What to Look For When Collecting Surfing Memorabilia

Captain James Cook was one of the Westerners to record the sight of Hawaiian men surfing the waves on long narrow boards in the 1700's. Unfortunately, the disapproving missionaries who arrived at the islands almost completely stamped out this hedonistic local activity.

The sport began resurgence in the 1920's and 1930's led by Duke Kahanamoku. Duke was an Olympic swimmer and sometime Hollywood actor who rode a 16ft-long board made of solid Californian Redwood. He lent his name to an array of surf-related merchandise including shirts, boards, Aloha print shoes and ukuleles. Other Hawaiiana that might interest surfing fans are traditional Polynesian woodcuts and carvings, plus prints by Eugene Savage, the artist employed by the Matson Line cruise ship company.

The most popular area of collecting, however, is vintage surfboards. These range from early 19^th century wooden planks to the foam and fibreglass creations of the 1980's and 1990's.

American surfer Tom Blake pioneered the lighter hollow board in the 1930's, creating the first production model. Blake is considered by many to be the Godfather of modern surfing; he is also credited with inventing the surfboard fin and the sailboard as well as introducing performance surfing competitions.

Long redwood boards from the 1040's and the later resin-coated balsawood boards are widely considered as objects of rare beauty by collectors and can fetch thousands of dollars at surfing memorabilia auctions.

Styles of board went short in the 1970's. Some of the best examples were made by Dewey Weber of Lightening Bolt. Ben Apia's 1973 "stinger", featuring sting rail and swallow tail, set the style associated with 1970s riders like afro-haired Larry Bertlemann. Another rare board from this era is Gerry "Mr Pipeline" Lopez's red Lightening Bolt, which he rode in the 1976 Pipeline Masters.

Simon Anderson's three-fin "thruster" design went on to dominate the market in the 1980's. These boards remain a good buy today, although dings (surface dents) seriously decrease their value.

Surfing Related Items To Look Out For: