Years Shaping: 25         Years Surfing: 38         Currently Shaping From: Northern Beaches, Sydney

Grant works from a shaping studio in the hills behind Narrabeen Beach. If you are ordering from within the Sydney area we can arrange for you to meet with him there.

Grant grew up at North Narrabeen on Sydney's Northern Beaches---quickly becoming one of the hottest junior surfers there."It was a really amazing time as a grommet,surfing regularly with Nat,Terry Fitzgerald,Simon Anderson,Mark Warren and Col Smith--all guys who I really looked up to."

Grant was a Hot Buttered sponsored surfer by 16,and a few years later after a year as a professional surfer on the old I.P.S. World Tour and finishing a university degree at the University of Sydney,he began shaping. "I served my shaping apprenticeship with Terry Fitzgerald,one of the most respected surfer /shaper /designers in the history of surfing. A strict teacher,strong on design theory,method and accuracy--Terry influenced my shaping and surfing immesurably. This was a very exciting time at Hot Buttered---new design ground was frequently being broken---I remember being present when Terry shaped the first "Drifta"--a precurser to the eventual thruster. Frank Williams,Ronnie Woodward and Stuart Campbell were all shaping there at the time---a real melting pot of ideas".

After 2 years at Hot Buttered,Grant moved on to shape boards under the 'Hot Dot' label at Brookvale before embarking on a 15 year semi-nomadic surfer /shaper/ traveller existence....."I spent time shaping and surfing in Indo,Japan,France,England,Mexico,Central America and the USA----particularly in San Diego California where I had the opportunity to shape for 'Rusty'----but I was restless and wanted to keep moving---the Endless Summer routine."

In October ' 99 Grant returned to Sydney and released the WATERSKATE---a revolutionary alternative design which had evolved over a two year period.

Grant is a shaper with vast international surfing and shaping experience: from heavy beach breaks at Narrabeen, to Californian summer mush and huge pits in Hawaii,Mexico and Central America. One of the rare craftsmen who can shape,glass, sand and polish---Grant still rips and surfs Narrabeen daily. Equally skilled at shaping grovel boards and serious guns,one of his major assets is the ability to listen to his clients--not forcing his ideas upon them,but rather helping to put their ideas and experience together with his into foam.

Grant has a reputation within the Australian surfboard industry both for speaking his mind, and designing surfboards without regard to 'popular opinion' or fashion. This free thinking results in boards that are unique---the WATERSKATE, V-SKATE and POWERGLIDE are all good examples. At the time the WATERSKATE was released in October '99 for instance--there was nothing else commercially available in a similar vein. Shapers were still firmly focussed on the thin, narrow and over rockered---Grant's ideas were the complete opposite of mainstream design. Yet the WATERSKATE met with unprecedented response---tapping as it did into the previously ignored needs of many surfers. This design remains influential amongst intelligent and progressive shapers.

Because these various models fall outside the boundaries of conventional surfboard design---they are difficult for some surf shops to categorize---surf mags struggle to grasp and define the ideas that underpin them---and yet for those surfers who have ridden them---the boards speak for themselves and have great personal meaning (see testimonials).

Miller surfboards are not mass produced--each board is treated as unique,and carefully supervised through each stage of production. Manufactured from the finest materials available--they are of the highest quality and finished to international standards.

My objective is to design surfboards to suit individuals. All surfers are different,right? Different weights,heights and ability levels--so it follows that their boards should reflect these differences.

Yet with few exceptions,most boards are still designed and shaped with professional surfer's in mind. The truth of this can be seen daily with many surfers still struggling on undervolumed shortboards,or trying to adapt by riding Minimals or Malibus.

This state of affairs is both unnecessary and unethical. In part it results from mass production and the commercial decisions accompanying it. In retailing for example, many surfshops operate similarly to real estate agents and car dealerships---with surfboard salesmen driven by volume commissions/margins rather than by the needs of their customers. There are certain shops therefore that we will not deal with on ethical grounds alone.

We are kind of old fashioned in the way that we do business. For instance, wherever possible I still speak with every person ordering a custom board--no matter where they live. We keep carefully detailed records of all the dimensions of their boards. Whats recorded? Pretty much everything. Rocker every 6" from nose to tail,fin locations and angles,board width,thickness,bottom shape---things like that. Why? So that we can refine/improve each persons next board in a systematic and predictable way through controlling certain design variables--rather than the usual 'stab in the dark' approach. We record what weight of glass was used and where,fin template,stringer width and so on.

Then there is the follow up. Every person who orders a custom Miller surfboard is contacted 6--8 weeks later. Why? We want to know how they like their board---does it do what they were hoping it would? Is it loose enough? Fast enough? Do they feel good about their board? Are they happy with their decision?

In short---we build boards that people are excited about---that they hold onto---that they tell their friends about---that they are stoked to go surfing with. Are you ready?