R.I.P Al Byrne The undisputed king of the Channel Bottom August 8, 2013 – Tags: , ,

Al Byrne has died in Bali, after a motorbike accident. It is with great sadness that we share with you that Iconic shaper Al Byrne has died after crashing his bike in Bali over the weekend.
Al Byrne was known as a legendary surfboard shaper, in Australia & around the globe amongst the worldwide surfing community. As a young surfer from the Sunshine Coast, I can remember Al being one of the first shapers i heard the name of, the older crew would speak about his Indo & Hawaii boards being the best you could get your hands on.
The sadness across the greater surfing community will be felt in every corner as average Joe surfers to the worlds best poor out there condolences via social media. We would like to extend that message as sincerely as we possibly can. A massive career that saw him shaping guns for many pro’s including Kong who i saw posting photos of his board that had him dubbed ‘Mr Sunset’ all those years ago in the 80’s .
Too have a career that lasted as long as Al’s is testament to his fine product. His Channel bottoms & perfect big wave boards are sort after far & wide. But it wasn’t only making surfboards that he excelled at, Al was no slouch in the water either & he also started Byrning Spears clothing stores which did a roaring trade through the 90’s & early 2000’s .
I don’t want to speak to in depth about Al & his life nor do i want to comment about what happened in Bali over the weekend, as in both cases i would be speaking out of turn. All I would like to do is send our deepest condolences to Al’s family & close friends & that we have felt this one here at TWS as we do every time one of the surfing community is taken tragically & too soon!