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My recollection is that we started doing these models about Spring of '66. Phil Edwards and David Nuuhiwa were the first two of the best surfers in those days to come out with specially designed signature models. The company that I worked for wanted to follow suit and seeing how I was at the top of my game, I was picked out of all those guys on the surf team to have a model named after me . . . quite an honor since there were a lot of top guys riding on the team at that time. Just about every shape that was being ridden in those days was a square tail. I was asked what type of shape I thought would be best for riding Malibu and RinCon. I suggested a pintail since that was what I had honed my skills on when I was riding my 9’ 2” balsa pintail in the late 50’s.
The first run in Spring-Summer of '66 had 3 redwood stringers. In spring and summer of '67 we changed the outside stringers to balsa wood to make them a bit lighter. The 3rd run in the summer of '68 had high density colored foam offset stringers with black glue. The fins during the first half of this 3 year period were the yellow-gold glass fins with the black pinline around the edge set in about one inch. On the second fin we simply reversed the look and made a black fin with a yellow pin line. I've always maintained that those late 60's signature models represented a fine tuning in longboard design. The had gone from the flat rocker, bulky round rail design of the early 60's to the thinner egg rail, more rocker and, in the case of the Mike Hynson model, a narrower, swept back fin similar to fins that are used today. I don't remember the exact numbers but I do remember that at the peak of the original Classic 60’s production, we were cranking out 10 to 15 of those pintails a week! These numbers varied, of course, depending on the season. This went on for the better part of 3 years. But it was right in the middle of our 3rd summer. Bob McTavish had been to the U.S. with his revolutionary shorter Aussie "V" bottom. By the end of Summer/68, the longboard era as we knew it was history. Just about everybody in surfing immediately went, or were eventually pressured into taking up short boarding. There were a couple of us die-hards that stayed on our longboards. I kept riding my original 10 foot pintail right on up to the late 70's. I never did do the short board thing.
I also contend that when our modern longboard era that came back around 1989 to 1990, that the traditional shapes that we see today simply had started up where it left off in the late 60's. The materials are different . . . blanks and resins are lighter. But that has been a problem with some older guys who want a board made the way they were made before. It's hard to get it exactly right mainly because of the materials. But hand made shaping and glassing techniques have stayed pretty much the same, probably because there are still some of the older unsung heroes still working behind the scenes at the factories. They remember the way it used to be done. The template for my current reproduced version came from that original 60's 10 footer that's still hanging in my garage (the fin template as well). Yes, the rocker is less but I believe that a nice conservative all around rocker is more functional than those old rockers. I sell quite a few of those Classic 60s pintails around home. Even some of the local guys here who have gotten spoiled riding their light weight tri-fins have purchased these 60's pintails. One of the most common things I hear is that these boards take them back to that swing-turn, cruising-trimming type of surfing that we enjoyed in the 60's. Every time we went to our favorite shop as kids and ordered up, we always hoped to get that magic board that would give us a bit of everything. I really don't know exactly what made these pintails work so well in just about any type of surf conditions. All I know is that we got lucky. And that's what I'm trying to hold on to with this new version...to come as close as I can to reproduce that "magic" board...only to do it with every board, if possible.So far, it's working. And you know what they say . . . "If it ain't broke..."
So if you come to California, look me up. I'll show you my original 10 foot, 3 redwood stringer, double 10 oz. Volan pintail. We've just gotta realize that no matter which of all these original makes and models that we see at a contest or a surf museum...it's all good stuff. And the memories of having been there and seeing it all happen . . . WOW! Weren't we blessed to have lived at one of the most special times ever in surfing. All the riches of the world couldn't pay me to change a thing. For these experiences themselves are the real riches. Don't you agree? |
