Meet The Board Behind Peter Mel’s Wave Of A Lifetime At Maverick’s

On fire indeed. The 2020-2021 winter at Maverick’s was Peter Mel’s to light up. Fortunately, he’d been stacking the kindling for 30 years. Between bagging that wave and consistently shining brighter than the spot’s signature afternoon glare, Peter burned his mark on a season that won’t be extinguished any time soon (watch our full Pete Mel doco here). 

To complement Peter’s red hot season, his quiver of Channel Islands had a matching description. The CI Mavs Gun is Pete’s signature Maverick’s blade — a weapon of choice he and Britt Merrick have been working on for years. This 10-foot board is the one he goaded into the best barrel ever at Maverick’s, and it’s become the go-to model for him and his son John. 

The father-son duo have a few Mavs Guns apiece, as the model is scalable. And good thing too, because we all can’t surf waves like those Mels. It ranges all the way from 8’0 x 20 ¾ x 3 ¼ and 56.7 liters to 10’6 x 21 ¾ x 3 ¾ and 90.4 (!!!) liters. 

Order at your own risk. 

In the video above, Peter and John dissect all aspects of this beast as if they were discussing their grocery store lists. It paddles fast, turns faster, there’s plenty of vee on the bottom, and nose rocker from making miraculous drops you should (but don’t) dream about.

Speaking of crazy drops, the cherry on top of the clip is watching (again) Peter’s unparalleled vanishing act last year. You can see the board do everything he and his son praise about it. The roll-in. Extended rocker on the bottom turn. Turn into the pocket. Hold. Spat out into immortality. 

“It felt like I was riding a six-foot wave,” Peter said.

Sure man, we’ll take your word for it.