I shaped a lot of different handplanes in my garage, but there were three which I always wanted to surf the most – these three kept coming back to the front of the rack. Now they are the ones we’re launching with in 2026.
Three boards. Three different feels. But all with the same Handy DNA.
Each one surfs differently, in different conditions. Here’s the story behind each.
The Hippy Trippy
Some shapes start with a plan. The Hippy Trippy started with a laugh.
I was dreaming up a new shape in my garage, thinking about point breaks. The Gold Coast has some of the best in the world, and northern NSW isn’t far behind. In my head I was imagining bodysurfing The Pass in Byron, sliding along a long wall with a handplane. I used to surf it a lot when I was younger, heading down for the weekend from the Gold Coast. It was always a vibe, living out of the car chasing wavesI remembered something a mate used to say whenever he spotted a hippy there: “Hippy, trippy, casual, flower, power, mellow, man!” I laughed out loud in the garage, and from there the idea for this handplane started. The name stuck before the shape did.
It started with the swallow tail, a deliberate nod to the fish-shaped surfboards you see the modern-day hippies and hipsters riding. The swallow tail gives the board stability and lift without sacrificing that loose, responsive feel under the palm. The shape borrows hard from mini surfboards. Long tapered rails, rocker, bottom concave. It planes early, holds a line, and lets you drive off the rail instead of just gliding flat across the face.
The original Hippy Trippy had a concave bottom and no channels. It surfed well. Then I shaped the Wish Me Luck, and created channels for the first time. Once I felt what they did, I went back to the Hippy Trippy and started experimenting. What landed was a single channel starting beneath the hand and running all the way through to the tail. Extra bite, more drive, better hold in the pocket.
The board that was designed for point breaks turned out to love bigger surf too. And on the small, weak days, the extra volume keeps it alive when other handplanes struggle, making it a great all-rounder. It wasn’t planned that way. It evolved that way. And it turned out to be the bodysurfing handplane I’d first set out to make.
The 2026 Hippy Trippy is the most refined version of the shape to date. Recycled EPS core, triaxial fibreglass, bio-epoxy resin. One of the lightest handplanes on the market.
Check it out: Hippy Trippy Bodysurfing Handplane
Wish Me Luck
The one I reach for when conditions start pumping.
The first handplane I ever shaped was called The Yew. Square tail, lots of volume, surfed good. But it did create splash off the tail. It was annoying enough that it needed investigation. This was the origin of the Wish Me Luck.
I tried a swallow tail. Tried a moon tail, which eventually became The Hoon. After lots of trial and error I eventually landed on the diamond tail. It just worked. More hold in the pocket, more connection through the tail. Then I thought about channels. Growing up surfing in the 80s and 90s, my favourite surfers rode boards with channels. There was a line from a surf video we quoted constantly as kids, “Channels are a beautiful thing.” One day in the garage the idea of adding channels popped into my head and I decided to give it a crack. I shaped my first set of channels and was absolutely stoked with myself. Then I glassed it and realised I had shaped them in backwards. Literally backwards. But instead of starting over, I kept going. The mistake forced me to think harder about how channels actually work, and that process of getting it wrong, understanding why, then trying again, is what led to the channel design on the Wish Me Luck and eventually spread across the rest of the range.
Compact, fast, built for dredgy pockets. It loves a good rip bowl. It rewards you for putting it in the right spot, and when you do, it feels like it was made for that wave. Four channels through the bottom, diamond tail, tapered rails and an FCS fin plug for the days when you want extra hold.
Designed to do one thing. Send it into a heavy barrels. Hence the name, Wish Me Luck.
The 2026 Wish Me Luck runs the same construction as the rest of the range. Recycled EPS core, triaxial fibreglass and bio-epoxy resin.
Check it out: Wish Me Luck Bodysurfing Handplane
Model H
The one that went viral.
It took me at least a month to shape the Model H. By the time it was done I was so keen to give it a try. I drove to the beach to check the surf. It was flat.
So I pulled out my phone, filmed the board for about fifteen seconds, and posted it on the spot. I’d left my glasses at home so I could barely see what I was doing. Then I drove home.
That fifteen second video reached over three million people.
The Model H grew out of the Hippy Trippy. Same starting point, slightly wider and longer, more volume through the middle. I kept the outline as a foundation but pushed the dimensions out, swapped in a bat tail and brought the four-channel bottom across from the Wish Me Luck. It was by far the hardest shape I’d made. A month of work, multiple attempts, more time than any board before it.
The DMs came in from all around. The waiting list filled up before the board had a price tag. It put Handy on the map in a way I hadn’t planned for and wasn’t ready for.
Shortly after, the council shut down the garage operation. But the Model H had already done what it needed to do.
It’s the board I reach for when the surf gets solid. It thrives when there’s more power and water moving.
The carbon fibre reinforced option adds a layer of carbon over the EPS core for extra stiffness and immediate feedback.
The 2026 Model H is the production version of that shape. Refined, repeatable, built properly. Recycled EPS core, triaxial fibreglass, bio-epoxy resin, vacuum bagged.
Check it out: Model H Bodysurfing Handplane
How to choose
Pick the Hippy Trippy if you want one board that handles all conditions. Beach breaks, point breaks, reefs, knee-high to overhead. The easiest entry point, and the one most people will get the most water-time out of.
Pick the Wish Me Luck if your home break gets serious. Faster waves, heavier sections, the days where you need something that holds its line. This is the handplane for people who like to send it.
Pick the Model H if you live for the days when the swell picks up. Sharp, fast, demanding. Best for overhead surf at home, or on a surf trip. An essential for an Indo quiver.
That all said, there’s no wrong answer. If you can’t decide between two, the second one usually finds its way into the quiver anyway. All made to be kept Handy for when the surf pumps.
Same DNA across the range
Three shapes, the same principles.
Recycled EPS cores. Triaxial fibreglass. Bio-epoxy resin. Built the way surfboards are built. Foam core, fibreglass skin, epoxy resin. Just scaled down and reinforced for the loads a handplane takes. That’s the reason these bodysurfing handplanes surf the way they do.
Most bodysurfing handplanes don’t do this. The category has always defaulted to wood or plastic. All of those have their place. None of them surf the way an EPS core and fibreglass skin does. It’s lighter, more responsive, and feels closer to genuine surfcraft. That gap is where the Handy range lives.
We’re not going to lead with the eco story. Not yet. But it’s coming, and there’s more in the works than what you see here. The Crew will be the first to know.
The Vote, briefly
Here’s where it gets interesting.
Three boards. The Crew gets a say in what gets made first.
Have your say below:
From the founder.
Hey everyone,
Handy started as something I was making for myself. But somewhere along the way it became bigger than that, and now I want to build it with you, not just for you.
The Handy Crew is how I want to do that. Big enough to matter, small enough that everyone in it has a real say. Built with bodysurfers, not just for them.
See you in the water,
Klooty
