Ballito bodysurfer and carpenter finds stoke in creating handboards

Bodysurfing with a handplane (or handboard) is about messing around in the shorebreak and having the most fun you can while doing it.

While the sport is only just emerging in South Africa, with only a small following on the North Coast, unlike for instance in Hawaii, interest may still grow, says Janek Ferrandi of the Ballito Surf School.

For surfers and other water users, bodysurfing is great for building fitness because it requires you to pull your own bodyweight through the water and into the waves.

The sport also allows you to get into the water more often, especially when the conditions might not be great for surfing.

A bodysurfing handplane (held in one hand) creates lift underneath the handplane, allowing the user to hold their upper body out of the water when riding a wave.

With practice, users are able to surf the unbroken wave and perform manoeuvres such as cutbacks and barrel rolls.

Ballito professional wood worker, Greig Woodman has been making body surf hand-boards ever since the birth of his daughter two years ago brought home how fragile life could be.

“This lead me on a search for more things that I love. I found a passion in wood and creating things – this also fit in with my love of the ocean,” he said.

“My handboards are a natural progression of this combination.”

The sport has been most popular with groms – young participants in extreme sports, such as surfing, generally under the age of 16 – but many more experienced surfers are enjoying the freedom the sport allows which Woodman agreed with, adding that he’s sold a few to people as young as 14, and even up to the ages of 65.

“Hand body surfing is good for kids to mess around with, especially in the shore-break,” Ferrandi said.

Woodman believes handboard body surfing, like surfing, involves a state of mind where one finds happiness in the ocean, or as he calls it, ‘finding the stoke’.

“After years of careful design and a few builds later, I have managed to be able to create various shapes and sizes of body surf handboards, both hand-held or held by strap,” said Woodman.

“All you have to do is grab some flippers and your handboard and head down to the beach. Take a swim and ride a wave, and be energised by the fun that comes from it.”

He uses a variety of timbers, depending on what is available. But that comes with its own challenges.

“Some of my more creative designs have keels running the length of the boards to help with stability,” he said, adding that if you would like to learn how to body hand surf, the best way is to simply get started.

To stay up-to-date on his latest projects follow Greig Woodman on Instagram at @shaka_hand_boards.

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