There is nothing more satisfying than one of our team riders winning an ASP World Title. Winning three in a row is the ultimate. The crew at BASE take a lot of pride in their craft and anxiously watch our team riders all year as they compete around the globe. Steph's third title was just as exciting and satisfying as her first. We caught up with the man behind Steph's equipment, Darren Handley to give us an insight into the work he and Steph do in order to achieve success.

BASE: How does it feel to have a team rider win 3 ASP World Titles in a row?
DH: "Yeah Steph is an amazing surfer and I have watched her grow over the past ten years. Steph and I had no doubt she could win a number of world titles, three in a row is fantastic and I think she is going to win more."

BASE: You and Steph have been working together for a while now, how important is the surfer shaper relationship when taking out a world title?
DH: "The surfer shaper relationship is the most important factor in any professional surfers career. With Steph's surfing ability, my shaping experience and a strong open surfer shaper relationship. Over a long period of time we have created a winning formula. Looking at the past, you have Kelly & Al, Lisa & Al, Occy & Dahlberg, Andy & Arakawa, all these relationships have won world titles."

BASE: What does Steph's win mean to the team at BASE?
DH: "Yeah the whole team at BASE were stoked with Steph's win and now they are hoping Mick wins so they can have another BBQ and drink more beer. No seriously, it means just as much to them as it does to me. All the guys put 200% into the team board and they keep a close eye on the tour all year. Although I shape the boards it is their skills and experience that finish them. It has to be perfection from start to finish."



BASE: How do you and Steph work together?
DH: "I talk to Steph a lot about boards and try to educate her on surfboard design. I take a lot of comments from the other team riders and work some of that feedback and design into her boards. Then she puts them into practice free-surfing. I  either watch her free-surf or have a surf with her. Then taking that feedback we start to finetune until we get the right board. We spend a lot of time in her garage going through her boards & fins."

BASE: What did you & Steph work on this year?
DH: "This year we worked on downsizing boards, as Kelly & Mick were riding shorter boards we looked at the same with Steph. Last year she was riding 6'0 x 18 3/16 x 2 3/16, this year she was riding 5'11 x 18 5/16 x 2 3/16. Even though they were shorter, they were a little wider in the nose & tail which helped because they didn't have great waves. Plus there were some subtle changes that are too 'top secret' to mention."

BASE: Steph has been living in the US for some time this year, how has this affected the relationship?
DH: "It was good for Steph to get away for a while, I got to catch up with her at the Huntington Pro. It was good that she got to free-surf her boards in different waves. We take that experience and put it in the vault. I think it was a good life experience for Steph to get away and have some fun doing other stuff, other than surfing Snapper and Dbah every day."

BASE: Has working with Steph influenced the way you design boards for girls?
DH: "Not really all my team riders give me feedback and they know the difference between a good and bad board. All my models are the result of working with my team riders to make sure all my models perform their best. What Steph has taught me, is that a lot of girls are out there surfing just to have fun. This is how we came up with the 'Cherry Bomb'."

BASE: Will you have a break now, or are you and Steph already talking and working on next year's equipment?
DH: "I am already in the bay shaping her first five boards, with a few new secrets up my sleeve. Steph will test these out over January and she will be ready to win the first comp in March. Go Steph"

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