Pukas / Twig
Pukas Surfboards and Grant “Twiggy” Baker have joined forces since 2014. This partnership pursues “to get european big wave surfers and the guy who wants to test his own personal limits in big waves the best possible equipment”, says Twiggy.
Grant “Twig” Baker (Durban, South Africa, 1973) has been in the front row of big wave surfing since his breakthrough win in Mavericks in 2006. Ever since, the SouthAfrican has been a standout at every big wave scenario and has won several WSL Big Wave Tour events; the Punta Galea Challenge in the Basque Country (Spain) and the Mavericks Invitational in NorCal (USA) are a few of his trophies. Regarding the join venture with Pukas, Grant Twig Baker says “Pukas is a great family orientated business. It’s impressive how much care and love they put into their product; it just made me even more stoked.”
Paddle-in the tallest Belharra, biggest Punta Galea, most perfect Meñakoz, greatest Ghetary or gnarliest Nazaré (Portugal). That’s what this partnership wants. It’s now more accessible than ever with a tested quiver, including a quiver that runs from 8’0″ to 11’00”.
Pukas and Twiggy agreed to have Axel Lorentz as the official shaper for this iconic collaboration. Mikel, a big wave charger himself, talks the same language when it comes down to heavy surf. He is an experienced big wave charger from the Basque Country who loves to paddle-in the biggest stuff, he is a home-based shaper for Pukas, has developed the best-seller Pukas Foamball with Aritz Aranburu and totally understood Twiggy’s designs.
An email // From Twig to the crew at Pukas
“Some great news, I rode the 9’0” at Roca Punta yesterday and the 8’0” at Menakoz this
morning and both felt amazing.
Just as we discussed they were faster with more control thanks to the new rocker in the
tail and also the thinness. The new board paddled better with the increase in thickness
up front.
I think we now have the best boards ever for big waves”.
– Grant “Twig “ Baker. –
Pukas + Twig // Where it comes from
“An interesting aspect of my boards is that I have five different shapers around the world who I work with on a permanent basis. Jeff Bushman in Hawaii, Daniel Keggie in South Africa, Danny Hess in the USA and Rodolfo Klima in Peru. For Europe, the team at Pukas Surf and shaper Axel Lorentz are the best partners.”
“They all work off my basic files and then add a touch of their own ideas and talents into each board. That way the boards seem to develop at an exponential rate because as I ride them and test them I can incorporate what I believe works from each shaper, add it to my files and send them onto the next shaper to continue the cycle.”
“This year when I sat down with Axel we tried to keep the overall board volumes the same but take some volume out of the rails and tail areas. The new boards look a bit sexier, are more responsive and high performance then last season but still have the same paddle power as before.”
– Grant “Twig “ Baker. –
A bit more
Sanding Masters
Sergio is part of the Olatu crew. His skills are awesome and when sanding or doing polish to the most exquisite surfboard his professionalism comes to play.
Glassing Masters
Shark might have glassed boards for more pros than you could ever imagine. His work tops excellence and he knew how to add weight to this Twig boards. He added layers of fiber glass with taste and finesse.
