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On a rainy night in Sayville, local surfers Tuesday were living the dream.
One by one at the popular Bunger Sayville surf shop, wave riders young and not-so-old stepped up to design their new surfboards with arguably the most in-demand surfboard shaper in world, Matt “Mayhem” Biolos.
The founder and owner of Lost Surfboards hosted “Shapers Night,” candidly discussing surfing and surfboard shaping with area surfers for nearly four hours.
“He’s super mellow, super cool and really down to Earth and laid back,” said 47-year-old Chris L. of Patchogue, who has surfed since he was 15. “He probably sells more boards around the world than anyone. I’m pretty stoked.”
After collaborating with Chris to design his “El Patroń” surfboard, the Californian Biolos paused to chat with 12-year-old Owen Maragioglio of Center Moriches and autograph the sixth-grader’s Lost Surfboard.
“He has a Lost board, and I knew he’d be excited about meeting (Biolos),” said Owen’s stepdad Dennis Pluth. “He’s ‘Mayhem!’ He’s probably the best shaper in the world.”
Biolos, 49, shapes surfboards for many of the world’s top surfers, but he said working with amateurs and weekenders is just as satisfying.
“We just feel it’s important to get out and get on the road, and visit the surf shops here in New York and around the country,” said Biolos, who founded Lost Surfboards in the late 1980s. “I enjoy meeting all the people and hearing real surf stories from real people. They’re not jaded. They’re excited and they’re stoked to be here.
“If you make race cars, you work with race car drivers, but you sell cars to commuters,” he continued. “So we work with athletes, and it gives our customers confidence that we know how to design the right board for the right people.”
Bunger Sayville owner Sammy Hito, 35, said it was a privilege to have Biolos working with customers in the shop Hito opened 12 years ago.
“He’s only doing three stops in New York,” Hito noted. “It’s an incredible opportunity for people to have face-to-face time with someone who shapes surfboards for the best surfers in the world.”
Bunger employee Wesley Campbell, 19, of Bayport spent about 10 minutes with Biolos hammering out the details of what will be his new “Sabo Taj” surfboard.
“This is super cool because New York doesn’t get recognized much in the surf scene,” the 2017 Bayport-Blue Point High School graduate said. “To have a board shaper like this in the shop is awesome.”
GreaterSayville took plenty of photos at the event. Check out the scene at Bunger Sayville. Be sure to click page boxes 2 and 3 to see all the pics.
