Perfil

António Leopoldo "Leo" was born and raised in Peniche, Portugal one of Europes best surf destinations.  He started surfing at age 12; fascinated with the sport he made it his career.  He started repairing surfboards at age 15 then at age 17 worked for Popôa Surfboards as a Glasser and Sander.

In 1990 Leo was ranked amongst the Top 20 in the Portuguese Surfing circuit, that same year he started his own surfboard brand Leo Surfboards which at a later date was changed to Phynix Surfboards.

In 1995 he received an invitation by shaper Glen D’Arcy, which took him to Jefrey´s Bay (South Africa) to shape for brands such as Byrns, Local Motion and Byrning Spears surfboards.  Within 6 months Leo refined his techniques and concepts of shaping, which he brought back with him and put toward his own development of surfboards.

Leo frequently travels to Basque Country (Spain), one of the highest qualities of surfing in Europe and shapes for Watsay and Blend Surfboards and their respective team members.

With the consistency and diversity of the waves in Peniche, it makes it an optimum site for testing surfboards. .   

Leo believes in quality, he always starts with the finest materials for the construction of his surfboards and only works with Blanks imported from Australia and California.  Currently he has more than 5000 surfboards to his name.  He has proudly created surfboards for some of Europe and the rest of the world’s finest surfers.

Innovation is our priority!