EP 18 | Anne (BroomsShapes) - DIY board shaper & gear maker

Anne, the self-taught shaper behind Brooms Shapes, is a Berlin-based biologist and kitesurfer who builds almost all of her own gear: twin tips, surfboards, fins, and a hard shell harness moulded on a plaster cast of her own back. She lives two and a half hours from the nearest kite spot, works part-time so she has time to ride, and builds everything in an attic her neighbours lent her after they saw the machines taking over her flat.

They cover how Bagua Tai Chi helped her land the back roll, why seat harnesses kept hurting her hips, how she laminated her own shell with old coffee bags and padded it with a yoga mat, and what it took to trust it on the first session. Anne walks through the hacks that make standard bars fit short arms, and the failures behind every board: a rocker that sprang straight back out of the press, a cork-railed board that leaked water all over her car, and bio foam that gave way under her front foot in Klitmøller. She explains why agave stalks are now her core of choice. They also get into greenwashing in the kite industry, buying second-hand, whether a board could one day go on the compost, the Motherboard (yes, with real computer chips laminated in), wetsuit repairs with dental floss, and a paracord hack to stop your harness riding up.

Practical, curious and full of the kind of encouragement that makes you want to go build something. 🌊

Chapters:00:00 Introduction01:50 Meet Anne — kiting from landlocked Berlin, and how Tai Chi helps her back roll05:39 Bouldering, small hands and chasing board-offs07:05 Why she built her own hard shell harness09:32 A biologist, a plaster cast of her back and coffee-bag lamination11:41 The first ride — trusting a harness you made yourself14:40 Adapting the bar and spreader for short arms18:34 From boat building to twin tips — and the rocker that sprang back22:06 Why build boards — from heavy cork and crumbling bio foam to agave cores26:02 Coffee bags, flax fibre and the plant-based resin problem28:57 Her day job, and the Motherboard — computer chips laminated into a surfboard31:31 Greenwashing in kite brands and the case for second-hand gear35:10 An attic workshop, YouTube tutorials and the idea of board-building classes38:04 Why not a kite? Recycled-bottle fabrics and a board for the compost41:16 How kitesurfers can be more sustainable43:19 Wetsuit repair — glue, dental floss and surgical stitches47:17 "Just do it" — failure, evolution and her prototype fails51:15 Your first board — directional vs twin tip, inserts and DIY fins54:01 Safety, costs and her next one-press vacuum project58:10 Old boards as decor and a friend's test ride59:32 A paracord hack to stop your harness riding up1:03:09 Closing thoughts