Firewire Surfboards Great White By Slater Designs

Firewire Great White by Slater Designs: Kelly Slater's Twin-Fin Groveler

The Great White surfboard is Kelly Slater's answer to a question every surfer eventually asks: can a board that paddles and catches waves like a hybrid actually turn and respond on the rail like a shortboard? Designed with Bali-based shaper Mike Woo and built by Firewire Surfboards under the Slater Designs label, the Great White Twin draws its outline directly from the profile of a great white shark. The result is one of the most distinctive and functionally honest grovelers ever produced. It creates speed in weak waves, controls speed in powerful waves, and excels at tight arcs in punchy pockets and quick wraps on shoulder sections where most small-wave shapes stall or wash out.

Shark-Inspired Outline and Shape

The plan shape is wide-point-forward, inspired by the silhouette of a great white shark rather than a conventional fish or hybrid template. What separates the Great White from a traditional fish is where the volume is placed. Rather than distributing foam through the rails, Slater concentrated the volume at center and brought the rails down to a fine, responsive edge. The board paddles and catches waves like something significantly longer and wider, but the moment rail is engaged it reads like a shortboard. You get both without the usual compromise.

The tail rocker is elevated well beyond what you would expect from a board of this width. That lift is deliberate. It is what allows the Great White to set a tight arc in the pocket and snap off the top with genuine shortboard precision, rather than tracking out on a wide arc the way a flatter fish tends to do. On the backhand especially, the elevated tail rocker allows you to come over the top cleanly and re-enter the pocket without the board washing through the turn. Slater identified this backhand feel as central to the design goal.

Twin-Fin Drive and On-Rail Performance

The twin-fin setup is fundamental to what the Great White does. Speed generation, side-to-side drive, and the free pivot feel through open-face carves all come from the fin placement working in tandem with the swallow tail. In a standard twin configuration the board is at its fastest and most flowing through turns, with the kind of down-the-line glide that a three-fin setup cannot replicate.

Where most twin-fin designs sacrifice pocket snappiness for open-face flow, the Great White recovers that response through the fine rails and elevated tail rocker. The board does not slide loosely through the pocket. It snaps, releases quickly off the top, and holds a rail through a wrap with authority. The description from the Slater Designs team is precise: the board has the speed of a twin fin with the immediate response of a thruster. Those two things typically live on opposite ends of a trade-off. The Great White is designed to collapse that trade-off.

Who Is the Great White Twin For?

The Great White is built for intermediate-to-advanced surfers who want high-performance results in conditions that would otherwise call for a compromise board. The fine rails reward committed, rail-engaged surfing. The twin-fin drive rewards surfers who can generate their own speed through hip drive and redirection. Beginners and early intermediates will not unlock what the shape offers; surfers with solid fundamentals surfing regularly in waist-to-head-high conditions will find it transforms otherwise ordinary sessions.

In Kelly Slater's words: "It is a quest to create something different in a slightly different way that appeals to where I want to go on a wave. Discovering a new feeling under my feet, drawing a new line, or taking a completely different track on a wave is something I never stop dreaming about. Now being able to share and grow that idea with others is what keeps surfing fun for me."

Wave Range

As you would expect from a Slater Designs shape, the Great White is built for high-performance surfing, but it can excel in everyday waves as well. It is most at home in the waist-to-overhead range where surf can be inconsistent or underpowered for a conventional shortboard. Because the twin-fin drive and wide-point-forward outline generate their own momentum, the board does not need a powerful wave to get moving. In punchier, steeper conditions the elevated tail rocker and fine rails provide enough control and hold to keep the board from washing out through critical sections. Backhand surfing in particular benefits from the tail rocker geometry, which gives the board a pivoting, snappy quality that most boards of this width cannot match on heel-side turns.

Construction and Feel

The Great White Twin is produced by Firewire using a lightweight composite construction process. The build produces a notably lively, springy feel underfoot relative to the board's overall volume. Paddle speed is amplified by the low overall weight, and the snappy outer skin delivers immediate response from rail to rail that a heavier build of the same outline would not replicate. The board is finished in a single colorway; use the variant selector on this page to choose your size.

Slater Designs recommends surfing the Great White at your performance shortboard volume, or just slightly above it. Sizing up aggressively is not needed because the wide-point-forward outline already provides the paddle and float you need. Staying at or near your normal volume keeps the fine rails active and preserves the on-rail feel that defines the board. The complete size chart below lists published dimensions for every size in the range.

Slater Designs x Firewire at Island Water Sports

Slater Designs is Kelly Slater's collaborative shaping label operating under the Firewire umbrella. Since launching, Slater Designs models have become some of the most sought-after performance shapes for surfers who want world-class design in a modern composite build. Island Water Sports carries Firewire and Slater Designs boards in South Florida. Call us at 954-427-4929 with sizing questions or to speak with a surfer on our team who has ridden these boards.

Free Shipping, No Minimum for IWS Beach Club Members.

Returns are eligible within 30 days of receiving your order. Return shipping labels are FREE for IWS Beach Club Members. See more