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“That Owl board was when things really changed for him,” offers Duttsy.

He’s been making boards for southwest waves since 1970, so he knows what works down here. “He’s really eccentric, but we’d get in the bay, and he’d be really dialled in and focused. Margaret River elder Tony Hardy became the next big influence in Matt’s shaping, and the two would spend long hours in the bay.

“It went well, then I snapped it! I straight away made a template and got to work.”

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The board itself was a work of art, harking back to the glory guns of the ‘70s, a postcard from the Free Ride era. ‘See ya Thursday.’ I get it, when you’re in the bay, you just focus on what you’re doing, you don’t need eyes on ya… or questions.” “I hit him up on the beach at Sunset and he asked us to come over while he cut the blank.” What ancient wisdom was downloaded from behind those famous round glasses? “He didn’t say too much, asked a few questions, then shooed us out. Photo: PearsallĪ trip to Hawaii that year saw him hitting up Owl Chapman and getting a 9’0” shaped. “It’s all about getting all the fins in at the right angles.” Indeed. He rode the same 7’0” exclusively for a whole three-month Indo campaign. His boards in this period were personal takes on Dave Parmenter’s Widowmaker set-up, a two-plus-one designed for juice and popularised by Tom Carroll in the early ’90s. In the early part of the last decade, Matt was chasing long homestay stints at Katiet, waiting for the big roll-ins at HTs and drawing long highlines at G-Land between work and chasing waves at home. I had the basic hand skills, the curiosity, and some knowledge, but just applying them right was what those guys showed me.” By this stage, he’d shaped about 60 boards. “All the setting of fins, fin boxes, laminating, those guys showed me all of that. Margaret River repair guru John “Duttsy” Dutton and legend shaper Nathan Rose took him under their wings. He was soon down south, and closer to the action. Next one I had a template for, and that went much better. He spent two years in Perth, where he shaped his first board in the garage of his apartment. By then he was surfing both boogs and surfboards, and had picked up a few tips from Cronulla shaper Stuart Paterson. His smooth lines, ballsy set-ups and claw-gripped foam-ball wrangling earned him a win and runner-up in the first two Shark Island Challenges, the events that would set the template for the slab-focused bodyboard world tour.īy the early 2000s Matt was living over west, drawn by the waves and the freedom of a job in stage rigging, jetting around setting up gigs and then having plenty of time to surf in between. Perce was a standout in all but media attention. Australia’s most feared wave at the time became their playground. Backing down on nothing and hitting the dry end section as often and as hard as they could. Perce grew up in Cronulla as one of the Skid Kids, a crew of bodyboarders who decided to redefine the way slabs were approached, starting with their local, Shark Island. “When you’re in the (shaping) bay, you just focus on what you’re doing.” And also in the water. He’s straight out of a Tim Winton novel, all saltbush and foam dust, occasional swigs from a Coopers Green held at hip. He understands people well and avoids bullshit. He speaks of various outer reefs, trailing off with a “you know what I mean…”, implying that yes, perhaps I do know what he means. He speaks slowly and deliberately, often saying more by what is alluded to than actually said. He holds one eye cocked, appraising conversation from beneath a pair of grizzly eyebrows. Perce is humble and laconic, a salty bloke in a frayed wool beanie. The heavy glass tells you about the conditions they are designed for. Deep nose vees spiral down through canted side keels, either side of a single fin that wants to hold a turn. Beak-nosed and thick-stringered, they have nothing but serious intent about them.

On the East Coast this might identify Perce as a vibe-chaser, the boards set for cute pointbreaks. His groveller is a 7’0”, there’s an 8’0” for everyday stuff, and a 9’0” for when it’s big.

Matt Percy always has three boards – and only three boards – in his car.

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#Quiver meaning surf series#

Surfline x Surfing World is a regular series which features curated storytelling from the world’s longest-running surf title – Surfing World Magazine.