These days anyone can grab a surfboard and hang 10. From its humble wooden beginnings, we explore the surfboard’s past—and look to its future.
CIRCA 500: Surfboards are to sixth-century Polynesians what Ferraris or giant flat-screen TVs are to Americans today—the ultimate status symbol. And size matters: Tribal chiefs and nobles ride boards as long as 25 feet, while commoners catch waves on 7-footers.
1778: During a stop in Hawaii, the crewmen of Capt. James Cook's HMS Discovery become the first recorded Europeans to witness surfing.
"I got the board placed right, and at the right moment, too; but missed the connection myself. The board struck the shore in three-quarters of a second… and I struck the bottom about the same time, with a couple of barrels of water in me. None but natives ever master the art of surf-bathing thoroughly." — MARK TWAIN, ROUGHING IT, 1872
1907: Surfing makes its mainland debut at an event for, weirdly, the railroad. Hawaiian George Freeth—who reinvigorated surfing by cutting his 16-foot redwood board to a more nimble 8 feet—demonstrates his skills in this publicity stunt for the Redondo—Los Angeles Railway.
1926: Tom Blake—who was born in Wisconsin and later moved to Hawaii—drills holes in his 15-foot-long redwood board to reduce its weight, then encases it in two other pieces of wood. His friends scoff at the "Cigar Board," but in 1930 a version of his super-fast board becomes the first ever to be mass-produced. Seven years later, he publishes plans for a DIY board in PM.
1932: The introduction of balsa decreases surfing board weights from 100 to 30 pounds—which makes impressing beach bunnies by hoisting a board overhead much easier.
1934: Hawaiian surfers taper the tail end of their boards; the new, more hydrodynamic design allows them to maneuver into the curl of the wave and ride in the pipe.
1935: Blake creates the fixed-tail fin, which increases maneuverability and stability. (Twin fins hit surfboards in the late '60s, triple fins in the early '80s.)
1940S TO '50S: Fiberglass, invented in the '30s, is used on surfboards after World War II. In the '50s, Hawaii's George Downing creates "gun" longboards: Shaved from polyurethane and finished in fiberglass, the narrow, lightweight boards are ideal for big-wave riding.
"My surfer knots are rising / And my board is losing wax / But that won't stop me, Baby / 'Cause you know I'm coming back… Surfin' is the only life / The only way for me." — BEACH BOYS, "SURFIN'," 1961
1971: Sick of losing his board after wipeouts, Californian Pat O'Neill (son of wetsuit designer Jack) comes up with a DIY solution: suction cup + surgical cord = surf leash.
FEBRUARY 2011: Spanish firms Tecnalia and Pukas equip a board with a gyroscope, an accelerometer, a GPS, and strain gauges to gather data. They find surfers experience up to 5 g's during sharp turns.
NOVEMBER 2011: Hawaiian Garrett McNamara rides a 90-foot wave—shattering the previous record, a mere 77 feet—off the coast of Nazaré, Portugal.
2012: Global Surf Industries layers fiberglass and hand-laid coconut husks over an expanded polystyrene core to create a surfboard that is 25 percent lighter—and 35 percent stronger—than most other boards. Surfboards continue to get more high-tech, thanks to devices like the WaveJet, a water-propulsion system that attaches to the bottom of boards and allows surfers to cut through water at up to 7 mph. Using the device, McNamara paddled into a 45-foot wave; the only way to catch a breaker that big before was to be pulled in by jet ski. Gnarly!
CIRCA 500: Surfboards are to sixth-century Polynesians what Ferraris or giant flat-screen TVs are to Americans today—the ultimate status symbol. And size matters: Tribal chiefs and nobles ride boards as long as 25 feet, while commoners catch waves on 7-footers.
1778: During a stop in Hawaii, the crewmen of Capt. James Cook's HMS Discovery become the first recorded Europeans to witness surfing.
"I got the board placed right, and at the right moment, too; but missed the connection myself. The board struck the shore in three-quarters of a second… and I struck the bottom about the same time, with a couple of barrels of water in me. None but natives ever master the art of surf-bathing thoroughly." — MARK TWAIN, ROUGHING IT, 1872
1907: Surfing makes its mainland debut at an event for, weirdly, the railroad. Hawaiian George Freeth—who reinvigorated surfing by cutting his 16-foot redwood board to a more nimble 8 feet—demonstrates his skills in this publicity stunt for the Redondo—Los Angeles Railway.
1926: Tom Blake—who was born in Wisconsin and later moved to Hawaii—drills holes in his 15-foot-long redwood board to reduce its weight, then encases it in two other pieces of wood. His friends scoff at the "Cigar Board," but in 1930 a version of his super-fast board becomes the first ever to be mass-produced. Seven years later, he publishes plans for a DIY board in PM.
1932: The introduction of balsa decreases surfing board weights from 100 to 30 pounds—which makes impressing beach bunnies by hoisting a board overhead much easier.
1934: Hawaiian surfers taper the tail end of their boards; the new, more hydrodynamic design allows them to maneuver into the curl of the wave and ride in the pipe.
1935: Blake creates the fixed-tail fin, which increases maneuverability and stability. (Twin fins hit surfboards in the late '60s, triple fins in the early '80s.)
1940S TO '50S: Fiberglass, invented in the '30s, is used on surfboards after World War II. In the '50s, Hawaii's George Downing creates "gun" longboards: Shaved from polyurethane and finished in fiberglass, the narrow, lightweight boards are ideal for big-wave riding.
"My surfer knots are rising / And my board is losing wax / But that won't stop me, Baby / 'Cause you know I'm coming back… Surfin' is the only life / The only way for me." — BEACH BOYS, "SURFIN'," 1961
1971: Sick of losing his board after wipeouts, Californian Pat O'Neill (son of wetsuit designer Jack) comes up with a DIY solution: suction cup + surgical cord = surf leash.
FEBRUARY 2011: Spanish firms Tecnalia and Pukas equip a board with a gyroscope, an accelerometer, a GPS, and strain gauges to gather data. They find surfers experience up to 5 g's during sharp turns.
NOVEMBER 2011: Hawaiian Garrett McNamara rides a 90-foot wave—shattering the previous record, a mere 77 feet—off the coast of Nazaré, Portugal.
2012: Global Surf Industries layers fiberglass and hand-laid coconut husks over an expanded polystyrene core to create a surfboard that is 25 percent lighter—and 35 percent stronger—than most other boards. Surfboards continue to get more high-tech, thanks to devices like the WaveJet, a water-propulsion system that attaches to the bottom of boards and allows surfers to cut through water at up to 7 mph. Using the device, McNamara paddled into a 45-foot wave; the only way to catch a breaker that big before was to be pulled in by jet ski. Gnarly!
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