Marcio Zouvi and the team at Sharp Eye Surfboards have assembled the most dominant team roster we have seen in modern professional surfing. Since its establishment in 1992, the surfboard brand has evolved into a dynasty with a squad of 11 CT surfers competing against the world’s best in 2022. Their stacked roster this year featured world champ Filipe Toledo and four other Final Five finalists (Jack, Johanne, Tati and Kanoa). It’s clear that there is something special in the resin and in between the walls of Sharp Eye’s factories. The champions finished with 115 points in the World Shaper’s Cup , nearly doubling the score of runners-up DHD surfboards (58). It was an absolute white wash by the Brazilian surfboard brand to kick off the first year of the World’s Shapers Cup.
Tracks wanted to start the World’s Shapers Cups (WSC) as we didn’t believe the Surfboard makers get the recognition they deserve. The F1 has been praising the constructors for years, dating way back to the 1950s. When Lewis Samuels wins a world driving championship, we hear about it but we also know if Mercedes or Ferrari claims the Constructors Cup. We figured it was about time pro surfing had its own constructor’s cup. Various shapers have been crafting the surfboards we see the world’s best ride with little official recognition and we figured that’s due for a change. Where would Steph be without DHD?
Steph attributed a big part of her historic win last week to the new surfboard that Darren Handley shaped specifically for her to ride at Trestles. The performance will go down as a legendary moment in surfing history, starting at fifth seed and going on to defeat the world’s best under heavy fatigue to win her eighth world title. Steph’s victory (10) moved the Australian Surfboard brand (58) ahead of their biggest rival of the year, Lost Surfboards (56), to finish runners-up in 2022.
We doubled the regular points for a win at Finals Day, with world champions Filipe Toledo and Stephane Gilmore rewarded with ten points each for their victories.
Biggest Winner – Sharp Eye Surfboards (15)
Biggest Mover – DHD Surfboards (11)
Biggest Fall – Lost Surfboards (3)
As we look towards the next season, who will be able to compete with Sharp Eye after such a dominant win. Will new CT qualifiers add more contenders to the WSC or will squads such as Pyzel be a force to deal with if John John Florence and Tyler Wright are healthy. Tracks will keep you updated in the off-season if any surfers are testing out new surf board brands or make a switch to another shaper.
Check out Luke Kennedy’s analysis of the Sharp Eye Dynasty.
WSL FINALS RESULTS
[wpdatatable id=23]Check out our World Shapers Cup leaderboards & WSC squads here.
WORLD SHAPERS CUP – EXPLAINER
What is the World Shapers Cup?
The Tracks World Shapers Cup is a competition that rewards the shapers who create the boards for the WSL competitors.
Why do we have a World Shapers Cup?
Tracks believe shapers for World Surf League competitors deserve recognition for their work like the car manufacturers in the Formula One.
F1 have a World Constructors Cup which is a prestigious, points-based competition that rewards…you guessed it: the constructors. Move aside athletes, without the constructors you’re nothing.
What is the WSC competition format?
We are scoring from the quarters on, so if your surfer cant get past the heats then no points are on offer.
Points Are Awarded As Follows
If a surfer finishes in the quarters the shaper will be awarded one point.
A semi-final finish is two points.
The runner-up gets three points.
The winning shaper gets a lil bonus, earning five points for a win
What is the prize for the winner of the WSC?
We’re kicking it off with $10,000 worth of advertising across Tracks Media to use as you wish.
And the most amazing trophy in the history of surf or whatever we can work out between now and the final.
Check out our World Shapers Cup leaderboards & WSC squads here.