Our mission isn’t over yet, and the journey continues. Thanks to the strong friendship between Fisio and Mark G, we managed to secure a lead for a new interview. We changed regions, seas, and faces.

In just a few days, we found ourselves face to face with Mark G, a surfboard shaper from the Marche region. His specialty is longboards, and Mattia Maiorca is one of the young talents currently competing on his boards. Before the meeting, we did a deep dive into everything we could find about Mark G – our curiosity was sky-high, and we had plenty of questions.

We kicked things off with his logo: an iconic image often seen on many of his boards is the face of his mother, a mystical and highly charismatic figure. In the logo, she’s wearing sunglasses and throwing up the rock ‘n’ roll sign, with the phrase ‘Made in Adriatic’ written around her.

This honorary tribute was well-earned by popular demand, as during the years she spent by Mark G’s side, she became the legendary mascot of his workshop. Promo videos, event sponsorships, late-night car rides – like any true rockstar, Signora Maria quickly turned into a brand, featured on boards and t-shirts that sell out fast. From her retirement home, she’s still riding the wave of the surf industry, proudly rocking her own ‘Made in Adriatic’ t-shirts.

Let’s rock with Maria. Made in adriatic vox populi

Mark G is a proud part of the surf culture known as #MadeInAdriatic, a confident surf club made up of kind souls from the Adriatic Sea – a rare phoenix that awakens gloriously only a few (but precious) times a year.

His social media bio reads: ‘This is the kingdom of “Made in Adriatic”, where Mark G stands as the fiery, legendary icon of the sometimes rough, sometimes reserved shaper.’ Truth be told, Mark G is anything but rough. A few minutes of conversation with him, and you quickly realize that behind the reserved wave-reverend persona, there’s a friendly chatterbox. But when we mention that there’s little info available on him, he simply smiles and says: «Thank goodness».

We quickly realized that, despite his warm nature, he’s a pretty private guy. He stays true to the surfing tradition of the hidden, the untold, and the passed down – elements that in many ways define the very essence of surf culture.

Honestly, it almost feels wrong to tell his story, but Mark G’s story is a beautiful one (sorry, Gianluca, this might not be the visibility you were hoping for, but it’s the story we deserve). It has all the hallmarks of a love story – love at first sight, serendipity, and fate – only here, it’s wrapped in polyurethane foam, polyester resin, fiberglass, carbon, and wood. Before Mark G became a shaper, he was just like many of us: a regular guy with a regular job, everyday passions, and a deep connection to that liquid world of dreams, neoprene, and wax.

Mark G beyond destiny

Sometimes, at life’s breaking points, the extraordinary emerges. And it was at just such a moment that Gianluca decided to open a surf school. Armed with determination, he headed to city hall to secure a small shed as his base of operations.

The city official, a little hurried, flipped open a large book listing beaches and seaside facilities, pointed at a small shed, and immediately assigned it to Gianluca. The shed was old and needed work, but enthusiasm and good intentions were in abundance, so the renovations began.

For an entire week, as Gianluca worked on fixing up the shed, he kept kicking around an old piece of plastic on the ground. At first, he didn’t pay it much attention, but the plastic kept resurfacing, almost demanding to be noticed. Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be a sticker from Valentino – the first Adriatic shaper, who, back in the ’80s, flew from Ancona to Hawaii to learn the art of surfboard shaping firsthand. Sometimes, destiny knocks on your door; other times, it lands at your feet.

From that moment on, Mark G became the shaper we know today – or rather, the shaper we know too little about. Wise, shy, kind-hearted, with an incredible sense of humor.

For the younger generation, his advice is simple: «Close your eyes and think of a job you could do for fifteen hours straight without ever getting tired».

Thank you, Gianluca.

Silvia Scarpa

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