The new balsa wood boards only weighed around 30 to 40 pounds as opposed to the 90 to pound redwood boards. The boards had several coats of varnish applied to waterproof them. Such a reduction in weight was a major step forward in board design and became more and more in demand. The problem at that time was that balsa wood was hard to get hold of in large quantities, and so boards were constructed from both balsa and redwood, thanks to the recently contrived waterproof glue.
And so the centre of the boards was constructed of balsa and the rails of the tougher redwood to strengthen the boards. Plywood was also later used around the time of World War One. The end of World War Two opened up new possibilities in surfboard design. Many new materials had become available through advances in technology during the war. Fibreglass was the most significant of these, also there was plastics and styrofoam. The first fibreglass board was built by a man named Pete Peterson in , this surfboard was a hollow plastic mould, with a redwood stringer a piece of wood running down the centre of the surfboard and sealed with fibreglass tape.
Other pioneering modern surfboard shapers of this era were Joe Quigg and Matt Kivlin. Around this time a very significant man in surf history called Bob Simmons was building balsa wood surfboards and travelling up and down the Californian coast to surf and sell his boards. This board had a styrofoam core, encased in a thin layer of plywood, with balsa wood rails and was coated in fibreglass. It was a man named Dale Velzy that took surfing a further step forward.
Velzy was a well-liked character in California, a talented surfer, and a skilled shaper. He opened up his own surf shop and designed and built surfboards. Balsa wood boards were still around for a while experimentations with foam continued.
The development of polyurethane foam in surfboards came about in around the s. In the mid to late s, Hawaii had become very popular for its big waves.
The gun board was long and narrow making them easier to paddle out to the bigger waves and easier to control on the steep face of the wave. Australia had first been introduced to surfing in by the great Duke Kahanamoku. As production problems were overcome, the new surfboards became very popular and the new Malibu boards went into mass-production.
The average length of the surfboard went from 10 to 6 foot, with an obvious reduction in weight. Dick Brewer is credited with its design. These new boards allowed faster, more aggressive surf and more manoeuvrability.
It was around this time that the twin fin was created, as opposed to just the one. Two fins gave the boards more stability in the water. The most famous Surfer was Duke Kahanamoku who was born in In , he competed in the Olympic Games in Stockholm and won the meter freestyle contest , not least because of the crawl technique that he copied from surfing.
After his success, he traveled around the world and introduced surfing in all regions where the conditions made it possible e. When Hawaii joined the USA as the 51 st state, tourism on the islands boomed as never before. Not only surfing itself, also the tools changed a lot as time goes by. Adhesives which were developed in World War II found a completely new purpose.
Joe Quigg invented the round nose and laminated fins that are covered with fiberglass. These innovations made unbelievable manoeuvres possible. The big surf boom happened one decade later. The second fin in Mark's eyes gave him the ability to make better flowing carves, and that it did! Giving him a huge competitive edge over his fellow surfers.
This lead to further fin innovation, one fin, now two fins? I wonder whats next? More fins are better right? I'm going to give this the benefit of the doubt, although I personally don't see this as "innovation" more following the trend of adding an extra fin, I'll give it some credit for taking the first leap of faith. Another Australian surfer Simon Anderson was the first one to add a third fin to his board in , known today as a thruster setup, the most popular, and wide-spread setup still used today.
Although critics had their doubts about the three fin surfboard Simon blew them away by winning a world cup event at the Offshore Pipeline Masters in on his new three fin board. Records of the four fin are a little blurry, By this point adding another fin to your board is the obvious next move, this comes as no surprise that this was attempted by quite a few people all around the same time. Although the four fin surfboard came out about the same time as the thruster, however, with the success of Simon Anderson with his world cup title using a thruster setup the three fin became the "go-to".
The first noted "fin box" for a removable fin was in the early 's. Although they existed, they were few and far between.
Tom Morey, with an engineer and composite background, was one of the first early adopters of the removable fin system in the mid's. The removable fin box, and fin changed dramatically over the next 40 years, but nothing more notable than the invention of the plug changeable fin system developed by FCS Fin Control System and successfully patented in They're made for our generation of surfers, using modern technology, shaping techniques and materials to offer not only a strong and durable body, but offer a light-weight design.
Computer CAD software is often used to emulate the modern board's shape and design to work out the most optimal, high-performance designs. The first break-through in the way modern boards were made was light-weight materials, balsa wood offered this by using a balsa core, balsa is not only light, but fragile and easily moldered into shape.
Once the board was shaped, a thin coat of fiberglass and epoxy resin was used to give it strength, as well as a long-lasting waterproof shell. Although balsa was easy to carve, it was still wood, meaning hard on the tools, and time-consuming.
That's why the foam core was, and still is a very popular material for modern surfboards, easier to carve, easier to fiberglass, and lighter than balsa. Still used in as the most commonly used material for shaping and design, it isn't going anywhere anytime soon either! Photo Credit: Solana Surfboards. It's now , not only has it been a fun and adventurous story of surfing innovation, but a long one dating back years from to , surfing is now a well-recognized sport, and will make its debut in the Olympics in Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan.
Not only that, but the sport has grown year on year, sponsors are popping up left-right-and-center to get a piece of the action, and although not everyone is surfing for the competition, it does show the popularity and growth. Countries and councils are also seeing the need and demand for "surf only" beaches to be introduced and patrolled, this will give riders a safer, and more enjoyable experience. Surf schools are also becoming more prominent, giving new riders, young and old the opportunity to learn , not only for fun but for fitness and relaxation.
Bring on the future, bring on the sponsors, TV deals and more mainstream media, let's ride the wave and see where surfing goes us next. Close search. We're going to look back at what surfing once was, and not just surfing, but surfboards. I'm not going to lie, this is going to be a monster article, so to save you some time, I have made an index for you to skip to what best interests you: Solid Surfboards How long was the first surfboard?
The first board innovation The first Hollow surfboard Shape changes The surfboard rocker How old is the oldest surfboard? Picture: The first known photo of "surfing" a solid wood board. Let's blow your mind here for a second and talk about the length of one of these beauties! How long were the first solid surfboards? The first board innovation The first major board innovation came in the early parts of the 20th century when a young and talented surfer named George Freeth decided to ditch the 16' board and decided to cut it in half.
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