Clayton Nienaber started surfing in 1982 and quickly moved through the amateur ranks in competitive surfing, earning himself provincial and national colours. He then went onto the WQS tour where he proved that he was a force to be reckoned with but due the economics in South Africa he decided to use his knowledge of surfing and surfing equipment to become a successful shaper.

Clayton started shaping in 1994 and served his apprenticeship at Safari Surfboards, where he learnt every detail of surfboard design from spraying to shaping. He was then tutored by Baron Stander where he honed his shaping skills and started testing new shapes and designs on his own personal surfboards.

Since those days Clayton has moved up leaps and bounds and has opened one of the most successful surfboard factories in South Africa. Clayton has spent his time refining his shaping techniques with some of the worlds top surfers. Clay currently makes boards for Adriano Desuza(WCT), Travis Logie(WCT), Ricky Bassnet(WCT) and a host of other top WQS surfers.