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Wayne Winchester is the man behind this new and
exciting venture which opened its doors in early
2022. Wayne has been working on living the dream
for half a century, not only shaping, repairing and
restoring boards, but most importantly surfing,
photographing, filming and amassing a collection of
historic boards and memorabilia.
As a young man in the 70s and 80s, Wayne was
living in the Perth area when his passion for all
things surfing led him towards making boards in his
family backyard shed. Over time he shaped under a
range of brands including Boom Shankar, Tin Can
Surfboards, Salt Fever and Winchester. In the 80s,
Wayne and his wife Carol managed to have a team
of staff working and shaping boards.
Wayne was absorbed in the surfing lifestyle as a
young man, though he is quick to point out that
although he loved everything surf-related, including
running a board shaping business, he always
worked a real job on the side to help supplement
his lifestyle. While his shaping business was
successful, he soon found a niche in the market
offering surfboard repairs.
While most of the surf shops in the Perth area at the
time sold boards, very few offered a repair service.
So, Wayne and his team developed a reputation for
delivering quality board repairs and soon after most
of the shops in the Perth area were referring to him.
Wayne identified that board repair was relatively
lucrative as making boards (similar to today) was a
very time-consuming and expensive process with
often very tight margins.
We will address Wayne’s Surf Gallery and
“Evolution of the Surfboard’ exhibition later, but
for now we wanted to catch up with him and pick
his brain on surfboard restoration and surfboard
collecting - both of which are his key passions and
has led him to where he is today.
RESTORATION
Wayne was keen to differentiate between surfboard
repair and surfboard restoration.
“Repairs are usually done to everyday riders and
are generally just to fix specific areas of damage to
keep the board in a surfable condition.
AS A YOUNG MAN IN THE
70S AND 80S, WAYNE
WAS LIVING IN THE
PERTH AREA WHEN
HIS PASSION FOR ALL
THINGS SURFING LED
HIM TOWARDS MAKING
BOARDS IN HIS FAMILY
BACKYARD SHED
“Restoration involves a much deeper and complex
process. The work is generally done to specific
vintage surfboards and involves the entire board,”
he said.
Approaches to surfboard restoration vary. Some
‘hard’ restoration processes can be quite intensive,
as basically all of the fibreglass is removed leaving
only the original blank, with the board being built
back up using new decals, colours and glass.
On the other end of the spectrum, we have all seen
those restoration jobs where an old board receives
a paint job on the outside of the glass and a new
shiny clear coat to retain only the tapped off logo,
shape and rails of the original board. As a collector
and surf historian, Wayne takes a more measured
and honest approach to his restoration work.
“Restoration demands a different level of respect.
It’s about preserving culture and it aligns with my
technical, environmental and artistic approach to
life,” he said.
SB / #54 / 68