THE JOURNEY - 30 YEARS

“When I was a grommet I was fascinated by 2 things, Big Waves and becoming a Shaper, my wall was full of posters of both so for me that was the ultimate gig ! ...I was fortunate enough to have a friend in the industry and he gave me a start and from there to this day I still have the same passion to create boards not only at a high performance level but also functional from small waves to 40 foot... I have designed them all from 4 foot to 11 foot long.

Nothing beats the feeling of seeing a board you shaped on the winners podium at a global surf contest or a stoked out grommet at my local or a solid Gun dropping into a mammoth wave.

Cheers"
- Aido

 

THE JOURNEY IS BELOW

 

I was the Licensee for Rusty Surfboards International from 2000 until 2023 (yep 23 years), where i was literally thrown under the bus as they say by Corporate Greed and wrong decisions made by someone who had never even swept the floor of a Surfboard Factory let alone attempted to even grab a sheet of sandpaper or resin to repair his own board.

Rusty Preisendorfer (Founder) believed in a lifelong mate of his named Jon Sundt who told him he would change Rusty Surfboards forever and in a better way than his current Global Licensee's ever could.

That lasted 18 months (2023 - 2024 bye bye Jon)  until Rusty sacked him and is now picking up the pieces of a brand that is sadly on the downward spiral (kiddies the grass isnt always greener!). Its gut wrenching as myself ,my team and all the sales reps and store owners believed and loved the brand and it's rich heritage and respect it carries ,but sadly that's slipping away !

The current Licencee in Australia based on the Gold Coast has practically diluted the brand ( which was his plan all along ) and now the boards are only available in his 4 stores and online. We had around 40 accounts across Australia and New Zealand for decades which has now been dwindled down to 1 . 

I can't complain though as i had an amazing time during my 23 year stint where i travelled the world on Rusty's dime haha  and shaped for Team riders from every corner of the globe for a lot of years and gained credit from them and got to work with and meet a lot of great people around the world. Im still intouch with most of them to this day !

Josh Kerr AUS , Jamie O'Brien HAW, CJ Hobgood USA ,Hazza Twins (now the Mad Hueys) AUS, Jock Barnes AUS, Marlon Gerber INDO,Jay Davies AUS,James Catto AUS,Harry Bryant AUS,Blake Thornton AUS,Tony Seddon AUS,Willian Cardosso BRAZIL,Lucas Silvera BRAZIL,Liam Mortensen (Letty) AUS,Wade Carmichael AUS,Oli Henry AUS,Caio Ibelli BRAZIL,Leo Neves BRAZIL, RIP !Luke Harwood NZ,Justin SouterNZ,Matt Capel ENG,Vincent Duvignac FRA,Paul Morgan AUS,Noa Deane AUS,Pama Davies AUS,Joe Haddon AUS,Sophie Fletcher AUS,Timmy O'Connor NZ and this is to name a few.

Ego's within were dented when my AIDO logo was showing up in every magazine across the globe and through multiple Surf Movies for a good decade so they removed it which inturn i created ///AIDO Boards where i have been fortunate enough to shape and send boards all around Australia, Japan and Indonesia.

 

I made covers on multiple surf magazine's - Transworld USA ,Stab AUS ,Surfing Life AUS ,Tracks AUS, Waves AUS , Carve EUROPE.

I even opened up a Surfstore in Canguu Bali for 3 years with 2 friends until Covid 19 ended that abruptly as it did for a lot of people around the world,but geez it was fun shaping up there.

 

Now that i have closed Groundhog Glassing (XMAS 2023) my boards are being manufactured at Rhino Laminations at 42 Orchard Rd,Brookvale,NSW and they do an amazing job so i can assure you your orders are in  good hands !

MORE TO COME. (AUGUST 2025) 

 

MAN WHAT A RIDE :)

 

AIDO.