Dick Van Straalen is one of the most innovative and creative shapers in Australia.

A fine surfer, he started shaping his own boards as a teenager and learn his art on the Northern beaches in Sydney in the 1960’s. It was when he moved to Burleigh Heads and started shaping under his own label in the 70’s that he really blossomed. The hollow sand bottom point breaks on the Gold Coast and his shapes were a perfect match, and his down railed, pintails pioneered riding way back inside the tube at Burleigh and Kirra.
Since then he has progressed into a master shaper who over the last 50 years has hand shaped all different types of ocean going vehicles from Open Ocean Racing Paddleboards, to Longboards, Reef Runners, Guns, Fishes and the many other designs that his fertile imagination comes up with. His combinations of rocker, vee, tail lift and outline templates are unique and produce a smooth, manoeuvrable, fast ride that allows you to maintain a high speed line at all times.