EP 270: Dan Mann – The shaper behind Kelly Slater’s blades, 30 years of surfboard design, & Addresses Stab in the Dark controversies, Founding Mannkine, Why he backs CNC technology, & the Influence of San Diego shapers
About this episode
Dan Mann discusses his extensive career in surfboard shaping and his collaborations with Kelly Slater.
Master shaper, Coronado native, and lifelong surfer, Dan Mann, joins Dave Prodan on The Lineup to pull back the curtain on a career that has taken him from shaping his first boards in the 1990s to working alongside Kelly Slater, Firewire and Slater Designs on some of the most refined high-performance surfboards in the world. Dan Mann has spent nearly three decades chasing the perfect surfboard, and breaks down his path into shaping, the influence of legendary San Diego shapers, like Rusty and Xanadu, the evolution from hand shaping to CNC technology, and why consistency and engineering have become such important tools in modern surfboard design. He also goes deep on his decade-long relationship with Kelly Slater, including the development of models like the FRK, S-Boss and other Slater Designs boards. Mann also takes Dave behind the scenes of Stab in the Dark X, where he built a board for Kelly Slater under intense time pressure, and discusses the aftermath of seeing his work and personality portrayed in the series. He reflects on the follow-up Ethan Ewing edition, where his board earned major praise and helped showcase the depth of his shaping philosophy. The conversation gets…
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