Watch out for the Hoodrat. This is a board that we have been working on with Mitch Crews, it’s basically a continuation from the Hoodlum model that is available now. There are some noticeable differences in this board from the Hooldum. Even though it has a similar entry rocker, it has more of a relaxed tail rocker meaning the board will feel more settled in the water. We’ve also played around with the fin positioning on the Hoodrat – they’re more bunched, giving it a tighter turning arc. The Hoodrat is scheduled for release later this year. Mitch Crews rode his 6’0 Hoodrat to the semi-finals of the Vans Pier Classic at Huntington Beach, CA over the weekend. He is riding it in the above clip with Evan Geisleman, and it looks like it works!

Make sure you go and see the boys at Surf Culture, Bondi Junction for a Stacey Surfboard. Currently, they’re stocking the Bullfrog, Shovel Head, HB Pro, The Twist, Taxi and for the Autumn/Winter season, the Werewolf Step-Up. The Surf Culture staff will make sure you’ve got the right board under your feet for all conditions, so make sure you stop by sometime.

These two boards are for Kolohe to destroy Bells on. They are both my Taxi outline, which will work really well at places like Bells Beach. I’ve kept the rails a litre harder edged on these two so they will hold longer through turns, it will also allow for more rail in the water through his turns. Kolohe has a 6’0 rounded square and 6’1 round tail in his quiver a slight step-up from his usual 5’11′s. Bells is type of wave where a little length goes a long way due to the amount of speed you can generate on the long winding walls. The guys at The Glass Lab have done an insane job with these boards, I’m always stoked on how my finished boards turn out.

14 year old Sunny Coaster, Kai Hing rides Stacey Surfboards full time now. We’re stoked to have him on our boards and work with him into the future. This is the start of something big… Check out these pics of Kai flaring on his Werewolf model.

Guy’s like Cj push my shaping forward – I’m constantly evolving when working on perfecting my boards. Both Cj and Damian Hobgood know exactly what they like when it comes to surfboards. With surfers like Cj riding my boards, it means that the final product for you guys is even better and finely tuned. Whilst the Quiksilver Pro was on, Cj took a little trip up to everyones favourite playground, South Straddie on his new HB Pro’s. This one he is riding here is a 5’8. He’ll be getting some 5’9′s for the Bells comp – look out for these bad-boys in the water!

During the Quiksilver Pro, the Gold Coast has been a madhouse, people everywhere, parties every night of the week and girls in Bikinis, not to mention the best surfers in the world battling it out to get some serious points for the 2012 title race. It’s always cool catching up with people you don’t get to see a lot, and it was awesome seeing Matt Biolos. He’s always a good guy to hang out and talk with, wether it be about surfboard design, drinking beer a early Hardcore Punk or BMX in the 80′s. Matt stopped by to check out what was going on here at Stacey Surfboards and The Glass Lab and to just hang out.

Last night I went down to Byron Bay to catch Baltimore’s finest, Trapped Under Ice. The show was at the Byron Bay Youth Centre – what a place! I love shows here, they’re always so wild and full of energy…not to mention seeing a bunch of 10 year olds stage diving during the set! TUI belted out a solid 45 minute set in the sweltering conditions. They covered a good range of material from their releases, Stay Cold, Secrets of the World and their latest offering, Big Kiss Goodnight, so the pit was never still. I walked out a sweaty human after hitting the pit – never to old to get down! If you’ve got the chance, don’t miss TUI on their Australian dates – if you do, you’ll be damned.

This morning Kolohe Andino stopped by with his dad, Dino and his coach Mike Parsons to drop some boards off for repair and also to discuss his quiver for Bells. Kolohe picked up some HB Pro’s along with a few Werewolf’s to try out earlier this week – all we need is waves! His boards are all super light for the conditions up here, so Lee has been busy working on some ideas for a few Bells boards, a little extra weight helps down there. Keep your eyes peeled…

Last week we flew down to Sydney to check out the Australian Open of Surfing put on by both Hurley and Billabong. It was a great display of what professional surfing events can be like in the future. I’m sure a lot of people were taking notes! Even though the waves didn’t quite live up to expectations, especially after Manly experienced a nice Easterly pulse the week before the event. The banks still turned on a few little runners for the duration of the competition and the level of surfing was incredible. Stacey team rider Mitch Crews got through to the round of 16 and in an earlier heat got a combined total of 18 out of 20…Crewsy was ripping! Mitch was riding the new HB Pro and a board we’ve got in development – the Bounty Hunter (which will be hitting shelves later this year). On top of the amazing surfing going down, we also spent a ton of time at the Beach Bowl. The Beach Bowl is a massive skateboard bowl that travels the world for events. It can be assembled and dis-assembled by two people! Pretty incredible for the size of the damn thing. The lines we astronomical, with people stretching down to the waters edge most days…lucky we had VIP passes and could waltz on by, straight to the action. The perks! Check out the photos…I didn’t get much of the surfing as these were snapped using an iPhone, so forgive me for the lack of surfing and or quality. If you’ve got Instagram and want to see what goes on behind the scenes at Stacey Surfboards follow @liam_81.

Finals Day...

Death or Glory

8yr old Keegan shredding the bowl.

Mr Bob Burnquist ready to roll.

Grind King.

Herradura...how I love thee!

It’s been a crazy few weeks here, at Stacey Surfboards. This is the busiest time of year for a lot of people, but this year is nuts! We’ve been trying our best to get everyones boards out in time – no rest, no sleep. With the Australian Open on and the Quiksilver Pro just around the corner, this week is going to give you a good idea of who will be ripping come the first WCT event of the year. The Burleigh Breaker Pro held last week was also a good indication – there was some great surfing going down! We’ll be in Sydney later this week to soak up the atmosphere and see how all the boards are going. Keep your eyes peeled for the Stacey ‘Gundam’ logo! If you’re in the area, make sure you go and see Tim and the boys at Aloha if you’re after a new board, or just want to soak up some of the atmosphere of the event. Aloha Manly is the ‘un-official’ party HQ of the whole event. I’m sure you’ll see some famous faces around this week. Let’s hope the waves and weather turn on and make this an awesome event.