JOHNNY (KEYO) GILL

It all began in 1957 in the back streets of Brookvale on the Northern Beaches of Sydney, Australia, by our legendary Denny Keogh. Through his foresight and openness to innovate; Keyo became one of the pioneering brands in Australian surf history and a major player in the shortboard revolution.Keyo embraced technology for production, pushed design through ingenuity and quality through craftsmanship.  This is still the way things are done today. The brand is still family run and owned. Headed up by Denny’s daughter, Vanessa and her husband/shaper Johnny Gill. Now all production is done under one roof as a new factory has found its roots in Kincumber, Central Coast NSW.Together they collaborate to create simple and fun-ctional surfboards and essentials for all your adventures.Keyo is all about the common-thread created by the surf, the craft and the people that help build our ever-growing community.

 All Keyo boards are shaped by one man, Johnny (Keyo) Gill. 

Acutely aware of Keyo's place in Australia's surfing culture, Johnny's respect for tradition, foam and resin, is second to none. 20 years of board making has resulted in an ability to get the most out of each board, for each rider. Read more about the shapes that have been refined over the years.With all the options, it can be hard to know where to start; extra stringers, high density foam inserts, glue lines, reverse laps, resin tints and custom deck patches - you name it we've done it. To give you somewhere to start, we've put some of our favourites online with all the details.

CHRIS CHRISTENSON

Growing up in Long Beach, Chris had a Hawaiian neighbour who would build surfboards in his garage. It was just a small operation – a labour of love squeezed into spare time – but Chris would be transfixed.

He’d sit there on his little bike, propped up by training wheels, and just watch the boards being finessed into existence.

By the time he was in high-school, Chris asked to borrow his neighbour’s tools so he could try building his own.

“That’s how I got the bug,” he says. “I used to do [surf ] contests back then, so I competed on my own boards. Then my friends started using them. And then their friends. By my sophomore year in university, I had a full-on business going.”

NEAL PURCHASE JNR

Neal Purchase Jnr. is widely regarded as one of the best tube riders in Queensland, a place where earning such a title means you have been seriously, seriously barrelled.

Neal captured the world’s attention with his smooth backhand style on Andrew Kidman’s movie Glass Love. Son of one of the most influential shapers of Australia, Neal was born with a hand full of talents. He not only shapes and surfs amazingly well, but he is also the gifted guitar player of the band Haldane’s Daughters and co-founder of Rhythm. 

His boards stand above everything else for their outstanding performance in the water. Neal's modern quad fin model the Quartet has accomplished a world-wide cult following, and his single and 2+1 designs are amazingly popular. 

Neal is always refining his designs, trying to find that balance between performance and ride-ability, as well as paddling and ease of being in the ocean.

"That’s why I started shaping, I wanted something that was user-friendly but that still offered a level of performance to push the board really hard, have speed, manoeuvrability and drive.. all those good things".

All his boards share the same basic concept… performance is nothing without glide.

BOB MCTAVISH

Bob McTavish has been a household name for two generations of surfers. Over more than half a century in the industry, Bob has shaped thousands of custom boards for happy customers around the world in a career which began in the early 1960s, learning his trade from the ground up, working for pioneer board brands such as Scott Dillon, Dale, Hayden, Bob Davie, Morey-Pope, Keyo, and Cord. The McTavish brand dates back to 1962 when Bob McTavish Tailormade Surfboards emerged from the back room of Scott Dillon’s factory, but really came into its own when Bob made the move to the North Coast in 1969.

Always an innovator in surfboard design and technology, Bob has pioneered cutting edge changes to the basic concept of a surfboard since 1965, when he began to refine rail and bottom design to maximize performance. This was the very beginning of the movement that would become known as the shortboard revolution, in which Bob’s role was pivotal, but in fact is only a part of his ongoing contribution to the evolution of the surfboard.

Now in his eighth decade, Bob continues to push the limits of surfboard design across the full range of wave-riding vehicles, still testing his prototypes in the surf almost every day.

ASH WARD

Growing up in Forster, N.S.W. he’s been shaping for 9 years under some of the Gold Coast’s most experienced shapers.

"My dad started taking me to the beach when I was super young and seeing how stoked he was on surfing made me want to explore it, after a little while the addiction kicked in and I was hooked!

I suppose after surfing so many different boards by so many great craftsmen, you start to think of how a board would turn out if you let your imagination run wild. For 5 or six years I was just experimentally shaping as a hobby then when I had a few consistent models I started to make them for friends.

Shaping boards for some of the best including a couple of twins for Slater and a sweet midlength for big Wade. Ash continues to hone his craft and is quickly becoming a highly sought after shaper, and with that one of the nicest humans you'll ever meet.

GATO HEROI

Robin Kegel as a shaper is most commonly known now by the name of Gato Herói. A funky name from a punky guy. He shapes radical re-do's of past eras and rides them with 240 volts of style. The name Gato Herói (Cat Hero) emphasizes Robin’s unique character with a vision and innovative style that’s always ahead of everyone else. 
Based in Byron Bay, Wild Things is the Australian manufacturer and distributor for Gato Heroi. The different models are broken out into families: Classic Edition, Universal Edition, Progressive Pig, Acid Series and CREME

SEAN NETTLETON

Nettleton Surfboards is a low volume high quality premium surfboard manufacturer based in the Northern Rivers, Australia. The company owner Sean Nettleton is originally from the surf capital of Australia, Torquay and has been hands-on with traditionally built surfboards for over 20 years.

Sean has been riding alternative surf craft since the mid to late 00’s with his main love being single fin  longboards, sparked by watching Thomas Campbell’s movie sprout. Over that 20 years he has experimented and ridden a wide variety of designs. So it’s no surprise that his boards work so well, with so many years spent testing and tweaking his designs. When you buy a Nettleton Surfboard not only do they perform great but the quality is second to none.

GUNTHER ROHN

Gunther Rohn knows a thing or two about surfboards. His label, Gunther Rohn Surfboards has been pumping out boards for the best of the best surfers in the world for years on end and has lead to many WCT and WQS victories dating all the way back to the late 80's, starting with Nicky Woods first ASP victory at the Rip Curl Bells Beach Easter Classic in 1987 at only 16 years old.

The list of surfers who have ridden Gunther Rohn Surfboards is unprecedented...Sunny Garcia, Jake Patterson, Trent Munro, Darren O’Rafferty, Pancho Sullivan, Anthony Walsh and Dion Atkinson just to name a few. As well as surfers like Slater, AI, Curren, Pottz and Dusty Payne who have had some fun on Gunther's boards. Gunter Rohn loves to foster the junior surfers in their quest for professional careers, helping them progress from Junior titles to WQS and on to the elite WCT.

Travelling the world to places like Indo, Brazil, Hawaii, the US, Japan and Europe, and working with top level surfers has allowed Gunther to refine his designs and models, bringing some of the most high-performance craft available.

Boards like the Compressor, Icycool, V2 Rocket Fish and the G2 Pro have designed and refined to a tee to become popular models to the masses around the world.

40 plus years in the business and with his hands personally a part of every board coming out of the factory, ensures that Gunther Rohn Surfboards will bring you the best board suited exactly to your needs and abilities.

RYAN LOVELACE - LOVEMACHINE SURFBOARDS