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A Radical double-ended surfboard that allows users to perform skateboard tricks has been invented by a trio from the most unlikely of places - Canberra.
One of its inventors, Dean Mundy, said rides on the symmetrical board were a cross between surfing, skating and wake-boarding. "I came up with the idea five or six years ago, but we thought one of the big boys would bring out a double-ended board," Mr Mundy said.
"When they didn't, we thought we would do it ourselves." Sean Doherty, the editor of the Australian surfing magazine Tracks, said the design was the most radical change to surfboards since the introduction of the thruster tail 20 years ago. "It's not often you see something like this come out of left field like this," he said. "The lines are blurring between the different board sports, so this could do very well."
The three fins at the front and back allow riders to do 540-degree spins, front and back flips, and conventional surfing.
Mr Mundy said his wakeboarding and waterskiing background, which included competing in an exhibition at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, had inspired the twin-tail design. "It allowed me to look outside of the box at what could be done on a surfboard," he said.
Mr Mundy, 30, and the other inventors - his wife Janice, 32, and friend James Klobasa, 30 - are former professional international water skiers who live in Canberra and surf on the side. "We travel to the coast every weekend," Mr Mundy said. To expand the business, the three will shift to Mooloolaba, on Queensland's Sunshine Coast.
The team's website - spunsports.com - has created intense interest in the twin-tail design, with outlets in the US and Canada queuing for sample boards. "Just 10 per cent of the US market is 200 per cent of the Australian surfboard market, so there's a lot of potential to do well overseas," Mr Mundy said.
By Rod Smith
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