The Electric Acid Surfboard Test Starring Shaun Manners, Episode One

Not once, through the entirety of our annual foray into unconventional foam architecture, did Shaun Manners pull any punches.

“If I’m not feeling it, I’m just gonna can it,” he leveled, almost immediately.

By design, Shaun falls into a similar realm as all of our previous Electric Acid Surfboard Testers — he’s an incredibly talented three-fin purist, with little interest in hipster hand jives and contrived soul arches.

In the past year, he’s added two magazine covers, an A++ SEOTY entry, and a very core sticker to his resumé — all courtesy of some no nonsense, hi-fi surfing.

As you’ll see, he just wants to fucking rip.

This desire, paired with the fact that we directly requested many of the shapers to delve into designs far outside their usual dominions of comfort, led to a particularly dichotomous experiment for this year’s EAST.

Though blunt criticism is often quite abrasive, it can simultaneously carve space for more authentic positivity.

As such, if Shaun said he liked a board, we knew he meant it.

And, as it turns out, he ended up enjoying some pretty strange boards.