The History Of Surf Board Design

12 Pages 3097 Words

Spanning over 100 years of surfing history, this scale model collection (above) showcases some of the significant changes in surfboard design from the centuries-old hardwood boards of the Hawaiian Islands to the innovative balsa and foam shapes of the mid-20th Century.



One of Duke Kahanamoku's original hardwood surfboards (above) hangs in the International Surfing Museum.



In this assignment I shall investigate the evolution of the surfboard, and the impact that modern developments have on the industry.


The definition "to surf " has held meaning for people all over the world for many years. For some it is a competitive sport, for others a hobby, and for others a release; an enlightenment reached only by becoming one with their surfboard and the sloping plane of water gliding beneath them.
There is an art to finding the perfect wave, your own perfect break, determined selectively by the certain style of board you enjoy riding and the type of wave you like to surf. The fundamentals to surfing entail no more than a plank to perch on, and a plane of water that breaks from one side to the other. It is from these elements that the legends of surfing have derived.
During the early 1950's, the image of the surfer riding a longboard became established through films as an easygoing popular lifestyle. Over the next few decades the longboard that had forced its popularity at the top of the social scale evaporated. Since then it has slowly been regaining ground. Meanwhile the introduction of the shortboard led surfers to experiment with new techniques and skills that they never new existed within the sport. The introduction of new materials, new designs and fin experimentation added even greater ground to the vast expanding pastime of surfing. The original shortboard design is still visible in today's advanced technology, though each individual surfboard shaper tends to add individual creative twists to the design process tha...