Design and Technology

According to Greg Noll, Bob Simmons was the very first to ever try foam in a surfboard

Hobie Alter makes balsa boards in his garage

George Downing creates the ‘speed skeg’ that with its broad base and narrow tip is 20 years ahead of its time

Hawaiian George Downing builds the first wooden ‘fin box’ incorporating a removable ‘speed skeg’

Hugh Bradner, in San Francisco, begins work on the first wetsuit

First fin box used by Hawaiian George Downing

Dave Sweet of Santa Monica builds the first polyurethane-core boards

Jack O’Neill introduces his surfing wet suits at Ocean Beach in San Francisco

Dale Velzy introduces his popular, easy-riding, wide-tailed “Pig” design

Board manufacturer Dale Velzy designs broad ‘dorsal’ shaped fin, attached at the tip of the tail

Hobie Alter and “Grubby” Clark begin working on large-scale foam production

White zinc oxide used by surfer for sun block, flesh color Australia in 1970

Larry Gordon and Floyd Smith build a mold and begin blowing their own foam and building surfboards

CSU-Long Beach Art Professor Lee Willmore begins career creating artistic laminated wood fins

Surfboard and wetsuit maker Jack O’Neill opens a shop in Santa Cruz, CA

George Greenough makes his first balsa kneeboard in high school woodshop

The typical surfboard ranges in length from 9’6″ to 11’0″ and is 22″ to 24″ wide

Hobie Surfboards, now built from the new polyurethane foam, comes with a solid fiberglass fin attached

Print fabrics for clothing are laminated onto surfboards to add color and graphics by Bill Holden of Huntington Beach

O’Neill and Dive ‘n’ Surf are the top wetsuit manufacturers

George Greenough makes a 7′ 8″ x 22″ Baby Surfboard and also his first solid balsa kneeboard

The clumsy, rudder-like “D” fin becomes the industry standard, limiting surfboard performance for years

George Greenough, an eccentric kneeboarder from Santa Barbara, takes his spoon kneeboards to Australia

The Donald Takayama model is released under the Hap Jacobs brand

Hobie offers a removable polypropylene fin attached by a screw that tightens through the deck of the board

The Lance Carson Signature board model by Jacobs Surfboards is released

George Greenough’s “Velo” kneeboard is mostly fiberglass, with foam in the rails

Karl Pope designs the Tri-Sect, a travel board that breaks down into three pieces

Harbour Surfboards introduces the Trestles Special with the input of Mark Martinson

Surfers at the Morey Noseriding contest have boards as short as 8 feet, turbo-fins and tail bricks

When most boards are 9′ 9″, Bob McTavishs’ 9′ 4″ for Nat Young is dubbed “Magic Sam”

Life magazine calls the skateboard “the most exhilarating and dangerous joy-ride this side of the hot rod”

The John Peck Penetrator evolved from the Snub, which was designed by Tom Morey

Mike Doyle and Rusty Miller create the first wax designed for surfing

First limited-edition signature model “Da Cat” is made by Greg Noll

Dewey Weber designs the sport’s most distinctive fin, the narrow-base, wide tipped Hatchet or Turn Fin

Dewey’s new fin comes with an optional removeable “Wonder Bolt” fin-box system

The Lance Carson model is introduced in conjunction with Jacob’s Surfboards out of Hermosa Beach, California

Bing Surfboards introduces the David Nuuhiwa Noserider model.  The design is the all-time winningest noserider

Hobie Surfboards introduces the Gary Propper Signature model and it surprises everyone

Designed by Bob Purvey as an extreme noserider, the Ugly is introduced by Con Surfboards

Nat Young tries a Greenough fin on 9’2″ “Magic Sam.”  Nat wins ’66 World Contest in convincing fashion

U.S. Surfboard Championship was first to use computers for scoring surfers

The Bing Pipeliner, is an influencial design most big-wave riders want to ride

The Surfatorium at Tokyo’s Summerland Water Park is the first wave pool for surfing

Hynson, Brewer, Rarrick, Fletcher and others experiment with 8-foot and under “mini guns”

Ever-innovative Tom Morey develops W.A.V.E. Set, a removable fin system

Steve Lis of San Diego shapes a split-tailed kneeboard he calls the “Fish”

Board sailing (windsurfing) is invented in Southern California

The Mike Doyle model is introduced by Hansen Surfboards.  This 9’0″ to 11’0″ board sold for $160

Made by the Morey-Pope The Blue Machine was designed and ridden by Bob Cooper

The C.C. Rider is introduced by Con Surfboards.  Claude Codgen was one of the top East Coast surfers in the ’60s

Bob McTavish and Nat Young travel to Hawaii with their newly devised Keyo V–bottomed surfboards

Reno Abellira rides a 6′ 10, 7-pound roundtail at the ’68 World Champs in Puerto Rico

Average board length drops below 7’0’’

Fins Unlimited introduces the “Vari Glas” movable fin system, allowing surfers to experiment with fin placement

The typical surfboard is produced with one or two layers of 8oz. fiberglass cloth

Hobie, Bing and Hansen all market wide squaretail twin fins

Bill Bahne’s new Fins Unlimited adjustable channel box is introduced and remains virtually unchanged today

San Diego kneeboarder Steve Lis turns heads with his twin-tailed, twin-keeled Fish design

Skip Frye designs a wide, thin, mid-length surfboard called the “Egg”

Ben Aipa of Hawaii designs double-pinned “swallow-tail”

Dewey Weber introduces “the Pig.” The board is incredibly short (5’3″ to 6’3″), with the widest point behind center

Ventura surfer Tom Morey invents the boogie board using polyethylene foam, an electric carving knife and an iron

Reno Abellira and Dick Brewer experiment with tri-fin designs

Pat O’Neill invents the surf leash, which first attaches his wrist to the nose of his board

Con Colburn, of Santa Monica, invents the leash plug

U.S. Champ Corky Carroll rides the wide-tailed “twin-fin” featuring two double foiled fins set right on the tail

Mid-length (6’6″ to 8’0″) narrow-tailed semi-gun speed shapes are popular in California and Hawaii

The Campbell brothers of Oxnard, CA introduce their three-finned “Bonzer” design

Ben Aipa innovates a spilt-back tail he calls the “swallowtail”

Smooth-riding urethane wheels bring skateboarding back in vogue

Jim Blears and David Nuuhiwa finish first and second at the World Contest riding Fish

Dick Brewer’s broad-based, thick-foiled single fin design is used to 90% of all surfboards built for the next five years

Ian Cairns rides a Bonzer to victory at the 1973 Smirnoff, beating Jeff Hakman

Hawaii Ben Aipa creates the split-railed, single-fin swallowtail “Stinger” design

Mike Doyle and Tom Morey introduce a soft surfboard with interchangeable fins

Australian Jim Pollard is credited with shaping the first deep-channel boards. Many embrace the design

Surfers Brian Gillogly, Clyde Beatty and Dean Edwards begin refining their “Rocket Fish” a prescient twin fin design

The average surfboard is now produced with six-ounce fiberglass cloth on deck and bottom

Use of airbrushed color on shaped foam allows abundant color on surfboards without significant weight increase

Mark Richards unveils his winged-swallow, towed-in flat-foiled twin-fin design on an unsuspecting public

Mark Richards’ version of the twin-fin takes the surf world by storm

Michael Barland invents computerized surfboard building in Bayonne, France

As surfboards are refined and weight is reduced; surfing maneuvers evolve

While the standard board uses 6oz. cloth, 4oz. cloth is slowly being integrated into pro performance surfboards

Narrabeen surfer Frank Williams shows his three-fin design to Simon Anderson

Multi-fin surfboards (twins and tri-fin) spark a return to non-box, glassed-on fin designs

Simon Anderson designs a board that combines the three-fins with the “needle nose”

Hobie Surfboards introduces the Peter Pan Slug.  The Slug has becomes one of the best-selling models of all time

Simon Anderson adds a double-foiled trailing fin to similar-sized, flat-foiled side fins and calls it The Thruster

Subtle channels and concave bottom contours become common in all surfboard design variations

Serious experimentation with polystyrene blanks and epoxy resins is initiated in the U.S.

Gerry Lopez and other Hawaiian surfers try windsurfing in large North Shore surf

Simon Anderson wins Bells, the Surfabout and the Pipe Masters to prove the Thruster

Simon Anderson’s guns are swallowtails.  He wins the ’81 Pipe Masters on a 7’6″ swallowtail

Squashtails maintain dominance for most small/medium wave designs of the era

Cheyne Horan, men’s tour runner-up for the fourth time in his career, tries riding a 5’9″ surfboard at Waimea Bay

Four fins make a brief appearance, ridden by Australian pro Glen Winton and California freesurfer Davey Smith

Cheyne Horan begins working on the winged keel, inspired by the America’s Cup sailing races

Cheyne Horan introduces the winged keel and amazes all by winning the annual Bells Beach contest in Australia

Bill Stewart spearheads the modern longboard resurgence with the hydro-hull design concepts

John Bradbury, Clyde Beatty, Greg Loehr and others experiment with epoxy resin

Sunset Beach superstars Bobby Owens and Mark Foo swear by their oddly-curved, reverse rake Boomerang fins

Rash guard made of Lycra first used to prevent wetsuit chafing

Tom Curren wins the first of three World Titles riding a Channel Islands Thruster

The rubber-silicone nose guard first marketed by Surf Co Products.  Hawaiian Earl Arakawa and Dave Skedeleski developed the guard

Herbie Fletcher uses a JetSki to tow Martin Potter during the Pipe Masters in Hawaii

Multi-fin big wave guns become commonplace on Oahu’s North Shore

Auto-focus 600mm lenses by Canon, Nikon, etc. bring quality surf photography to almost anyone who can afford it

Willy Jobson takes the twin-fin, moves the side fins in and adds fins forward on the rail.  The design fails to catch on

Surftech develops a mold-lamination process using epoxy resin and polystyrene blanks

Warp cloth, a new fiberglass, is introduced but E-cloth remains standard for production boards

Rear-foot traction pads, led by Astrodeck, are standard equipment on performance surfboards

Modern longboards (single, tri-fin and 2+1 designs) regain popularity

Cut-away fin designs from the windsurfing discipline are adapted for use on modern longboards

Applied traction pads for the rear foot, led by Astrodeck, become standard on high performance surfboards

Astrodeck creates full deck traction pads for longboards

Kelly Slater test-rides the new Typhoon Lagoon wave pool at Disneyworld in Orlando, Florida

Longboard resurgence creates a cottage industry of hand made single-fins, fitted to the Fins Unlimited channel box

Spray-on deck traction sees a return on both short and longboards

The 650cc Yamaha Wave Runner III emerges as the machine of choice for tow surfers

UV-Cure resins gain popularity in usage for surfboard ding repair

The first signs of color laminations reappear, and gloss-and-polish longboards become popular again

After a 30-year absence, 1960s style resin tints and pinlines return on custom longboards

Soft, rubber-edged fins are developed for use in interchangeable fin boxes

Aussie Brian Whitty designs the FCS plug, the first truly functional system for high performance surfboards

After a 30-year absence, resin tints and pinlines return on custom longboards

Natural materials like Agave Cactus are used for surfboard blanks with epoxy resins

Small (7’0″) solid, heavy wood boards with footstraps become standard big wave tow-in surfing

Karl Pope reinvents the two-piece travel board, “The Bi-Sect”

Soft surfboards make a comeback with Surftech’s soft-top technology

The typical tow-surfing board is down to 7′ x 15″ with lead for extra weight

Retro board designs from the late 1960s and 1970s are re-evaluated and become very popular

Bob “The Greek” Bolen of Huntington Beach invents the Turbo Tunnel Fin

Hydro Epic produces a hollow carbon fibre and epoxy resin surfboard series

Randy French is voted one of Surfer Magazine’s 25 Most Powerful People in Surfing

Clark Foam’s closing is a catalyst for the greatest era of surfboard manufacturing diversity in years

Ocean-X constructs prototypes for a transparent skin, polycarbonate surfboard series

SurfTech has 10,000 TufLite boards in 150 different flavors in their Huntington Beach warehouse

Hemp, bamboo, flax and other natural materials are tried as a replacement for fiberglass cloth

The Ron Jon Surfpark project is shut down after millions of dollars fail to produce a wave

Kelly Slater wins the Pipe Masters on a 5’11”, four-fin surfboard later called “the Wizard Sleeve”

After almost three decades of tri-fin domination, four fin designs begin to make inroads

Nathan Fletcher adapts his small wave four fin Stretch models to big wave four fin guns

Scientists equip a board with an accelerometer, and other gauges. They find surfers experience up to 5 g’s

Kelly Slater wins the Teahupoo Pro on a four-fin. Later, he wins the U.S. Open at Huntington Beach, also on a four-fin

Shane Dorian wins the XXL Ride of the Year Award riding a monster Peahi peak on a John Carper four-fin gun

Global Surf Industries layers fiberglass and hand-laid coconut husks to create a surfboard that is 25 percent lighter

At the inaugural ASP Big Wave Tour event held at Pico Alto, Peru, 99% of all competitors ride four-fin gun designs

Mick Fanning wins the J-Bay Pro in epic conditions riding a Thruster virtually unchanged since 1981

Shapers now targeting volume and over-all water displacement (not dimensions) for performance shortboards

Surfboard and Fin flex is being seriously studied for future board designs and materials

Soft surfboard decks being developed to reduce impact on surfers ankles and feet of aerial landings