history of surfing

People come to Cabarete to surf encuentro.  here is some history on surfing:

History of Surfing

Riding the waves goes back hundreds of years to Hawaii. This is where is all started from and not from humble beginnings either. Once considered a Royals only pastime to now one of the hippest and coolest pastimes to master on beautiful plant earth. Combining the finest elements of water, wind and waves there could not be a more natural way to pump your body in a mere matter of seconds to a thumping adrenalin rush climaxing in the pure joy of surfing back to the beach, thousands have been doing it for years and it is now the fastest growing sport in modern history.

Hawaiian royals used to surf or wave-slide in style, called “he’e nalu”. Before commencing they said their own prayers and chants to call in the big swells and had their own board shapers. Their boards were so heavy they were left on the beach as no body would dare steal their boards anyway. Competitions were held often with hundreds of locals lining the shoreline cheering on their favourite royal; betting would take place on the outcome.

Earliest recorded entry

During Captain James Cook’s third and final expedition to the Pacific both his ships the HMS Discovery and the Resolution made the first ever recorded European visit to Hawaii in 1778. They had been looking for passage for over a year for some way back from the North Pacific to the Atlantic when Cook stopped at the western end of the island chain. He stopped at Kealakekua Bay and unfortunately was then killed by Hawaiians after trying to kidnap their high chief hoping this would force the Hawaiians to return back a stolen boat. After his demise Lieutenant James King took over and was given the job of continuing the narrative of Captain Cook’s journals.

Because of this 1779, we now have the first ever written recorded description of Hawaiians surfing thanks to Lt. King and his ships log.

He writes about a common diversion upon the water where there is a very big sea. Later describing how between 20 to 30 men lie themselves flat upon an oval piece of plan about the size and breadth of their body, keeping their legs close on of it and using their arms to guide the plank. They wait for the highest/greatest swell that will eventually set upon the shore and push with their arms on top, sending them at a most astonishing velocity back to shore. The great art being able to keep the plank in a proper direction on top of the swell as it changes direction. He continues to mention about the danger of the rocks close by and how the men quit their plank and dive under the water until the surf is broke. A great number of men are overtaken by the break of swell which they dive and swim under the water out of it’s impulse. He further quotes that these men may be almost amphibious. He realizes that the above diversion is only intended as an amusement and in a gentle swell he conceives this must be a very pleasant motion which this exercise gives.

An Extinct tradition

The Tradition of Kings was an integral part of Hawaiian culture much as is religion for most people or a specialized sport you follow like a religion with the same passion and beliefs. High chiefs were free to demonstrate their skill in the surf. With the arrival of more white men and a super onslaught of puritanical Christian belief rammed down the poor Hawaiians throats, surfing was practically outlawed and became more or less extinct by the 1900’s.

If it was not for the dedication of people and especially a Hawaiian King named David Lalakau a staunch advocator of sport and surfing for his country then this sport may not have survived at all to see the 20th century.

Another advocator of the sport was Duke Kahanamoku who was also a two time Hawaiian Olympic swimming champion. He was eventually beaten by the original Tarzan, Johnny Weissmuller in 1924. However the Duke was an avid surfer at Waikiki and would later become one of the nation’s great ambassadors by taking his peoples culture to the world on a surf board.

Board History

Traditional Hawaiian boards did not have fins and to control and direct your board it was a hard job as your foot did all the work by dragging it behind in the water! One person credited with putting the first fin on a board is Tom Blake. Solid and heavy wooden boards were made and ridden right until the early 1940’s. During wartime hollow plywood boards were introduced, known as toothpicks, these were laminated with redwood for better floatation but were still heavy and most surfers could just about drag them down to the shoreline!

By the 1950’s balsa wood and fiberglass had thankfully made boards lighter and easier to control, (not that much lighter though a typical board would weigh in at around 45-50pounds/20plus kilos). Surfing was taking off in California big time and Australia was just dipping her toes in the sport by then. Famous surfers of this era were Phil Edwards, Dewey Weber and Mickey Dora.

Late 50’s introduced foam boards on the marketplace but they were not super strong and needed three stringers and dozens of layers of fiberglass.

Surf movies made in Hollywood and music gave a huge leap in popularity to the surfing realms as before surfers were seen to be dangerous layabouts and general rebellion youth hell raisers.

In 1964 the first ever World Surfing Championship was held in Manly with Midget Farrelly from Australia winning, bringing more surfboard companies to flourish in both Sydney and California. However the more competitive surfers wanted smaller boards so they could get better performances in big or small waves. Most of the surfboards in the mid late 60’s were a standard nine foot in length. A lot of the pro surfers were cutting down in length and by their own experimentation altering fin and rail design too. By 1968 surfboards were being cut short by most avid surfers throughout the surfing world from one minute being a nine foot board right down to a five footer in a week.

Modern Board Innovators & Designers

During the 70’s the professional world of surfing grew with the Australians dominating the championships, one person in particular who should be named is Geoff McCoy who developed the single fin board to its most evolved state. Meanwhile back in Hawaii Gerry Lopez expanded short board capabilities on big waves. Mark Richards won four world championships in a row from 1979 – 1982 on his famous two twin fin surfboard, however this didn’t suit everyone so Simon Anderson from Sydney put another fin where his foot was and created the triple fin “thruster” which enabled him to surf to glorious victory at Bells in 1981.

In conclusion to board history and board making some of the best ideas and innovations of recent times have come from six time world champion Kelly Slater and board designer Al Merrick both of who work closely together. Kelly can maneuver and balance no matter where he’s surfing be it big or small waves and he sums up that it is a matter of just matching individuals to their boards.