Darren enjoying the view at Uluwatu. Photo: Matt George
Darren Handley, the man behind DHD surfboards talks designing for world champs, why Stephanie Gilmore is the greatest surfer in the world, and why it feels so good to hold the Australian men’s 100 meter track record year after year.
The greatest surfboard ever made? The first thing that comes to my mind is the Simon Anderson board that he made for Kelly Slater that Kelly won so many events on. Simon could never repeat that board, after like thirty attempts, no matter how hard he tried. And why that is relevant is because Simon invented the thruster and changed the performance forever and so did Kelly on that board. Kelly won so many events on that board and I was with Simon a lot during those times and I would see Simon trying to duplicate it, but there was something about that one board, that single board, that you just could not copy. Like something was stopping it from being copied. It was that handmade and I reckon it had a magic in it that made it a once in a lifetime board.
Greatest surfer in the world? Sometimes it’s hard for me to go past Stephanie Gilmore. I have known her from such a young age and her heart is so pure and you know what she’s done for women’s surfing is unbelievable, so I’m going to have to go with Stephanie Gilmore. Her style and grace you know? She’s just beautiful to watch, she surfs with such ease and flow. Just knowing what she’s like as a person really reflects on what she does on a wave. That connection with the wave, that “Curren Connection,” you know? And that final where she got her eighth world title. One of the great achievements in competitive surfing, winning all those heats in one day, climbing up to the top. How you surf is how you are, I reckon. You know a guy like Mick Fanning worked really hard to get to his level, where Steph was just born to be the surfer she is. Born to be that specific surfer.
Greatest shaper in the world? Who I looked up to the most, who I strived to be, even though I only met him once and I did not know what to say and I was like a little kid in the candy store, was Al Merrick. His aura, his eye, his lines, his boards were just so much better than what I ever saw in the early days of my shaping. Just perfectly balanced boards. I just thought he was an incredible sculptor. Every chance I got I would look at one of his boards. And I just thought wow, look at the way he does that. Al Merrick for sure. And I did tell his son Britt Merrick this a couple years back and how I was nervous to even talk to his dad. Ha! So Britt invited me to dinner with his dad to get over it. And oh my god, back then I was just too scared. I wouldn’t know what to say. So I never did get that dinner, but if I ever get the chance again, I’ll take it. Especially now that I have a few more designs and few world champions under my belt. I will always think he was way above everyone in that stage of the performance era, that refinement of the thruster especially for Curren and Kelly and Lisa. What a team. You know, the first question I would ask Al Merrick at dinner would be simple. What’s the secret?
Greatest thing about shaping machines? There is one in Tweed Heads here on the Gold Coast right now that you aren’t even allowed to visit and see. It’s the only one of its kind in the world. It shapes the board from your computer design one hundred percent, if you can believe that. And I have had boards cut from it. And they look perfect. The thing is apparently crazy expensive, like half a million bucks or something. And we don’t even know what its name is. Real top secret shit. I also think the greatest thing about the machines is not just the machine but the operator. They have to pay close attention, almost love to pay attention to the precise thing the shaper is trying to get across. That operator can be a shaper’s best friend.
Greatest waves to ride for your board designs? I would say both the Gold Coast and Kelly Slater’s wave pools. The Gold Coast is obvious, but you know Kelly decided to design his original wave pool off Kirra point here on the Gold Coast. And when I went up to Abu Dhabi to first surf his new wave pool, I was like, oh my god, this is a lot like surfing Kirra. And Kirra was the spot where I first started basing a lot of my designs on. Kirra, Snapper Rocks and Duranbah. You know, waves that have a lot of curve in the face. And that’s why I believe my boards go well on the CT because most of the locations have those serious curves on the face. And it’s only in the last three to five years that I have started designing boards that are going better in small, more common conditions. More weaker, slower, less dramatic waves. The points here are so crowded that we chase the beachbreaks now and that influences my common wave boards. So yeah, Kirra and Kelly’s.
Mr. Handley, testing his creations. Photo: DHD archives
Greatest wave in the world? Well, it’s not here anymore, because I would have to say Kirra in the ’70s. Where we had so many cyclones and the sand was just groomed by nature in a natural flow. I mean we have the Superbank now but Kirra has never been as good as it was back in the ’70s. I don’t know whether it’s youthful thinking but it seems we just got more swells back then. Perfect swells. I love any perfect, long, sand-bottomed hollow point, who doesn’t? And we had it that’s for sure. I mean Lennox is special and Angourie is the Honolua Bay of Australia but in my book, Kirra, when it’s on, is the greatest surfing wave in the world. In a lot of people’s books actually.
Greatest aspect of your life, personally? The answer that jumps to mind for me has just been helping all these kids realize their dreams. Watching them become world champions on my boards. That is so rewarding. Not the boards so much as what they do for the surfers themselves. That is one thing I will take to my grave. That feeling like I achieved something very human. Human to human contact with a surfboard in between. To me growing up on the Gold Coast, first it was the waves, how good they were and how uncrowded they seemed when I was young, and now it’s just about helping these young people achieve and realize potential and becoming the best they could ever be. Surfing and waves and the boards we ride them on are an ultimate blessing and I reckon that’s the other greatest thing on earth.
Why Australia is the greatest surfing country? It’s our blue water and the people that are in it. And our she’ll be right, mate philosophy. You know g’day mate, you know that whole matedom world. As intense as the surfing is here, it can be a very relaxed atmosphere when it comes to anything out of the water. It’s just such a beautiful place to grow up and such a beautiful place to live. That’s what can make an Aussie, inside his heart whether he expresses it or not, both humble and proud at the same time and that is a magic place to be in your mind.
Surfing’s greatest thinking mind? This comes in so many different forms in the people of our sport. Whether it’s design or the future or the industry or performance or shepherding the sport or just the way to be a real surfer. It comes in all forms. Like say, Mick Fanning would be the best mind I know when it comes to understanding the feedback a shaper needs to create a good board. But that’s just one aspect of a thinking mind. So I say you need divisions with this question. It’s a really good question and an important one and I think the answer can be given when all of us start making a list of these people and valuing these individual’s thoughts. In the early days it would have been someone like Claw (Rip Curl Founder Doug Warbrick). But yeah, I would love to see a list of other people’s answer to this question. That would be a big help to us all, I reckon.
Tommy Peterson would be on my list. Michael Peterson’s brother. Tommy’s amazing. I surfed with him the other day. For someone that has put so much, uh, substances into his bloody body, he still has an incredible mind. He will remember every swell, every important date of surfing. Plus he seems to know everyone in the world. He’s just an amazing human. Remember he shaped that famous fireball fish that Curren somehow got his hands on. And that felt like something that just had to happen. And you know everybody around here is still ordering boards off Tommy. Because he’s still shaping two boards a week and charging good money and he’s doing good things. He’d be on my list for sure. (Editor’s Note: Tommy Peterson passed the day after this conversation took place. RIP Tommy Peterson, 1954-2025.)
Greatest maneuver being done on waves today? It’s obviously what John John Florence and Ethan Ewing can do on a rail. How they hold it. I can really relate to that. I think the whole world does. Either that or they envy it.
Greatest tube rider ever? There have been some masters for sure, but around here it would be growing up around a guy named Sean “Reg” Riley. He is still, to this day, a master, and I have seen better barrels from him than anyone else. And that’s a heavy thing to say when you consider who surfs around here and who is on my team. With Sean Riley, it’s just a part of him. A blind man could see that.
Greatest surfing performance you’ve seen live? The first thing that comes to mind is sitting on the big groin at Kirra as a kid and watching Michael Peterson’s magic. I mean, I know I am repeating myself, but you know that there are just some places in the world where one surfer has defined the place forever and that would be Michael and Kirra. Like Gerry Lopez and Pipeline. So it’s easy to think of it that way. Especially when their performances were really, really the real deal. Here I was, a 13-year-old watching Michael at eight-foot Kirra taking off miles deeper than anyone else would even think of and just doing that whistle he did to get everyone out of the way and everyone would just pull back like royalty was on the way. It was just legendary single-fin surfing and a legendary surfer surfing in a legendary way. And that will leave a huge impression on a 13-year-old and it did the same for the sport of surfing.
Rastovich in fine form. Photo: Jeff Divine
Greatest freesurfer in the world? Dave Rastovich. Easy. Even though he was off my radar for a long time. Now he’s back on it. Just to study his natural flow and joy of it all. What he recently did in that Acid Test thing was so right. The way he articulates his surfing, the way he is water aware and moving his feet and adapting to different boards and different grooves. And the lines he creates on the face of a wave are so sincere. I can’t get enough of him lately, I just want to watch him surf more and more now. I think his surfing and his thoughts are that of a great teacher. A teacher by example and action. Amazing how open his mind is to sensations on the face of a wave and how to find the right ones. And yet as good as he is, his surfing always reflects a sense of play. That play that drew us all to the waves in the first place. Yeah. I reckon Rasta is still a very relevant, important surfer and we are lucky to have him around doing what he does. You know, I should actually reach out to him and see if he would want to make a board with me. Just help me develop the next thing because I have so many things in my head and I think he could take them out of my head and put them into practice and then let the world enjoy them. I mean that’s how his surfing make me feel anyway. Bringing the joy of it all.
Greatest surfing contest? It’s between Pipeline and Bells Beach. And because Bells has been around longer and because of its character and the characters around it and their outrageous behavior, because of all that I would give the nod to Bells Beach. Plus I have won 16 Bells titles with my surfers there. So there’s that.
Greatest thing about your Australian national track records? Ha! Yeah. Ok. Well, it’s just about staying involved with my body physically and doing it at a high level. I won the Australian nationals over 60’s age division in the 100 meter sprint last year. Looking forward to winning it this year again. I train for it all year. It’s no joke. So I’ve won the thing in over 50’s age bracket and over 45’s age bracket as well. But I also find being a champion in something is very valuable in my shaping. Because in my way I can relate to the champions I make boards for. And they have said that they can relate to me because of it. It’s not an ego trip. It’s a mutual respect trip. It works.
Greatest thing about accepting your track awards in the nude? Ha! Aww, yeah, well, that’s become a tradition. And I cover up the important bits. It raises a few eyebrows but no one seems to mind too much. It’s all in fun and I reckon it’s just a very Aussie thing to do. Keeps you from being too full of yourself.
Greatest thing about the future of surfing? I think it’s gonna have to be wave pools. And the main reason being that surfing is growing at such a rapid rate that there will be even less waves than are available now. There’s already not enough to go around, which is an interesting topic that needs to be addressed sooner than later. And I would love to have Kelly’s pool in my back yard, I might become the best shaper in the world, ha! Like having an F1 track out the back. But seriously, I say wave pools in the hope that they may relieve some of the pressures of our crowded surf all over the world. And surfing could use that right about now, that pressure relief, I reckon.
