The Dumpling" is the board in my range which excels the best in tiny to head high waves. Every surfer hates it when its that small you can barely catch a wave and its only the longboarders who are getting any waves, well 'The Dumpling' is designed to work and work well in these conditions ( but also surfs well in waves bigger up to 4ft ) so its a very handy board to have in any quiver, especially here in Australia where we can get alot of small waves at times. It has a very full planshape for maximum planing area and floatation which help when surfing weaker and smaller waves. The Dumpling has quite a flattish rocker for drive and easy paddling. It has a flat entry into a single which blends into a double and then a bit of vee out the tail, sounds like alot going on and you are right, but it works extremely well and ensure this board is not only fast but also very lively and responsive. They also have my MOREalease rails in the tail which keeps em lively and free to turn well even in the little surf. I was doing mostly quads but the new and best set-up is the 5 finner, its got the quad but with the tail fin as well. In the tail, I am using the Nubbin fin and this is by far the most superior fin set-up I have tried in this board and thats why it is now the only one I will do these boards . The semi-keel quads with the Nubbin is the best so why would I offer anything else ?...
Mark

A surefire cure for the summertime blues

This is a custom Dumpling bound for Sydneys' Northern Beaches. It's 6'0" x 21 1/4" x 2 3/4" and its got all the bells and whistles. Customer wanted it to look super sweet so we went for the polish finish to show off the pigment and tinted resin work. The customer sent me a pic of a board he liked and I did my very best to make his newy look as good ( if not a bit better ). It was glassed strong as the customer wanted it to last forever, 6 oz bottom, and 1 x 4 and 1 x 6 oz deck. It came out looking and feeling epic, be a hard one to put wax on I think...

Here is a recent email I got from the owner of this custom Dumpling...

" Hey mate,
Well I had a chance to surf it a few times over the last 24 hours down at %&$#!ce. First surf was in knee to waist high onshore closeouts - less than ideal for testing a board, but i was frothing to try it! paddled brilliantly and even though they were close outs I was able to do little foam climbs and feel the board out on little bottom turns. I had a lot of fun in surf I would never even bother with - so thank you very much for opening up that world for me.

This morning we woke to offshore beautiful 3ft peaks, the water is so so clear and aqua blue down here it feels tropical - until you hit the water. If you have never been to this part of aus I highly recommend it as it is sensationally beautiful in scenery and littered with great surf and uncrowded.
Now to the board - holy shit you have built me an absolute screamer, the waves were a bit hard to paddle onto for the other short boarders out there, but I was on before they were breaking, leaving me ample to time to decide just what I wanted to do with these gorgeous aqua walls. The board rips, turns on a dime, I actually really like the fin set up as I could slide the tail on the top turn, or I if i got it more on the rail I could lock into a turn. There is a hell of a lot going on with the tail in this board and it just works. I am so stoked, you can slow down and rip on steep sections, speed up and almost nose ride it through a fat gutter, then get back on the tail to float or belt the shorey.

I think I caught more waves combined than the other 5 guys in the water, (i wasnt being a snake or dropping in, they just couldn't get on to them, it makes you feel greedy and guilty, but hey if they aren't going to make it....) One of them asked me how I got so fit to paddle onto waves so easily haha... also linking them to shore, making sections, I am just tripping on this board. I am looking forward to seeing how it goes in some barrels, and I have my eye on some shapers fins I would like to try in it for steeper/bigger waves.
I'll send you a link and let me know what you think.
F_ _k yeah mate, I am stoked!"

The Dumpling is changing and evolving, this one is 5'5" x 20 1/2" x 2 3/4", quad and is a wave catching machine. This thing is rediculously fun and easy to ride, its fast as hell and just what ya need to avoid the Spring and Summertime blues...
My designs are never set in stone and I am always looking to improve them or customise them to suit the surfer and or the waves they'll be surfed in. I am excited about where this one is heading and am sure there'll be a few varaitions in the water soon,
MP