin boxes already routed and set, only to see them again once they had been glassed and finished to about 150p, with barely a leash loop glassed on.

I would then finish sand each board, shape the legrope bridge, drill the leash-string hole, finish-tape the rails, cut and polish them and, finally, the board was ready to deliver.

That was the process.

Years later, after many, many tweaks and refinements, we are incredibly well supported by Adam, Burnie and their small team of craftsmen. Together, we’re able to make our boards exactly how we designed them to be made and finished.

And despite there being more hands involved now, we know those hands.

Every board begins with foam selected by us, made by Graham King or the Burford family.

Every board is still shaped by Dad.

Fins are done by master Hugo. Glassing is handled by Martin or Brad, depending on the colour and build. Sanding is meticulously done by Yuki, Finn or Daisuke, and finishing and QC is handled by Kohei

Plenty of other hands play their part along the way too, with Kade, Dave and Burnie making sure every board comes out to the standard we expect.

And we couldn’t be happier with them.

Dash, what does this have to do with the three Au Go Go’s?

You’re probably still asking:

“Dash, when are you actually going to tell us why there are three Au Go Go’s in a showroom full of SharpEyes?”

That’s probably because I have a background in surfboard sales and building rather than journalism.

But we’re getting there.

 

The Glass Lab is directly connected to The Board Lab, who are the Australian licensees producing boards for legendary shaper Marcio Zouvi and two-time WSL World Champion Filipe Toledo’s SharpEye Surfboards Australasia.

We’ve spent years watching the care and effort these guys put into building surfboards. We know the factory. We know the people. We know how much they care about getting a board right.

Because of that relationship, The Board Lab is also one of only three places outside of us where you can find Simon Jones Designs boards.

Those three are:

1. needessentials in Torquay, Victoria. If you know, you know.

2. The Board Lab in South Tweed Heads.

3. Our friends across the ocean at Surf-Bored in Costa Mesa, California USA.
   
   

And that’s it.

One big board-building family

So, all in all, this Under the Glass entry is really just a letter of appreciation to the people who help us keep this dream alive.

People who love building surfboards as much as we do.

We couldn’t do it without them, and they couldn’t do it without people like us walking through the door with another strange idea, another channel bottom or another little detail that needs to be done just so.

It’s one big, happy board building family.

Periodically, we walk a few boards downstairs from the quality control room and onto the shop floor at The Board Lab.

Liam or Red Dog will greet us with a smile and some of the best energy around. We talk shop, put the boards on the rack and leave them sitting in a showroom where, at first glance, you might think they don’t belong.

But in reality, they probably belong there more than almost anywhere else in the world.

They were designed by surfers, shaped by Dad and built alongside people who have dedicated a huge part of their lives to making surfboards properly.

That’s pretty much what Simon Jones Designs has always been about.

 

The Board Lab currently has a 6’2”, 6’4” and 6’6” Au Go Go, along with a 6’8” Fiji in stock.

If you’re after one, pop in and throw one under the arm.

Liam and Red Dog have years of surfing knowledge under their belts and can help you work out which one suits you best.

And if you’re still not sure, you can always do it the way people have been doing it for the last 30 years.

Give us a call.