The Blade: how a performance shortboard took shape
Before the Blade had a launch post it had real boards under the surfers Joe works with. The dimensions show how the model was worked out.
The Blade is our performance shortboard: hand shaped in Currumbin Waters for speed, precision and progressive surfing in a wide range of conditions, from $1,000. It was announced in May 2026, but boards carrying the name had been leaving the factory since the year before. This is how it came together, told through the boards themselves.
It started with a team board
One of its first appearances was a reel in August 2025 captioned “Glassing up the new Blade”. The board was for Zac Martens, who Joe had introduced earlier that year as the “newest free surfer to join the cross-team.”
When the finished board was photographed in November 2025, Joe published the numbers: 5'10" x 19 1/8" x 2 3/8", 27.93 litres.
That is a sensible, everyday performance size. It has enough width and foam to paddle into waves that are not perfect, which is most waves. Around the same time Zac picked up a new quiver for a trip to Mexico, which included a 5'8" Modern Fish.
A team rider is useful for a new model because he will surf it often, in many kinds of waves, and then tell you plainly what it did. That is how a model gets settled: build one, surf it, change the next.
Then the range widened
The outline has since been drawn above and below that size.
In March 2026 came the Blade Performance Pin: 6'4" x 19 11/16" x 2 7/16", a longer, pulled-in pin version. Joe finished it with what he described as a “one off grey bottom lap with white swirl.”
In April 2026 he posted the first 5'7" Blade, 5'7" x 17 1/2" x 2", ridden by Kobe Martens, with a note: “Coming soon, to custom order.” At under 18 inches wide that is a narrow, fast board, and it showed the outline scaled down cleanly.
| Blade | Posted | Length | Width | Thickness | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zac Martens | November 2025 | 5'10" | 19 1/8" | 2 3/8" | 27.93L |
| Performance Pin | March 2026 | 6'4" | 19 11/16" | 2 7/16" | not published |
| Kobe Martens | April 2026 | 5'7" | 17 1/2" | 2" | not published |
Nine inches of length between the smallest and the largest, and more than two inches of width. It is recognisably the same board at each size, which is the test of whether an outline is a model or a one-off.
What the Blade is for
When the model was announced, Joe described it like this:
“Blending modern performance with clean refined curves, the Blade delivers instant responsiveness, effortless drive, and confidence through critical sections.”
In plainer terms: it is the board for surfers who want to turn hard and fit into steeper parts of the wave, and who want that across a range of conditions instead of on the three best days of the year.
How it is built
Every Blade is hand shaped and, in Joe’s words, “individually tuned”. Each one is “individually designed around the rider’s height, weight, ability, and surfing style.” So the table above is three examples, not a size chart. Yours will have its own numbers. One customer on his third custom had Joe refine the size and volume of his Blade, which is exactly how it is meant to work.
In the launch post Joe thanked South Coast Foam, Shapers and Burford Blanks.
From there it can be finished however you like. The Performance Pin’s grey lap and white swirl is one direction. A plain white board with a flame graphic is another. Resin work and sprays are covered in our colour guide, and Carbon Fiber is available on the Blade as it is across the range.
What it costs and how long it takes
The Blade starts from $1,000, the lowest starting price in our range. Custom sprays and resin work are extra and quoted with the board. Like all our customs it takes 4 to 6 weeks from order, and it comes with grub screws and a leash rope. There is more on what goes into the price in how much a custom surfboard costs.
Ordering one
Start with a conversation. Joe will ask your height and weight, your fitness, how long you have been surfing and how you surf. If you have a board you love, bring it along so there is something to point at. The volume calculator gives you a starting number, and what size surfboard should I get explains the rest.
Start a Blade from the Blade page, call 0422 435 689, or come past the factory in Currumbin Waters and pick one up to feel the rails.
