Skip Frye K Model

Greetings, Shredderz! Look, I’ve never been much of a hashtag guy, but there are exceptions to every rule. In this case, I have wholeheartedly embraced the #fryeday movement, which is a weekly crowdsourced tribute to San Diego’s very own Skip Frye. Pictured here is a gorgeous Skip Frye K Model. The photos were originally posted to the Surfy Surfy Facebook Page. Surfy Surfy was actually a huge influence on this humble little blog, as it was (and still is!) one of the few places online to feature great photos of notable surfboards. You should also check out the physical location, now the Bing Surfboards store in Leucadia, and their cool little coffee shop, which is unsurprisingly named Coffee Coffee. The Frye K Model featured above is currently listed for sale on The Board Source; you can check out the listing here.

According to “The Caretaker of Intangible Ingredients“, the excellent overview of Skip’s shapes published in The Surfer’s Journal, Frye has been producing the K Model since 1978. Here’s what the article has to say about Skip’s K Model shape:

“The K might be the closest thing to a ‘shortboard’ in Skip’s orbit. The shape blends a tight, rounded pintail (something you might see on Occy’s old Rusty boards) with a racy shape that feels like you’re riding a stretched shortboard. Gun-length K Models have been well-surfed by local underground chargers on major swell days at Todos, Salsipuedes, and Little Makaha. While many hold that the model-name references Skip’s Mission Bay High classmate, Barry Kanaiaupuni (who rode Hynson Red Fins), the actual namesake is Pacific Beach surfer Timmy Kessler, who helped with the design.”

“The Caretaker of Intangible Ingredients”, The Surfer’s Journal

More than anything else, I just wanted to post pictures of this stunning surfboard. As we all know, the market for Skip’s shapes is pretty frothy these days. I have no one to blame for this but myself, as I have definitely considered shelling out way too much cash for one of Skip’s coveted sticks. The Skip Frye K Model measures in at 8’4″ x 21 1/4″ x 2 5/8″, and the asking price is $2,800. (Here are two previous posts I wrote on the topic of prices for Skip Frye surfboards.)

The details on this bad boy are killer. I love the triple stringer and the glass on marine ply keels. You simply cannot go wrong with a coke bottle resin tint; I’m confident I will never, ever get sick of boards that look like this one.

It looks like there’s a slight bit of fading near the nose, and the Boardsource link indicates some expected pressure dings on the deck. But I don’t mind visible signs of usage on a vintage board, especially one like this K Model, which is begging to be ridden regularly. I have exactly zero say here, since I won’t be buying this board, but part of me will be very disappointed if this Skip Frye K Model just ends up as a wall hanger.

And of course we have to go with an obligatory shot of Skip’s signature hand drawn wings logo:

Thanks again to JP at Surfy Surfy for sharing the pics of this beautiful Skip Frye K Model. You can see the listing for the board here.

Quiksilver, Danny Kwock and Echo Beach: Sagas of Shred

Greetings, Shredderz! I’m on the road this week, which means no fresh vintage surf ad scans for today’s Sagas of Shred entry. The good news, though, is that we’re borrowing an ad originally posted by the cool kids at Saturdays NYC. If surf nostalgia has a more classic combination than Danny Kwock, Quiksilver and the Echo Beach heydays of the Eighties, I have yet to see it. The ad you see here features a young Kwock absolutely stylin’. I nabbed this photo from an excellent interview with Kwock on the Saturdays NYC website. Sadly, I think Saturdays has discontinued their short-lived but awesome magazine project. If you can dig up a hard copy of the magazines they printed it’s definitely worth it — they are beautiful printed pieces, and mine are carefully stashed away for safekeeping.

And just in case you thought Danny Kwock was a one-tricky pony, here’s proof that he does black tie every bit as well as more casual ensembles. I found the shot of Kwock posing alongside a killer Wave Tools stick on this completed vintage surfboard auction listing. Not sure who the photographer is — if you have any info please do let me know.

Thanks for reading and we’ll be back next Thursday with more Sagas of Shred!

Seventies Rick Surfboards Phil Becker Single Fin

Greetings, Shredderz! We’ve got a very quick hit for you today, but one worth your time nonetheless (I hope, anyway). Of all the defunct surfboard brands out there, Rick Surfboards is definitely one of my favorites. Rick is the namesake of the late, great Rick Stoner, who was an early business partner of Bing Copeland. For a quick primer on the Rick Surfboards label, check out this Deep Dive I wrote up a little while back.

Rick Surfboards is probably best known for its various longboard models. It’s hard to argue with this logic, given that Rick’s short history included the legendary UFO Model and a Barry Kanaiaupuni noserider, among others. That said, I have a real soft spot for Rick Surfboards classic Seventies single fins, many of which were shaped by Phil Becker.

The board you see here is a beautiful Rick Surfboards single fin that’s currently listed for sale on Craigslist in Los Angeles. You can find the listing here. (Note: I do not know the seller.) According to the seller, the board was purchased in 1976 from famed surf shop Val Surf. The seller claims to still have the original receipt for the board, although it’s not included on the listing. The board is 7’11” x 22″ x 3″.

  • Phil Becker signature on the board

I’ve heard that Phil Becker signed his boards with the year in which they were shaped (in this case, 1976), and the number after the hyphen represents a sequential number for the calendar year. In other words, if I’m correct, the Rick Surfboards single fin would be the 1,005th board Becker shaped during 1976. According to this LA Times article, that’s not even halfway through an average year for Becker, who apparently shaped 11 boards a day, to the tune of 2,500 every year.

I think this board is gorgeous, whether it’s the outline, the simple but striking red color, the blue resin pin line, and then the cool gradient graphics on the Rick Surfboards logo. As you can see, it’s in pretty good shape for a board that’s forty three years old, too. The seller is asking $900. On one hand, I get it — this is a beautiful vintage surfboard with plenty of pedigree. On the other, I think the price is a bit on the high end, but I certainly wouldn’t fault anyone for scooping up this shape. Check out the listing here if you’re interested.

Surfer Magazine’s “Handmade 2”

Greetings, Shredderz! We don’t have that much for you, just a tip to check out a great new video from Surfer Magazine. I’m proud to say I just re-upped my subscription to the Bible of the Sport. As long as Surfer is putting out content, I’m there with some hard-earned cash — especially when it’s this good!

“Handemade 2” is the follow up to, you guessed it, “Handmade”, which I covered earlier this year. “Handmade 2” features a stacked lineup of surfer / shapers piloting some of their creations through some dreamy waves: Alex Knost, on some Campbell Brothers-inspired Bonzers; Andrew Doheny, of Slobcraft; Shyama Buttonshaw, an Aussie ripper based out of Bells Beach; and Ellis Ericson, whose recent experiments with Greenough-style edge boards were documented in the excellent “On the Edge of a Dream” project.

Anyway, enough from me: you can watch “Handmade 2” in its entirety below.

Photo at the top of the page features Alex Knost and it originally appeared on the YouTube link you see above.

Timeout: Buttons and Local Motion

Greetings, Shredderz! It’s Thursday evening, which means it’s time for a fresh scan of a vintage surf ad. The latest Sagas of Shred entry features Button in an ad for Local Motion Surfboards. The ad originally ran in the October 1983 issue of Surfer Magazine (Vol 24, No 10). I featured a different Buttons / Local Motion campaign almost two months ago, which you can check out here.

I’m not quite sure what, exactly, is going on. Buttons looks…mad, almost? And is the woman in the ad supposed to be emptying sand out of her shoe? Confusing Eighties surf ads are a constant source of amusement for me, but I’m legitimately puzzled by this one.

Still, though, I’m into it! The graphic design is rad. How good does that simple red Local Motion palm tree logo look? And yes, I’m intrigued by Buttons’ board. It’s too bad you can’t get a good look at the tail and the fin setup.

Thanks for reading and we hope to catch you next week for more Sagas of Shred!

Rip Curl Owl Chapman Single Fin

Greetings, Shredderz! Today we’ve got an unusual stick for you that represents one of my favorite corners of surf history: Australian / Hawaiian mash-ups. Last week’s Social Media Roundup featured MR and his collaborations with Ben Aipa on the latter’s famous sting. MR also recently posted an awesome photo of some boards he had worked on with Dick Brewer. Today’s post features a rad Owl Chapman single fin shaped under Rip Curl, the legendary Australian brand best known for its wetsuits. The photos of the board come courtesy of a reader who goes by Red Robo; give him a follow on Instagram if you’re into more pics of sweet Aussie sticks.

I’ve been told the photo above shows Owl shaping some boards during a 1977 visit to Torquay. I spent an appalling amount of time going through the Australian National Surfing Museum’s Facebook page to try and find the original version of the photo, but didn’t have any luck. Nonetheless, it’s clear that Chapman not only visited Australia multiple times, but also shaped boards during this time. Surf Research notes that Chapman shaped boards for Goodtime Surfboards during pit stops in the Seventies. The Vintage Surfboard Collectors group on Facebook has a couple of cool examples of Goodtime boards shaped by Owl. Here’s a ridiculous Goodtime / Owl board with a Shane Egan airbrush, which I posted about on Instagram below; and here’s another insane example of a Goodtime / Owl stick.

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I try not to poach too many pics from the Vintage Surfboard Collectors Group on Facebook but in this case I couldn’t resist! Pictured here is an absolutely killer Owl Chapman single fin with a Shane Egan airbrush that someone shared to the group. Wish I knew more about the origins of the board. Can’t tell if Owl shaped this on a trip to Australia or if Egan did the airbrush when he was in Hawaii. If you have more info comment below. Either way this is a ridiculous board and you’re going to want to swipe through the pics for some closeups of all the sick details! #vintagesurfboard #vintagesurfboards #vintagesurf #owlchapman #owlchapmansurfboards #owlchapmanunderground #shaneegan #airbrushaficionado #shredsledz

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And if you still haven’t had your fill of Owl’s Australian collaborations, the cool folks at Von Weirdos sold a sweet single fin that Chapman shaped under Terry Fitzgerald’s Hot Buttered label.

The Owl Chapman board you see here is 6’6″ x 20″ x 2 3/4″. The board’s owner estimates the board was likely shaped in 1977. I also understand this board was a little shorter than what Chapman was usually shaping at the time, but it was crafted for smaller Bells Beach and other nearby Victoria breaks.

There are numerous references to Owl Chapman and Michael Peterson taking a road trip down to Bells Beach in 1977 after MP won the Stubbies contest. Cheyne Horan mentioned the trip in a recent Tracks writeup. A commenter in the Vintage Surfboard Collectors group referred to the trip as the “Fear and Loathing trip”, and given Chapman and Peterson’s reputations, it’s likely this is a tame description of what actually transpired. Apparently MP and Chapman concluded the road trip in Torquay, where they both shaped boards at the Rip Curl factory. I can’t say whether the board featured here in the post is one of them, but it’s definitely a cool story involving two of surfing’s all-time great characters.

It’s interesting to note the board has both a Rip Curl laminate on the bottom, as well as the classic Owl Chapman Underground logo on the deck. For my money, the Owl Chapman Underground laminate is one of the classics. You can see the board has also been clearly signed on the stringer.

I was able to find exactly two other Owl Chapman Underground Rip Curl surfboards. One is a wing pin on the Vintage Surfboard Collectors Facebook group; the other was featured on Facebook Marketplace. I have reproduced the photos of the Marketplace board above. It looks like someone might have made off like a bandit with that one; as far as I can tell the board was listed for a mere $100 on Facebook somewhere in Australia.

Thanks again to Red for sharing pictures of this awesome Rip Curl / Owl Chapman single fin!

Photo at the top of the page by Peter Crawford and found on Cargo Collective.

Seventies Dyno David Nuuhiwa Single Fin

Greetings, Shredderz! Today’s post falls in the short but sweet category. All we have for you tonight is a sweet stick, courtesy of yet another generous reader. The board you see featured in this post is a beautiful Seventies Dyno Surfboards David Nuuhiwa single fin. Click on any of the photos below to enlarge.

The Dyno David Nuuhiwa surfboard has a beautiful airbrush along the rails and the full beak nose that is practically standard on Seventies single fins.

I’ll never get tired of the simple and beautiful lines of well-crafted single fins. The Nuuhiwa board pictured here definitely does not disappoint. I love the outline, the substantial amount of foam that has been tucked into the shape — this thing probably paddles like a Cadillac — and finally, I’m also partial to the swallow tail / single fin combo.

And if you weren’t already sold, the fin on this bad boy is ridiculous. I’m not sure if the fin came with the board, but it looks pretty similar to the airbrush on the deck. The fin alone is worth the price of admission for me.

Sadly, I don’t have some of the key details on this board, such as the dimensions, and who might have shaped it. That said, Terry Martin, Steve Walden and Steve Brom were some of the main shapers producing boards under the Dyno Surfboards label at the time. There is no signature on this Dyno David Nuuhiwa model, just a serial number. On a side note, I have seen “standard” Dyno Surfboards with just the bird logo referred to as David Nuuhiwa boards. I think this is incorrect. You’ll notice the board in this post has a clear David Nuuhiwa script beneath the Dyno logo, and while this seems obvious in hindsight, I think it’s worth pointing out.

For bonus reading, check out some Instagram posts below that go into Nuuhiwa’s involvement with a few different labels, including Dyno and his own namesake brand.

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This is David Nuuhiwa in his shop on 5th St and PCH in Huntington Beach in 1968…the shop was called David Nuuhiwa Surfboards and the boards were shaped by Terry Martin…(is it just me or does that mini logo look like an early ying yang town and country circle- check the boards to his right) …and next door was Walden Waveboards.. the building he is standing in was next to El Don Liquor on PCH and was later where Plastic Fantastic surf Shop was at on that corner on 5th St. The building was soon torn down and left as a parking lot but was the site for many early surf shops .. also Dick Brewer I believe and Dyno and a few others .. The transition was moving so fast at this moment .. boards were changing by the week .. David Nuuhiwa was instrumental in board design with his multiple shops (later had another shop on 6th St called David Nuuhiwa Surfcrafts with Robert Highsmith and labels: Dyno, David Nuuhiwa Surfcrafts…Nuuhiwa Surfboards.. Full Force Walden shapes made at the Dyno factory … how many different boards was Nuuhiwa involved with ? This snapshot in time maybe left a few boards that will show up at the Sunset 60s on September 28th .. sign up at Katin @katin_surfshop photo from Steve Walden ..sponsored by @quiksilver @benny_big @martinshapes

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Sam Hawk, Owl Chapman, David Nuuhiwa and Dick Brewer..1972 in the Dyno factory that was on 5th St in Huntington.. (The Dyno surf shop was on Main St. on the right side of the Jacks Surfboards building in the same spot that Carl Hayward had a shop later on starting in 1978) …Brewer was known to shape in different shaping rooms when he visited HB .. he also shaped in “The Greek” shaping room and others… the main shaper for Dyno was Steve Brom who dialed in the “Gun Fish” and “Rocket Fish”… Steve is still making amazing shapes these days… Sam also recently shaped a bunch of boards at Foam EZ when he was visiting and those boards are on sale now at HSS.. photo from the new book “Surfing in Huntington Beach” by Mark Zambrano @benny_big @foamez #dynosurfboards @steve_brom @hsssurf @quiksilver all roads lead to Huntington Surf History

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1975 O’Neill Ad by Rick Sharp

Greetings, Shredderz! Due to some unforeseen scheduling issues I was not able to provide a fresh scan of a vintage surf ad for this installment of Sagas of Shred. After spending some time in some strange Google rabbit holes — you haven’t hit rock bottom until you’ve scrolled through pages of results for “More Core Division” — I found the rad O’Neill advertisement you see here. The ad sports O’Neill’s classic “It’s Always Summer on the Inside” tagline, which was also the title of Jack O’Neill’s autobiography. The same tagline is also associated with O’Neill’s most infamous (and NSFW) ad, which you may have seen before. I found this image on a blog called Jack Elliott’s Santa Barbara Adventure. See here for the original post. The same blog also posted a very cool vintage Channel Islands Surfboards ad from the same year, which you can find here. According to Jack Elliott’s blog, the artwork in the O’Neill ad was done by an artist named Rick Sharp. I love this style and I can’t help but wonder if it’s overdue for a comeback! It appears as though Sharp continues to work today; you can check out his website here.

Thanks for reading and we’ll resume our regularly scheduled Sagas of Shred scans next Thursday.

Social Media Roundup: October 2019

Greetings, Shredderz! Regular readers know the rules: keep scrolling for some of my favorite vintage surfboard-related social media posts from the past month or so.

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On the front lawn of the Surfection board store in Byron Bay last Tuesday evening. Dean Shoppe who owns the store is holding a 6'4" twin fin which is the board I was riding at Off The Wall in the photo on the cover of my book. I'm holding one of the first boards I shaped in Dick Brewers room at Chuns Reef in 1977 on the North Shore. It was a custom single fin for my friend Leonard Brady & for its age it's in immaculate condition. Luke Carter is holding a 6'8" single fin "Sting" shaped by the inventor of the Sting design Ben Aipa. This was one of my boards & I rode it in the Rip Curl Bells Pro in 1976. All 3 boards are now owned by Luke who lives on the "Sunny" coast. It was awesome to get to see & feel them again, they brought back lots of memories. @dean_sho2 @chris_athas @ljmrc @surfectionbyron @dick_brewer @aipasurf @dukeaipa @quiksilver @ripcurl_aus @mikypicon @pierre_agnes #markrichardssurfboards #markrichardsshapes #mrtwinfin #mrretrotwinfin #mrretrosinglefin @bernie_baker1 @luisrealcollection

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For all my ignorance of Australian surf culture and history, I remain a huge, unabashed fan. And as an American, I’m particularly interested in how Australian and American surfers often exchanged ideas in Hawaii, the birthplace of the sport that is conveniently located between the two continents. When Mark Richards wasn’t riding his own designs to world titles — still an incredible, and perhaps underrated, feat — he was a devotee of Ben Aipa’s iconic sting. There’s a Dick Brewer shape tucked away in that group, and the Al Dove airbrushes are classic, too. I’ve been meaning to do a longer post on MR’s love affair with the sting, so hopefully I get around to it sooner than later.

Luis Real is a fixture in the Social Media Roundup, and that’s because he keeps buying rad boards and posting about them. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I think I prefer the Seventies T&C single fins to their more famous (and colorful) Eighties thruster counterparts. This one was shaped by Dennis Pang and it has a very similar color scheme to a Glenn Minami-shaped T&C Dane Kealoha model I wrote up a little while back.

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#inspiration #rickrasmussen ✊️

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The Rick Rasmussen picture above is in honor of the absolutely epic run of swell that New York has seen this past October. RIP to the original Slick Rick the Ruler.

Skip Frye ordered a board from Marc Andreini?! How awesome is that! I don’t know Mr Frye, but everything I’ve heard about him echoes my experiences with Andreini, who has been gracious, patient, and unfailingly generous with his time and knowledge in our limited interactions. Oh, and yeah, they both shape awesome boards, of course.

Is there anything more classic than a pristine Gerry Lopez single fin? I can’t stop staring at the outline on this thing. Give Liquid Salt / Glenn a follow; he posts beautiful pictures with consistently informative captions.

Phil Edwards Honolulu Follow Up

Greetings, Shredderz! Some of you may recall a gorgeous Phil Edwards Honolulu surfboard I recently wrote up, which remains one of my favorite boards I have featured on this blog. Well, I’m happy to report that the board has begun its journey back to Hawaii. The Phil Edwards Honolulu model made a pitstop in San Diego with none other than Joel Tudor.

The board was surfed but I understand the conditions weren’t anything to write home about. Even so I’m so stoked to think that this was probably the first time the board had seen the Pacific Ocean in at least forty plus years. I also can’t wait to see when it goes back into the water in Hawaii, too. Stay tuned for more.

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Testing 1…2…3 Hawaii time soon

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Finally, if you look in the comments in the Instagram post above, it looks as if Tudor nabbed a template off the board. Excited to see what other designs this ends up inspiring.

Thanks to Todd Pinder for the photos, and check out an earlier Shaper Spotlight feature on Pinder here.