Diogo Martins on quad

Honestly, it might not be the best moment to watch this last edit from Diogo Martins. While the current North Atlantic swell conditions have been nothing else than big storms for the past three weeks, our Portuguese friend is showing us how fun surfing a quad is in perfect fall conditions.

But well, do not worries amigos ! Indian summer is over but at least crowd is not a problem anymore. And watching Diogo is just a pure source of motivation to remind that surfing is really about having fun. The kid is ripping with smile, and shows us that you can combine performance and style in any conditions.

Clean waves will come back soon, at some point, and you know it. And when they’ll be back, you’ll remind Diogo’s edit and you will maybe go for a quad option ! Watch edit below and read his interview to learn more about Diogo’s surfing approach.

Follow Diogo Martins on Instagram.

Hey hey ! How are you doing Diogo ? Tell us what you’ve been up to lately.

Heyyy, winter is almost here, great time to try board and fins. I’m trying to surf and learn about boards as much as I can. Whenever the surf is good, I’ll be in the water and then during these big storms we’ve got, I’ll spend my day in the shaping room or learning from good friends (lacrau_surfboards and nothing_surfcrafts) who share their knowledge and passion with me.

Board looks sweet under your feet, can you tell me something more about it ?

This Quad is 5’9 19 2 1/8, dimensions I thought that would be good for me. I’m getting to know all the tools and learning how to use them and this first experience ended up nice but not exactly how I imagined. It’s a low rocker board but it’s very straight under the back foot so I made a very shallow single concave flattening out the tail and 60/40 foil soft rails. The deck is flat.

So as far as we know, you shaped this board by yourself. Did you use any template? Or trusted your eyes?

Yes I shaped it by myself, this one is my first handshape. I draw the outline for this board. It’s really nice to watch the outline coming out of the blank, it’s so exciting to cut if for the first time !

Shaping yourself a surfboard and noticing every detail on the water lately is an amazing feeling. You willing to repeat ? What would you make different for the next time ?

I’m already working on a new one. I am thinking about a smother rocker, specially the exit rocker. The board hold very good and carries a lot of speed in between turns but the transition isn’t as clean as I wanted. Feels like the board doesn’t connect with the curve of the wave as I imagined.

We have been surfing different shapes for the last years. From very long and classic outlines, to this kind of round nose quads. What does inspire you at the moment for surfing ?

Last years have been mostly about surfing a bunch of surfboard. I’m open to try any craft. I would ride longer board during winter time and try smaller and wider boards during summer and that’s when I shaped this Quad. Looking for an easier board to surf smaller and weaker waves.