Early 1970s Surfboards Hawaii Shortboard by Ben Aipa

Name: Early 1970s Surfboards Hawaii Shortboard by Ben Aipa
Brand: Ben Aipa
Price: 2149 USD

About the Item

Early 1970s Surfboards Hawaii single fin shaped by Ben Aipa. Features a double pin line design, tri-color single fin, and the original Surfboards Hawaii swallow-tailed bird logo. This was the very first logo Aipa used when shaping for Surfboards Hawaii. Years later, after creating his infamous AIPA block letter logo, Donald Takayama asked Aipa if he could use the swallow-tailed bird image for his Takayama surfboards logo. Aipa happily passed on the design to his good friend. See below excerpt from Ben's son, Duke Aipa describing the origin story of the Hawaiian swallow tail surfboard. “One of my favorite stories my dad tells is the story of the swallow tail. Like a shaman in a cave he reflects on it like a piece of Hawaiian folklore and with great pride and enthusiasm he talks about how two Hawaiian kids worked and made their way into World’s Contest at Oceanside in 1972. “These two kids sat off the left side of the jetty and made it all the way through the finals to win on swallow tails”. Those “kids” were Michael Ho and Larry Bertlemann. The most classic part of this is Dad said that after LB and unko Mike ripped their heats, the next day the mainlanders took saws to their boards and hand cut swallow tails into their boards! A little known fact is back then when he was shaping at Surfboards Hawaii, his original logo was that of a swallow tail bird with his name inside. Once Dad changed his logo to the Infamous block logo, his friend Donald Takayama asked if he could have the bird image to use as his logo. Dad happily passed it on.” Ben Aipa is also known as the creator of the first ever winged surfboard called "Da Sting", which was invented in the early 1970s. The positioning of the wing enabled an early release and sharper turn in the pocket of the wave. The unmistakable surfboard outline ushered in one of the most revolutionary moments in surfing history. To this day, the influence of the sting shape can be seen in modern day winged surfboards.

Creator:

Ben Aipa (Maker)

Dimensions:

Height: 86 in (218.44 cm)Width: 19 in (48.26 cm)Depth: 3 in (7.62 cm)

Materials and Techniques:

Fiberglass,Foam,Softwood

Place of Origin:

United States

Period:

1970-1979

Date of Manufacture:

1970-1974