Draft:Nev Hyman

Neville Charles Hyman was born in 1958 in Johannesburg, South Africa. He moved with his family at an early age to Perth, Australia. By the age of 9, Hyman had taken up surfing, and by age 13 he was shaping boards in his father’s garage.{{Cite web |title=His Story |url=https://www.nevcustoms.com/pages/his-story#:~:text=The%20Early%20Years:%20Surfing%20Roots,the%20top%20surfboard%20makers%20worldwide. |access-date=2025-01-16 |website=Nev Customs |language=en}}

One week after finishing high school, Hyman partnered with fellow shaper, Phil Usher to co-found Odyssey Surfboards in Perth. At 18, Hyman relocated to Burleigh Heads, Queensland. He then launched his surfboard shaping brand, Nev Future Shapes, in 1978. {{Cite web |title=Looking Back At Nev Future Shapes {{!}} The Rearview Mirror {{!}} Swellnet |url=https://www.swellnet.com/news/the-rearview-mirror/2016/05/17/looking-back-nev-future-shapes |access-date=2025-01-16 |website=www.swellnet.com |language=en}}

Hyman was an early adopter of integrating technology into surfboard shaping. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, he began using computer-aided design (CAD) software and machine-based shaping tools. While some traditional surfboard manufacturers were initially skeptical, these techniques eventually became widely used in the industry.{{Cite web |title=Firewire Surfboards - Surfing Wiki |url=https://www.surfingwiki.com/wiki/Firewire_Surfboards |access-date=2025-03-18 |website=www.surfingwiki.com}}

By using precision engineering techniques, Hyman was able to produce surfboards with consistent design characteristics. His designs were used by both professional surfers and general consumers, contributing to changes in surfboard manufacturing methods.{{Cite web |title=(#4) Nev Hyman: NOMOR, Solving Our Plastic Waste Problem, Building a Surfboard Empire, Setting 4 Guinness Book of World Records, Keeping Your Radar On & The Power of Silver Linings. |url=https://www.bearhugrecruiting.com/podcast/nev-hyman-episode-4 |access-date=2025-03-18 |website=Bearhug Recruiting: Executive Search For Early-Stage Environmental Technology & Enterprise Software Startups |language=en-US}}

Following the start of the brand Nev Future Shapes{{Cite web |date=2024-07-26 |title=Nev Hyman Is Going Back To The Future |url=https://www.surfer.com/news/nev-hyman-future-shapes-surfboards |access-date=2025-03-18 |website=www.surfer.com |language=en}}, Hyman quickly formed partnerships with a range of professional surfers including:

• Craig 'Scat' Pitchers
• Dan Adler
• Munga Barry
• Dog Marsh
• Merrick Davis
• Nick Wood
• Sunny Garcia{{Cite web |title=Looking Back At Nev Future Shapes {{!}} The Rearview Mirror {{!}} Swellnet |url=https://www.swellnet.com/news/the-rearview-mirror/2016/05/17/looking-back-nev-future-shapes |access-date=2025-01-16 |website=www.swellnet.com |language=en}}
• Christian Fletcher{{Cite web |title=Christian Fletcher Legendary Replica Surfboard |url=https://www.nevcustoms.com/products/legendary-christian-fletcher |access-date=2025-01-16 |website=Nev Customs |language=en}}
• Dane Kealoha{{Cite web |title=Dane Kealoha Legendary Replica Surfboard |url=https://www.nevcustoms.com/collections/legendary-surfboards/products/legendary-dane-kealoha |access-date=2025-01-16 |website=Nev Customs |language=en}}
• Taj Burrow{{Cite web |title=Nev Hyman - Mr. Firewire... |url=https://surfculture.com.au/blogs/blog/nev-hyman-mr-firewire |access-date=2025-01-16 |website=Surf Culture Bondi |language=en}}

In the early 2000s, Hyman experimented with manufacturing techniques to create surfboards that had flexible rails. He worked on creating surfboard blanks that changed the flex and we’re 100% machine-shaped.

Hyman and business partner, Miki Langenbach, tested such surfboard blanks on their computer shaping system, APS3000 and Aku Shaper. The pair later paused the project over a decision-making impasse.

Six months later, Nev was introduced to fellow shaper, Bert Berger. Berger had developed a surfboard flexing blank. The difference with Berger’s blank was the removal of the central stringer, moving them to the surfboard’s rail. Hyman then purchased Berger’s company, and the two became business partners working in Queensland.

In 2005, Berger and Hyman developed their new surfboard technology but, reached a roadblock when they could only produce 10 hand-shaped boards weekly. Due to system incompatibility with existing computer shaping technology, including Aku Shaper and APS3000, the pair developed the technology called Firewire. This new system allowed Berger’s surfboard blanks to be mass-produced by a computer shaper.{{Cite web |title=The road to Firewire and beyond {{!}} Swellnet Dispatch {{!}} Swellnet |url=https://www.swellnet.com/news/swellnet-dispatch/2018/07/10/road-firewire-and-beyond |access-date=2025-01-16 |website=www.swellnet.com |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Firewire – Surfboard Factory Hawaii |url=https://www.surfboardfactoryhawaii.com/shapers/firewire/ |access-date=2025-01-16 |language=en-US}}

The creation of Firewire resulted in the new method surfboard construction including a “sandwich” construction involving EPS foam, balsa, and epoxy resin.

In 2015, 11-time world champion, Kelly Slater, purchased 70% of the Firewire company and Hyman relinquished his position in the company.

In 2022, the estimated revenue of Firewire was $2 million.{{Cite web |last=Geniya |date=2022-01-06 |title=Company Profile: Firewire Surfboards |url=https://surfd.com/2022/01/company-profile-firewire-surfboards/ |access-date=2025-01-16 |website=Surfd |language=en-US}}

In 2013, Hyman founded [https://nevhouse.com/ NevHouse], a company that repurposes recycled plastics and other waste materials to create low-cost, quickly deployable housing structures.[10]

NevHouse was developed as a potential solution for communities affected by natural disasters, housing shortages, and poverty. The company implemented projects in locations such as Vanuatu, where structures were built following Cyclone Pam in 2015. The houses were designed to be assembled quickly and withstand extreme weather conditions. The initiative received recognition from various environmental and business organisations.{{Cite web |last=Editor |first=Online |date=2016-06-22 |title=Aussie prefab homes made from recycled plastic to cyclone-proof island villages |url=https://www.australiandesignreview.com/architecture/tonnes-of-recycled-plastic-used-to-create-cyclone-proof-homes-for-island-villages/ |access-date=2025-03-18 |website=Australian Design Review |language=en-US}}

In 2005, Hyman created what he believed was the world’s biggest surfboard in Queensland, Australia. The surfboard was 39 feet long, and 47 surfers rode the board at the same time. At the time, the Guinness World Records were not contacted about this effort and the record attempt could not be verified.

In 2015, Hyman partnered with professional surfer Michel Bourez to develop a giant surfboard. The pair adapted one of Bourez’s quad shortboards to be 7.5 times its original size using CAD technology. The result was a board that weighed 1,350 pounds and measured 42 feet long and 16 inches thick.{{Cite web |last=Bernal |first=Sam |date=2015-06-21 |title=Here's What Setting a World Record Looks Like |url=https://www.theinertia.com/surf/heres-what-setting-a-world-record-looks-like/ |access-date=2025-01-16 |website=The Inertia |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last=Swatman |first=Rachel |date=2015-06-22 |title=World's largest surfboard: 66 catch a wave and ride their way to a record - video |url=https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/news/2015/6/worlds-largest-surfboard-66-catch-a-wave-and-ride-their-way-to-a-record-video-386094 |access-date=2025-01-16 |website=Guinness World Records}}

Spectators took to Huntington Beach, California for the Epic Big Board Ride (USA) event to witness 66 surfers break the record for most people riding a surfboard for Visiting Huntington Beach’s ‘100 years of surfing’ celebration.

Surfers aged between 15 and 79 rode the boards for 13 seconds - 3 seconds longer than what was required to break the record for the most people riding a surfboard at the same time. Hyman’s big surfboard also broke the record for the world’s largest surfboard.

The record-breaking surfboard’s dimensions were:

• 12.83 m (42’ ft 1.5 in) long
• 3.37 m (11 ft 1 in) wide
• 0.41m (1 ft 4.4 in) thick

Due to the board’s size and weight, it was transported into the sea by a forklift truck.

Hyman maintains an active presence on social media platforms, including [https://www.facebook.com/NevHymanFanPage/ Facebook], [https://www.instagram.com/nevhyman/?hl=en Instagram], [https://www.tiktok.com/@nevhyman TikTok] and YouTube, where he engages with the global surfing community. His social media efforts help him stay connected with surfers worldwide and share his expertise in surfboard design. Through his company, Nev Customs, Hyman offers custom surfboard services world-wide based in Burleigh Heads. He provides personalised consultations to surfers and allows them to work directly with him on designing boards suited to their needs. Nev Customs also offers a range of performance-focused surfboards.

Hyman’s contributions to surfboard design led to his inclusion in the International Surfboard Builders Hall of Fame in 2019. {{Cite web |title=ISBHOF Inductee Details |url=https://www.isbhof.com/Pages/ISBHOF_InducteeDetails.php?Inductee_Id=234 |access-date=2025-03-18 |website=www.isbhof.com}} Additionally, NevHouse received the Australian Good Design Award for Sustainability{{Cite web |last=Borne |first=Dr Gregory |date=2017-01-04 |title=How Firewire's Founder Went from Surfboards to Building Sustainable Houses |url=https://www.theinertia.com/business-media/how-firewires-founder-went-from-surfboards-to-building-sustainable-houses/ |access-date=2025-03-18 |website=The Inertia |language=en-US}}, highlighting its impact in the field of sustainable design.

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