Unfortunately, Tonik surfboards are like money and don’t grow on trees, instead they are shaped by our go-to foam-man Simon Forward.
Fordy spent his early years roaming the Mornington Peninsula, surfing ridiculous finger banks and winning a truckload of junior state crowns.
As an Open surfer he racked up several Victorian titles, a third place at the Billabong Pro Junior and extensively travelled the globe in search of perfect waves before turning his hand to shaping.
Mornington Peninsula legend Paul Trigger and underground ghost-shaper Kenny Reimers paved the way for Fordy and taught him the ins and outs of mowing foam.
With a platform set, Fordy decided to leave the land of triangle banks to relocate to the other side of the bay to Ocean Grove where he has been shaping 4D surfboards for the past decade.
The beauty of getting your next shooter through Tonik is Fordy’s high-tech computer controlled shaping machines.
I recently caught up with the planer-wielding natural footer to get an insight into his renowned machines and also got the inside scoop on the next big thing to come out of the 4D factory.
“The computer machines are more effective than hand shaping because of the accuracy and repetition achievable. You can replicate a board a lot easier from a computer than hand and get it spot on.” Fordy says.
It turns out state-of-the-art machines aren’t the only big happenings at the 4D factory, a brand new range of epoxy boards are just about to be released!
“We are starting to use polystyrene foam with plastic PVC stringers instead of timber which is lighter and doesn’t break as easily. By the time you put the epoxy resin on it’s usually a harder board and a bit more lively under foot.”
Drop into our Barwon Heads Tonik store to give the new epoxy design a test run on the shop’s 6’1 demo board.
Also, duck into Fordy’s Ocean Grove factory to talk boards and you may even be lucky enough to see the mysterious Kenny Reimers floating around the joint!
Fact File
Nickname: Fordy
Years shaping: 12
Mentors: Paul Trigger and Kenny Reimers
Favourite wave in the area: Bancoora Point
Shaping Bay: 9-11 Sinclair St, Ocean Grove
Words and photos by James Jacobi