BELINDA BAGGS
Belinda Baggs or “Bindy” is one of the worlds most graceful and stylish surfers, she is originally from the working class city of Newcastle, where she spent her formative years travelling the longboard comp circuit with dad Phil.
Bindy competed on the longboard circuit doing very well winning the Australian women's longboard circuit in 2000 and also placing third in the women's world championship. Until she rode a traditionally shaped Anderson Brand longboard at Malibu in 2001 and fell in love with the glide and style of surfing.
Since then she has been a prominent fixture in the movement of the rebirth of logging with many sections in most of the best longboarding/surfing movies of the last 18 years.
A seeker of wild places and warm blue water, Belinda's heart has always been set in the ocean. A passionate all-round surfer, she’s perhaps best known for her graceful and technically accomplished longboard style. Bindy has a wandering spirit, having lived in some amazing spots like Malibu California, Byron bay, Noosa and Aireys inlet along the great ocean road on the rugged victorian coast. This is where you’ll see her out in the middle of winter with booties, hood and gloves loving every minute of it. As a Patagonia ambassador she does her best to educate others in ways to keep the planet beautiful for future generations.
JAYA GUY
Also known as the elegant giraffe. Jaya is from Valla Beach on the mid north coast of Australia. Jaya grew up in a beach loving family, this is where his love for the ocean first began. Riding a bodyboard first, that quickly changed when his brother said he wouldn’t take him with him unless he surfed.
Growing to be one of the most underrated and technically perfect longboarders on the east coast. Riding for Nettleton for the last 4 years Jaya has a super graceful and flowing style, with the less is more approach. Jaya is a great kid with a positive nature and is happy just chilling around the headlands with his girl Sharlya, dog jack and surfing as much as possible.
BUJI Libarnes
I was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico but grew up in the Philippines. When I saw Endless Summer on TV for the first time, I fell in love with surfing right away even if it was almost a decade after until I actually got the chance to try surfing.
When I first started, the surf scene in La Union, which I consider my beloved home break, was predominantly all about high pro longboarding with a very progressive short board style. All along in my brain, I had Endless Summer on repeat and I knew that I wanted to surf like Robert August and Mike Hynson who, over 4 decades ago, were already both surfing with such high performance and high level of style on their heavy logs. Back in 2000, I knew that was the style of surfing that I wanted to pursue and just stuck to it through the years.
My passion for the good ol’ days is reflected in my architectural design of houses and structures such as Vessel Hostel in La Union, the rusty old cars I keep, and overall outlook in life. To me those were the happy days and I find comfort in trying to relive them, drawing inspiration from the time when life was simple and people were happy surfing, sharing waves, and simply enjoying a good day at the beach. My Wife Nikki and I recently had our first son Pancho, and are so blessed and stoked to be able to bring him up with a surfing lifestyle.
LAURE MYR
Originating from St Jean de Luz, a little fishing town south-west of France, Laure first started out surfing right hand rocky bottom point break in Basque Country. Laure lived between both France and Byron for 4-5years before moving to Australia permanently in 2016. If you have ever seen Laure surf you’ll notice 2 things, her elegant style and her smile that 99.9% of the time is ear to ear. If the saying “the best surfer in the water is the one having the most fun” was in the judging criteria, then Laure would be on the podium everytime.
BRETT CALLER
My names Brett and I live on the Coffs Coast at Moonee Beach with my wife Emma, daughter Eadie and our cat Cookie. Moonee has a sweet little creek mouth set up with a back beach option.
I grew up learning to surf in the early 90’s when there was a fair short board or die attitude amongst the surfing population.
I remember when I was about 14 and I had snapped all my wafer thin short boards. My uncle gave me a Richie West shaped Bob Cooper 80’s twin fin, it changed my life. I was frothing on its paddle speed, it’s flow and the ability to go places on a wave that my 90’s shorties couldn’t. My step dad also had a 9’6 Gordon Woods Old Mal that we use to drag down the beach on super flat days. From that moment on I fell in love with learning to ride different craft, seek new feels and learn to draw different lines.
As for people that have inspired me along the way over the past 30 plus years, I’d have to start with my mum. She is an absolute frother and 9/10 mornings she is still the first one in the water at her local, Valla beach. Growing up it was guys like Occy, Cansdell, Machado, CJ Nelson, Sage Joske and Nathan Oldfield just to name a few that inspired me to surf the way I do. These days it’s anyone in the water that’s got a smile from ear to ear. My little brother Jaya Guy had been riding for team Nettleton and introduced me to Sean about 5-6 years ago. I noticed Jaya’s surfing was lifting to another level since he started surfing his logs. Sean offered to shape me a glider as he knew I was loving the feels of longer boards at the time, the boards epic by the way. Since then I’ve been lucky enough to sample a handful of Sean’s shapes. I currently have a 12 foot glider, a 9’8 Multiply, a 9’3 Longarch and a 6’0 Duet. Safe to say I’ve got all bases covered.
CHAD Mclauchlan
Chad is the Big Brother of the Nettleton Family. At 6’4 and 114kg he’s a logger stuck in a front rower's body. He lives in Victoria along the Great Ocean Road and surfs anything from outside bombies to peeling points. Chad always gives me a challenge when shaping and over the years we have perfected his craft to suit him. He loves a big drop knee turn and often you’ll find him riding oldmals, trackers, bodyboards and his beloved 10’2 Longarch. His favorite surfers are Mike Doyle and his good mate Tim Edwards.
TIM EDWARDS
Tim is a ghost. He’s that guy you always hear about but never see. He grew up riding a shortboard in the big barreling waves at “Beacon” thirteenth beach. As years went on, he began to gravitate more towards old style longboards and riding old mals. Quite simply, he is now one of, if not, the best logger in Victoria.
A violet belt in Jiu-Jitsu you can tell Joel Tudor has had an influence on Tim. Quiet in style, quiet in the water and quiet on land, Tim is as humble as they come and the small fraternity of people that know him say that he’s just one of those guys that could have been good at anything. Tim loves a latte, and exploring the intricacy of a nose ride.
You’ll find Tim riding the cold, lesser known waves of Victoria. Tim rides a knifey 9’4 Multiply that has plenty of flex although give him a shortboard, his 67 Wallace or a foamie and he’d probably tear on that too.
