About Us

Boards, Bays & a Bit of History

Jack started shaping in 1968 as a 15-year-old at Manly Beach, NSW. At the same time, he was making a name for himself in the water too, a standout junior surfer in the '60s, winning the NSW Junior Titles in ’69 and competing in the Aussie titles for half a decade. His time in the water gave him a natural sense for how boards should move and respond, which carried through into how he shaped them.

He learned the ropes under Neal Purchase Snr at Keyo’s, one of the most respected surfboard labels in the country at the time. It was there he picked up the fundamentals: planers, templates, feel, and finish, lessons that never really leave you.

Throughout the 70s, Jack worked for a stack of major labels — Bennett, Keyo, McGrigor — and also spent time at Shane’s, where Jim Pollard was pioneering his early channel-bottom designs. It was an influential moment in surfboard evolution that Jack observed closely. Those years were full of big shifts in design: the transition from longboards to shortboards, the rise of twin fins, and all kinds of experimentation. Jack was in the thick of it.

In the '80s, he moved up to the Central Coast and launched SeaFlight Surfboards. Around the same time, he began working closely with Glen Winton (aka Mr X), who stood out on the world tour for riding quads while most others were committed to thrusters. Glen stayed on the world tour into the early '90s. His surfing was fast and inventive, and he wasn’t afraid to experiment with different designs. Jack worked closely with him during this period, shaping boards that could support Glen’s approach and ideas in the water.

Together, they explored early quad fin designs, stuff that was pretty out there at the time. From what I’ve heard, Glen was full of ideas, and Jack kept pace by shaping boards that matched the direction Glen wanted to take things. They weren’t chasing what everyone else was doing — just following their own ideas and instincts. That’s why so many of Jack’s boards still revolve around quads today. That fast, free feel is something a lot of surfers are reconnecting with, especially as twin fins have come back into focus.

By the mid-90s, Jack was based on the Gold Coast and had set up a factory in Miami, a place a lot of locals would’ve passed through over the years. He continued shaping under the Mr X/SeaFlight label and also shaped boards for the US brand Spyder Surfboards (founded by Denis Jarvis), including a few for surfers on the pro tour. Eventually, he transitioned to shaping under his own name: Jack Knight Surfboards.

In 2012, we started Harvest Surfboards out of that same Miami factory. The idea was pretty simple: revisit some of those older design ideas, chase new feelings, and keep everything purpose-built.

That factory stayed open until 2023. Jack’s now shaping just around the corner in a quieter bay, at The Ding Shop in Miami, run by Anthony Pols — a well-respected local surfer who competed on the QS. Anthony’s been riding Jack’s boards since he was 15, and now they share a space where the shaping continues much the same as it always has. Down south, we’ve also built a workspace on our property in northern New South Wales, a small shed in the bush where we do all the glassing and finishing. It's a simple setup, but it does the job. It feels like the way things were done back in the day — hands-on, practical, and closely connected to the craft.

Harvest has grown from that rhythm. We keep it small. Every board’s built by us. It’s collaborative, and personal, and that’s how we like it.