Johnny Cabianca knows his way around surfboards. Over the last 35 years, he has been shaping foam and studying the craft from São Paulo to Zarautz, Spain, via Sunset Beach and Santa Cruz. With his encyclopedic knowledge of the intricacies of modern surfboard shaping and production, Johnny has worked with the best and is, as Matt Biolos puts it: "He's as good as anyone, it's just that no one knew it."
But people were bound to find out. Johnny started shaping boards for a talented young man at his home beach in Maresias, Brazil. It soon became clear that this boy was more than just talented; Gabriel Medina was destined to become a world champion. The rest is history: a legendary match that leads us to 2016 and the start of a new era with a brand-new shaping facility in the Basque Country.
