ASB MAGAZINE: For surfers, the Gold Coast is not only home to the perfect waves, it is also home to two incredibly savvy and practical inventors, Shane Atkins and Darren Barnes who have created Ghost Racks. Made out of solid Ghost Acrylic, the racks are virtually invisible meaning that presenting surfboards in the home, retail or commercial space can be aesthetically pleasing and is not just about storage. Whether you want to display boards on the wall, both horizontally or vertically or present them as a free-standing object, there is a Ghost Rack available and they also specialise in custom models.
Ghost Racks are easy to install, are lightweight and if professional surfers including Jamie O’Brien are using them, then you can trust they are the real deal with O’Brien recently organising his quiver with Ghost Racks.
“I definitely found it super easy using Ghost Racks, you can adjust sizes, change out boards, they make the system easy and user friendly and since I put these boards in I haven’t taken them out. I’m just so happy with the whole display and how everything looks, I would never change it” said O’Brien.
O’Brien is not alone in signing the praises of Ghost Racks.Many current and former professional surfers such as the legendary Mark Richards (MR) who recently used Ghost Racks to mount two boards from his 1979 Hawaiian contest quiver, one of which he won the Pipeline masters on. For MR, Ghost Rackswas the perfect system as the shape of his famous two-tone orange 7’0’’ rounded pins with set fins board and his flat panel vee bottom board with a hard, tucked under resin edge running from nose to tail meant he needed the racks custom made, which Ghost Racks delivered for him.
Same too for Rob Machado and Gary ‘Kong” Elkerton with Elkerton displaying his 1989 Billabong Pipe Masters winning board using Ghost Racks and Machado contacting Atkins and Barnes to order Ghost Racks to display his boards in he and wife Sophie’s, retail store Salt Culture.
With the catchphrase of WHAT YOU DON’T SEE IS WHAT YOU GET, being an absolute reality, the vision of Ghost Racks designers and founders has been realised.
Co-Founder, Shane Atkins has always been an avid collector of surfboards saying, “My first board as a collector was a Mark Richards (MR) board I purchase from Ondi at Underground Surf in Coolangatta. I couldn’t wait to have it up on my lounge room wall. I wanted to give my MR board the appraisal it deserved but after searching the internet for hours I couldn’t find a display mechanism that was discreet, easy to install and simple to change and move.”
“So, I discussed this with my Brother-in-Law, (co-founder, Darren Barnes) and together we designed a clear acrylic minimalistic wall rack to showcase my prized possession. As lovers of the ocean, our product had to be sustainable and recyclable as well as Australian made and we have managed to achieve that with Ghost Racks. Now I have a few more MR boards and I get to display them with pride around my home on both wall and free-standing mobile racks and the very cool thing is Mark Richards now shows his personal collection of boards using Ghost Racks.”
Together Atkins and Barnes have grown the business with Barnes adding, “A big part of our business is designing and manufacturing custom racks for boards that are outside the realm. As well as simple organisation and basic display systems, we have spent a lot of time tweaking the product, so we can also customise a a rack specifically for their board/s. I get stoked when the client is blown away with their display. What’s great is we can offer something for everyone – we have hard core surfers using them as well as art galleries, personal collectors and museums.”
Interesting Facts
- Ghost Racks are minimalistic, made from quality materials, sustainably made, recyclable, designed and manufactured in
- Ghost Racks give back to the community by donating to the not for profit, humanitarian organisation, SurfAid. SurfAid work to improve the health, wellbeing and independence of people living in isolated regions connected to them via surfing.
- The World Surfing League use Ghost Racksto display boards at various qualifying series events around the world
- The popular surfing brand, Quiksilver use Ghost Racksfor the vast number of boards being used at the annual Quiksilver Pro, held on the Gold Coast
- The Freemantle Arts Museum’s recent exhibition that focused on the most infamous breaks off the Western Australian Coast and the stories behind the people who live in their greatness, used a mixture of the Conjure Customwall mounted andWraithfreestanding racks to display an amazing collection of vintage surfboards. This allowed the fibreglass time capsules do all the talking rather than the eye being distracted by an installation mechanism.
- The Australian National Surfing Museum in Torquay is currently displaying 22 boards for their Derek Hynd exhibition. All boards in the much-anticipated exhibition are displayed using Ghost Racks.
Ghost Racks allow boards whether for use or collection to appear in their best light with minimal interference. For more visit www.ghostracks.com.au
VIA PRESS RELEASE
