Bodysurfing GoPro POV
POV footage of bodysurfing small but fun waves on the Gold Coast using a GoPro mounted on the nose of a handplane.
- Hippy Trippy Early Bird Special - Save up to AU$50 (over 20% off!)
So this is it! It’s been a wild four-year ride of shaping, testing, and refining a number of different handplanes in all types of surf conditions. I’m absolutely stoked to announce that my favourite shape of them all, the Hippy Trippy Handplane, is finally heading into production. This isn’t just a product launch; it’s the culmination of 40+ years spent in the ocean, decades of design experience, and a fair few unexpected turns along the way.
The ocean has always been my playground. Growing up here in Queensland, feeling salty after a surf and the sand between my toes was always part of the fabric of my life. I first learnt to surf when I was seven and instantly fell in love with it, but the very first feeling of stoke from catching and surfing waves came even earlier. My dad, a bodysurfer, had me bodysurfing in the shorey by the time I was four. To his dismay, surfing on thrusters eventually took over, but the initial joy of bodysurfing never left me. When the surf wasn’t right for board surfing, I’d stash my board and dive straight into the shoreys. No fins, no handplane… honestly, I didn’t even know what I was missing.
Then came that defining day in 2019. I was checking the surf at Surfers Paradise, tide high, outer banks weren’t breaking. But the shorebreak? It was absolutely firing! I was sliding into some fun barrels, and it hit me: “Imagine if I had a handplane right now? I reckon I could really make some of these!”
So, I put a handplane on my Christmas list. When I finally unwrapped it and got it in the water, well, it was a real let-down. It just didn’t surf or swim the way I’d hoped, and I was genuinely gutted. But sometimes, disappointment sparks inspiration. Around the same time, I was fixing up a surfboard and had some leftover resin. I had a lightbulb moment – why not try to build my own handplane?
That’s literally how Handy Bodysurfing began, right there in my garage, back in 2020. What started as a personal quest for a bodysurfing handplane soon became an obsession. For over four years, I was lost in the rhythm of shaping, testing, and relentlessly refining countless designs. It was a journey of trial and error, and salty breakthroughs.
Photo: POV – Getting barrelled at home on the Hippy Trippy
Through all those experiments, I narrowed it down to four shapes that I felt performed best in the water. But there was always one that stood out, a consistent favourite – The Hippy Trippy. I just loved it in all waves. Whether it was small mushy waves to overhead heaving barrels, it performed, and the lightweight design made swimming effortless. It was the bodysurfing handboard I’d unknowingly been searching for all those years.
Photo: Hippy Trippy prototype testing at Main Beach, Gold Coast
My ambition initially was just to create something for myself. Yet, as I shared snippets of my progress on social media, something incredible happened. The interest snowballed faster than I could have imagined. Messages poured in from bodysurfers across the globe, all keen to get their hands on one. My humble garage hobby was officially on the radar.
Never once did it cross my mind that what I was doing was ‘wrong’. That is, until July 2024, when the local council came knocking. Suddenly, I had to shut it all down. To say it was shattering would be an understatement. It felt like my passion project had been cut short. But in that moment of despair, I made a vow: this wasn’t an end; it was a setback destined to become my biggest comeback.
For the past year, I’ve poured every ounce of that renewed determination into making The Hippy Trippy a production-ready reality. It’s been a marathon of research, intricate design work, and endless back-and-forths with manufacturers to ensure every detail is absolutely spot on. The goal was simple: create the handplane I would have dreamed of having when I first started this journey. And the result? For me, it’s perfect. I genuinely believe anyone who gets one will feel the same stoke.
So, what makes The Hippy Trippy so special? It’s a genuine surf craft, meticulously designed, tested, and refined right here in my local breaks. Every curve, every contour, has a purpose:
This handplane is the culmination of years of obsession, countless hours dedicated to perfecting the shape, the comfortable strap, and the entire bodysurfing experience. It’s built for pure, unadulterated bodysurfing fun!
Specifications (for the curious minds):
This isn’t just about launching a product; it’s about getting Handy off the ground to build the foundation for future.
We’re launching on Kickstarter very soon to bring this dream to life with our first full production run. If you’re keen to be part of the journey and be among the first to know, sign up below to be notified when we go live!
Sign up here to be notified about the Kickstarter launch!
POV footage of bodysurfing small but fun waves on the Gold Coast using a GoPro mounted on the nose of a handplane.
Even when its near flat, you can still fit into tiny waves when bodysurfing. The Wish Me Luck sliding into some early morning bazzas this morning at The Slab.
Small waves can suck, but with good friends any average session can be fun. The latest vlog is from a weekend of fun waves with the Goldie Sliders crew.
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