Welcome to Stab in the Dark 2017 starring Jordy Smith. We are on a quest to find the best high-performance surfboard in the world. Surfing, as in art, women, literature and style is subjective. We are well aware that this is a flawed concept. However, currently, it’s the best we got. Okay, so here’s how we tango. We commission 12 of the world’s best shapers and ask them to shape us their best high-performance surfboard based on a height and weight. The shapers deliver the boards blank: No logos, no branding, thrusters only - clean and white as God’s shoeshine. The shapers don’t know the surfer, the surfer doesn’t know the shapers. It’s a blind taste test, if you will. This is our third installment of Stab in the Dark. Year one (2015) featured Julian Wilson in West Oz. He gave Darren Handley of DHD the prize of “Best Shaper in the World”. Year two (2016) starred Dane Reynolds in South Africa. There he crowned John Pyzel (the shaper of John John Florence) the best on earth. In 2017, we took World Number One (at the time), Jordy Smith to the Mentawai Islands. 12 shapers go in and one comes out the champion of the world.
