Surfing
Surfing
Australian superstar Jack Robinson on the fine art of his crafts
Jack Robinson's surfboards are not only his ticket to success they're often all that's standing between him and the world's heaviest waves. We asked Jack to break down a few of the finer details.
West Australian superstar Jack Robinson might just be surfing's hottest product. With six World Surf League Championship Tour victories to his name in just three-and-a-half years of competing at the highest level, there isn't an event that Jack doesn't back himself to win. The fact that he has hoisted trophies at such prestigious venues as Pipeline, Teahupo'o, Sunset and G-Land only adds further lustre to his gleaming collection of silverware.
While a good craftsman never blames their tools, it's safe to say that quality surfboards are crucial to surfing success. As a grommet Jack jumped around from shaper to shaper, but these days he's happily atop Marcio Zouvi's iconic Sharp Eye designs, save for the occasional dalliance with Hawaiian legend Eric Arakawa, when conditions get serious.
Jack on the board walk
© Tom Iffla/Red Bull Content Pool
As the Margaret River Pro prepared to kick off in Western Australia we sat down with the hometown hero and 2022 event champion to chew the fat about fins, fibreglass, and protecting your head in waves of consequence.
Hey Jack, let's talk about your quiver. Run us through your go to shortboard please?
Sharp Eye, Synergy model, 6'0" x 19" wide. I think it's 2 and 3/4" thick, 30 litres of volume.
What's your go to bottom shape?
It's a single into a double concave.
Always a round tail?
On tour? Yeah, mostly a round tail. I feel like all the waves are better for a round tail.
Jack Robinson, dawn patrolling
© Tyrone Bradley/Red Bull Content Pool
Traction and accessories?
Da Kine tail pad, always. Got my own grip, make sure you buy it!
What about fins?
Fin system's always Futures Fins. Larges. Always a thruster, except on the tow board and then I use a quad. I have my own Futures model too! I do love a good glass-on set, they look good but you can't travel with them, and if you break one you have to get it repaired every time.
Robinson has plenty of reasons to smile
© WSL/Bielmann
What is uniquely you about your board?
I feel like I know my board really well by now, the nose kind of gives it away. In Hawaii I sometimes ride Eric Arakawas and you pick them up and they feel like blades, the rails are a lot more pinched. Generally the stickers and the spray is the cheats way to tell though.
Jack Robinson and his ride or die
© Tom Iffla/Red Bull Content Pool
Tell us about your spray, because it has been around for a long time, and there are a few people who claim to have had it first.
Well, Taj Burrow had it a while ago, so I messaged him and said, 'do you think I can use your spray?' He was fine with it, but he only had the X going halfway, so I took mine right to the nose to make it a little bit different. Then I went surfing with Joel Parkinson one day and I asked him if it was his? And he said yes as well. Both of them have said it was their own, so who's copying who over here? I don't know. I changed the colours of it, put a little stripe around it, tried to modify it a little.
How much time do you put in with your shaper?
Hours and hours? I feel like it's ended up being years, especially with Arakawa. The boards I have now from him, that's been 15 years of work. I'll always spend a couple hours in the shaping bay with them, going over the boards, watching them shape too. I'll watch them get glassed, sometimes I'll watch them sand it.
And now with Sharp Eye I'll watch those guys shape the boards. I love watching because it's actually a really big process and there are so many variables. There's like, four different people that actually play a part in making the board.
Jack Robinson swings his favourite blade at his beloved Margaret River
© Beatriz Ryder/World Surf League
Any rules you live by when you get a new board, do you give it the arm test?
I feel like if it's balanced and sits well under your arm you can tell. There's just a certain energy, you can pick 'em up and they feel lively, or they might be a bit of a dead weight.
Is foam your friend?
If it's put in the right place, yeah.
Jack Robinson hitting the brakes where many would put the foot down
© Domenic Mosqueira/Red Bull Content Pool
Okay let’s talk about your step-ups, the boards you ride in bigger waves. Dimension please?
Step-up is Eric Arakawa, 6'6" x 18.8" wide, 2 3/4" thick, 32 litres. That's what I ride when it's big here, in West Oz, or in Hawaii, Tahiti, you name it.
Is the volume in your bigger boards distributed differently?
There'll definitely be more volume under the chest, but it's tapered off. The boards really finished nicely and it has a momentum to it, which you want when you paddle 'cos the waves move faster. If the board doesn't have momentum you get held up and you won't be in the right place when you take off.
Bottom has a big single concave, which is a little bit different. I think there might be a very slight double in the back, but it's pretty much just a single the whole way through. Pulled in tail, bit narrower for sure. Built for speed. Big waves go fast, you gotta go fast.
Jack Robinson rifling through his arsenal
© Tom Iffla/Red Bull Content Pool
"I don't get them often, but I love them." – Jack Robinson talks fixed fins
© Tom Iffla/Red Bull Content Pool
Talk to us about wearing a helmet.
I never wore one growing up even though I hit my head a bunch of times and had some bad cuts. I feel like in surfing there was a bit of a stigma around it, like, 'that's not cool' kinda thing. But as soon as you start seeing your friends getting hurt then it puts it all into perspective.
When did you first start wearing one?
I started wearing a helmet in Hawaii this year after seeing a lot of really good guys get injured. Just thought, well, it's time. I have to try and start getting used to it because we push ourselves so hard that you're gonna get some wipeouts. So I feel like you need the protection.
Do you feel more confident when you put it on?
I think it's might not be a confidence boost, because you still have to respect the waves, I think it's more about peace of mind. Like, okay, I've got the helmet, whereas some people might be like, okay, now I can just send it and go even harder.
Jack Robinson geared up and ready to go
© Tom Iffla/Red Bull Content Pool
Jack Robinson in the Red Bull Athlete Zone
© Tom Iffla/Red Bull Content Pool
It can go either way, because you've got the helmet on you might feel a little bit safer and more willing to commit, so you don't hesitate, and when you lose that moment of hesitation things become safer. It gives you a superpower.
True. It's all part of the routine these days, and I know if it's big Pipe, Teahupo'o, Fiji these days I'll wear a helmet for sure.
Do you see a time where there are more people surfing heavy waves with helmets than without?
I do, there's been too many concussions, too many head knocks.
