Nev Hyman Is Going Back To The Future

Nev Hyman, one of the most influential shapers of his generation, is back in the bay. Under his iconic label Nev Future Shapes, the colorful and innovative Hyman is designing surfboards for a new generation of surfers from all over the world

His social media account is well worth a follow. Nev’s to-camera videos take in aspects of his incredible legacy, as well his current push to re-install what he believes is crucial to any good surfboard; the surfer-shaper relationship.

The spritely 66-year-old knows a thing or two about that. He arrived on the Gold Coast from West Australia in the late 70s and set up his label. While the original name "Neville Hyman Surfboards" wasn't exactly cutting edge, his boards soon were. He started with a team of local rippers before adding Aussie pros Dog Marsh, Merrick Davis and Nick Wood. Eventually, word got out and international stars as varied as Christian Fletcher and Dane Keohola hopped on board.

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By the late 1990s, he was one of the most prolific and in-demand shapers on the planet. World Champions Wendy Botha, Derek Ho, Martin Potter, Sophia Mulanovich and Occy rode his high-performance shortboards. However, it was his long-term associations with Danny Wills, Munga Barry and Sunny Garcia that were the most enduring.

In his posts online, Nev will often talk through the old templates, photographs, actual boards and other paraphernalia from a time when his neon logo was the most recognized in the world. He also describes a line of legendary replica boards he’s pumping out based on the original boards ridden by his team riders in the 80s. The Dane Kealoha twin fins, with the same signature neon sprays, are the most eye-catching.

Yet, this isn’t an exercise in nostalgia; his boards aren’t called Future Shapes for nothing. After all, Hyman was crucial to the development of the shaping machine in the '80s and early '90s and overcame considerable criticism that his automated cutting machine would suck the soul out of surfing, rather than be a crucial tool for progression

Later he would develop a new "sandwich" construction involving EPS foam, balsa, and epoxy resin, technology that would become the platform for Firewire surfboards. He worked with Taj Burrow, Michel Bourez, Stu Kennedy, Sally Fitzgibbons and Kelly Slater until Kelly bought 70 percent of the business in 2015. He's at the forefront of creating high-performance surfboards with minimal environmental impact.

Now Nev is bringing his irresistible energy back to shaping surfboards. His showmanship and his keen eye for promotion haven’t been dulled. He was, after all, the man who built the largest surfboard ever… twice, in 1994 and again in 2005. Now though, after 50 years in the industry, his pitch is pretty simple. He’s back in the shaping bay he calls the pit, or his zen room, and is asking for customers to walk in, or arrange a Zoom call, to talk through what they need. When the design is done, he’ll get it shaped and glassed in a location near the customer.

"I'm looking forward to connecting with the crew just like you, sharing our love for the ocean and its waves, and working together to put the right board under your feet.” Few have done that better, or for longer, than Nev.

Related: Shapers Who Shred: 7 Excellent Surfers Turned Boardbuilders