DVG Shapes

General information

Dave van Ginkel lives, eats and breathes surfboard design: it’s in his blood. He literally grew up surrounded by boards of all manner, shape, size and state of construction in his father’s legendary surfboard workshop. It was here, while imbuing the knowledge of how small changes to fins, foils and rockers affected the performance of boardsin water, his passion for surfboard design was ignited.

A constant need to ‘make it work better’ led him to pursue studies in engineering with an eye to better understanding structure, shape, flow and their effect on speed and hydrodynamics. Dave’s passion for both the aesthetics and intrinsic nuts and bolts of surfboard design led to him start his own surfboard label: DVG Shapes in 1997.

Dave has designed surf-craft from new school competition wafers, to pods, twins, and 10 foot guns (some of which have ridden arguably the biggest waves in the world). His intense work ethic coupled with his innate understanding of how boards work, feel and ride have positioned DVG Shapes as one of the most respected South African surfboard
brands, and one that punches well above its weight.