I posted this question once before on Swaylocks and got somewhat of an answer. Now, My restoration is almost complete, and I would like a better answer. The object in question is an old Pop-out board. The label on the board read “SPORTFLIGHT”. It has an inlaid stringer, a gigantic wood skeg with a 1" rope bead. I was able to completely preserve the fin, bead and all. I stripped the board completely of glass, filled in all the bullet holes and re-glassed with blue opaque. I am in the process of putting white resin panels on it, like it was originally. I couldn’t live with the boxy square rails, so they have been “Cooperfished” out a bit, besides, they were pretty rough. Now the board is almost complete and it looks brand new. I am re-creating the “SPORTFLIGHT” logo for it. It would be nice to have more information on the Sportflight brand, who made them, who distributed them. A swayaholic had suggested that Sears may have carried that brand. Googling Sportflight gets me nowhere. One hit about a guy who learned to surf in the 60’s and purchased a Hobie Sportflight. Somehow, I don’t believe mine is a Hobie. Don’t know if I’m going to keep it or sell it, but I’d like to know the history behind the bloody thing. Pictures coming soon! A copy of an old magazine ad would be fantastic if any collectors out there can find it! And oh by the way, I’m not expecting it to be worth a whole lot. It was given to me and I just thought it fun to bring it back to life, so no heckling!
Not much info on those, that I can find . Sam Ryan’s guide says: Los Angeles, well made popout.
As far as the claim about a “Hobie Sportflight”… Very unlikely.
I don’t know why you are replicating the logo? Now that it’s been stripped and the shape is modified, it’s basically a recycled blank.
Stripping the glass must have been a chore. Typical 60s popouts had one layer of 10 oz, and a layer of mat impregnated in the foam during the molding process. If you had to remove the mat I’d guess it made for a lot of work.
The Sears ‘house brand’ was Healthways. Those were made by Dextra.
Well…maybe this board is not a Pop-out then because the glass came off super easy and there was no mat glass. It looked like all 10 oz. The foam is also SUPER hard. Some kind of extra super classic foam! That made stripping the glass even easier. It came off in sheets. The inlaid stringer and the way the fin was attached is why I assumed it was a pop-out. The fin has a 1/2" tab on the bottom that fit into a 1/2" slot cut into the foam, then it was glassed on with roving. Perhaps this was an extra cheap Pop-out and that is why they did not bother to use mat glass?
Not all of the pop out were make with glass mat so don’t let that change your mind about it being a pop out. I can say that every pop out that I ever saw did not have the tape off on the rails sanded off. In other words there was always a bump on the rails all the way around the board. The foam that was used back in those days was way heavier then Classic, in fact I think it would have been called “regular foam” by Clark. A friend of mine learn to surf on a Sear’s board but it was called something else can’t for the live of me remember what it was called.
It sounds like you stripped off the 10 oz and what was left is the mat blank. I don’t think you could strip off the impregnated mat very easily. Big chunks of foam would come off with it.
The glass did come off completely down to the foam because I sanded the board some to get rid of some of the staining and yellowing. If you would have seen the board before I stripped it…you would have probably thrown it in the nearest dumpster. It was used for target practice outside for years and not salvageable with the old glass on it. I really did not have the intention of stripping the glass, it just kind of came over me. If the foam would have chunked off with the glass, the board would have been off to the dump. So, really, I now have a really nice, heavy, old school board for the cost of a glass job and some time. Wish I would have taken some “Before” pictures, but I will post new pictures when I finish it off…
Ok. But from everything you’ve said, I still think maybe you’re dealing with the mat blank. It’s the mat that turns yellow or brown in some cases.
Just to explain a little more what a mat blank is: They would lay up 6 0z mat in the mold, pour in the foam and then close it up. The foam then blows and becomes impregnated with the mat on the shell. There’s a lot of force when the foam blows and attaches itself to the mat. The mat is actually part of the blank. When it came out of the mold it would have a seam with a protruding edge that then gets knocked off and the blank with a hard mat shell went into the glassing room where it usually got a single 10 oz glass job.
The foam under the mat would not be very hard at all.
It is hard to tell without seeing it though.
The more expensive pop outs were the ones that didn’t have mat glass and they didn’t tan or yellow as quickly.
Some pop out lines had a more expensive model that they called a “hand shape”. Maybe that’s what you have. If you’re sure that it’s not a mat blank.
Yup, mat blanks would come from the factory with a fuzzy ridge of glass strands all the way 'round the rails. It would get sanded off before the 10 oz was applied. Some popouts didn’t have mat. Those were typically sold as ‘semi custom’ or even custom. Just marketing labels. there was nothing “custom” about them. Foss foam was pretty much the main supplier in popout blanks. Some may have been built using Dave Sweet blanks, too. Sweet had a large number of close tolerance molds and you could virtually glass one of his blanks without shaping it to any degree and get a passable looking board.
Two dead giveaways on 60s popouts are the routed stringers and that tape ridge on the rail that most didn’t bother to sand away.
Well, I think I am pretty certain that there was no mat. Just really hard foam with plenty of buckshot. I had a Pro shaper friend plane down the stringer, just to brighten it up. He is also the one who went over the rails for me. He did not say anything about the foam being that unusual except for being very hard. So now, what I have is a really retro basically new, 60’s longboard. The thing is flat as a coffee table. I was thinking of putting a fin box on the deck side too. That way if the deck wears out, all a person would have to do is flip the board over and put in a new fin! Kind of like turning your clothes inside out to get more wear outa them. As soon as I finish the white panels on the bottom, I will take some pictures of it. It had panels on it originally, so I am sticking with the same program.
Now. What’s it worth? Just for giggles, as I doubt that I really want to sell it.
Leslie----------- There used to be a chain of department stores in Calif. by the name of “Whitefront”. I’m sure those boards were sold there. No idea who the builder was. I’ve got an 11 foot blank of the same foam. It had the mat on it and it stripped easily with no chunking. I’m sure that if your board had mat on it you couln’t have misseed it
Hey…I just uploaded a picture. See the top of this thread. I just finished striping the top and bottom and have not cleaned it up yet. Resin still wet.
That’s interesting that it came off so easily. Only tried it once. Had a mat blank, a 2nd that had kind of “exploded”. I think the foam was still blowing after it came out of the mold. It was all distorted. I tried to strip off the mat to reshape it. Very difficult to get the mat separated from the foam.
Of course that was back in 1962? So maybe it wasn’t as hard to do as I remembered.
I just saw the chatter on the sportflight surfboard from 2004. Well, I still own one in it’s original shape and most important I still ride it here in Florida with my son.
Don’t know where this all concluded but if there was any conclusion as to it’s history great. Let me know.
Here are couple of links to logos and such. I bet that is going to be a good looking board after it leaves your glassing room. The heavy foam and reshaped rail line will make that a nice glider. Post some pics! Tom S.
