LUKE UNDERWOOD

Making Surfboards Is My Passion

Luke is a second generation surfboard maker from Copacabana, Central Coast, New South Wales, Australia. He grew up in a family of surfboard makers which included his father, uncle, brother, cousin, and sometimes my sister. Some of Luke's early memories are of shaping little surfboards out of the foam off cuts left on his Dad’s workshop floor.

Straight out of high school, Luke went into the family business learning the ropes under his Dad’s watchful eye. At 24 he then moved to the Gold Coast, Australia’s mecca for surfboard making. There he plied his trade for 5 years picking up trade secrets about board creation from a whole bunch of the Gold Coast’s best shapers including DHD and Simon Anderson.

Byron Bay was the next port of call, working with Emery Surfboards. It was in Byron Luke met an Irish girl who would turn life upside down, not only agreeing to be Luke's wife and mother to our two beautiful kids, but also the inspiration to move back to his hometown and start a surfboard glassing factory and his own label, Luke Underwood Creations. Luke won contracts for major global surf brands including Chilli Surfboards and Lost Surfboards and glassed their boards at the new factory.

Even though life in Australia was great the call of the Emerald Isle and family was very strong as a family, so in 2015 we packed up our lives in suitcases, jumped on a plane, and headed for the Wild Atlantic Way.