If you watched the finals of the Vans Triple Crown 2008 Pipeline Masters contest, then you probably saw Kelly Slater’s stubby looking Al Merrick surfboard. I had heard the commentators talking about Kelly’s board, dubbed ‘Deep Six’, and how unique it was compared to most Pipe boards. His board reminded me of the boards I normally ride; flatter rocker, stubby nose, and slightly thicker and wider. Another odd part about his board was its round pin tail.

Surfline.com was lucky enough to get their hands on the board and talk to Kelly about his new hybrid board. According to Kelly, he actually shaped his 5’11 x 18.5 x 2.5 Pipeline Masters winning board and did it while experimenting on the computer. He laid his Channel Islands 7’0 Step-up and 6’0 K-board on top of each other and blended the two together. The wide nose was the result of pushing the wide point forward which he claims helps him with late drops and helped him maneuver in the constantly shifting barrel at Pipe. He also added a bit more thickness and width to compensate for shorter length which helped him get into waves earlier and maneuver the board as only a smaller board could.

Another interesting aspect about this board was he pushed the fin placement up on his 5’11 like he would on a longer board while utilizing fins with more flex. According to Kelly, larger waves accommodate fins with more flex because the turns are longer whereas small waves require stiffer fins because you don’t have as much time to turn.

The amazing thing to me is that Kelly shaped this board by himself and actually one the biggest contest of the year on his prototype. He was actually planning to ride a 5’3 he shaped but broke that board a week before surfing in Micronesia! I would have loved to see him surf 8 foot Pipe on a 5’3! It’s a coincidence that I read somewhere that Al Merrick had been trying to push Kelly to start shaping boards…probably because Kelly has given Al a ton of feedback over the years and is very keen on details. Slater says he plans to keep working on his new boards all winter…who knows, we may see that board in surf shops next year. Congrats to Kelly, the greatest surfer of all time and future master surfboard shaper?