The company started with Hyman, who built boards in Australia for 35 years. Instrumental in the development of computer shaping, he wanted a way to mass-produce top designs with the precision of machines without compromising quality. That’s why in 2005, he started the company that would become Firewire. The process was extremely laborious, but now the San-Diego based company has expanded and has a successful factory in Thailand. Hyman said, “It’s just sensational what we’ve achieved in such a short time.”
Aside from performance-based innovations, the company has garnered recognition for their efforts to reduce the environmental impact of their boards. In 2005, Firewire won the EuroSIMA Environmental Product of the Year Award. “It was proven that our surfboards released 50 times less Volatile Organic Compounds than a traditional surfboard during the manufacturing process and the life of the surfboard,” said CEO Mark Price.