Anyone have info
Possibly shaped by Steve Brom, who sometimes checks in here under Magic Man. Try a PM.
The side fin slots are for PressLock Tri-Fins. A fin system that I designed and marketed in 1970/1971. I later (1973/74) gave the system to Billy Caster and Phil Castignola, who sold quite a few of the systems over the next year or so. I still have some of those fins, if yours have been lost.
Hi Ray. Are you Herb’s brother? Your single fin looks like a blast to surf. Mike
thanx.
?
Wah Hoo. Herb always mentions you with brotherly pride here. Mike
me…
Aloha Ray,
I’m sending you a PM. I have some black, clear, and ivory white fins. I’m down San Diego way. Give me a call, when you can, eh, I used to live on Makau St, in Makaha, in the late sixties. Herb and I have compared notes before. Small world.
Bill
Ah, Dyno & the David Nuuhiwa label.
My personal bit of history with that label: I graduated high school in Goleta half way thru my senior year in January and immediately enrolled in college getting a “2 S Deferrment” for being a full time student versus ending up drafted & in Vietnam. My lottery number was right on the cusp of going and I really didn’t want “the Vietnam experience”.
Instead, a buddy and I saved our pennies and opened up a surf shop on Tecolote Street in old downtown Goleta. We were set to offer David Nuuhiwa Surfboards along with William Dennis Boards who I had been a team rider for Bill “Blinky” Hubina. I was shaping, but still developing my craft to what would later become worthy of competing in the market place.
When we were set to open shop, and after distributing flyers everywhere known to man in our area, we were informed that the Nuuhiwa label had fallen into problems and we would not be able to carry them. This was in 1970, and we were told that we should contact Bill Bahne in Encinitas, who actually made the boards.
We were 17 years old embarking oon our first surf shop ever, and of course, this was a gigantic blow to our inexperienced little minds. We got hold of Bahne, took the ride south, and it turned out to be the best thing that could have ever happend. Once we got to the factory up on the hill in Encinitas, we met Bill, the glasser Wayne, “Peter Pinliner”, Grubb the polisher… the quality of the Bahne product was off the Richter Scale, and we gladly opted to carry them instead.
More importantly, we unknowingly became involved in offering the leading edge design of the “Mike Hynson Model” featuriing the"full length breakaway downrail offering an entirely revolutionary cooncept known as “Natural Rocker”!
We were told that Natural Rocker allowed you to surf, and even turn the board from forward positions and skim across the top of the water like never before. Mike told me the original design collaboration with Dif, RB, and possibly Herbie, was an attempt at eliminating the fin altogether. (Guess they had taken to much acid and forgotten concepts like penetrating the boundary layer, etc.).
We hopped onto the Bahne train, and every time we would paddle out at Rincon, or Campus, or anywhere else in our area we would get the same question: “WOW, DOESN’T THAT BOARD DIG RAILS”??? …and off we would go, explaining the concept of “Natural Rocker” and where they could come and see the new boards we were offering.
That first year, even though we were clueless on business but big on enthusiasm, we sold the 2nd most surfboards in Santa Barbara next to Yater. The entire Bradbury, Rincon crew save one, got on Hynson’s, forcing JB to look at the design and create his own version. (Note: John Bradbury & Hynson, are my greatest shaping influences as a shaper to this day - being self taught by emulating John’s " magic" boards that I rode as a little urchin team rider until I was satisfied with my own).
At the end of the day, I think the advent of Natural Rocker was the single most important development of surfboards in the modern era, even eclipsing the addition of two more fins by Simon Anderson (and Dick Brewer who was also doing it w/Abellira simultaneously). No doubt others (probably like Thrailkill - I wouldn’t be surprised) were playing with such concepts at the same time.
I managed and ran the Dyno Surfboards shop in 1972-1973 for the owner Dick Lippincott (owner, non surfer, strictly businessman). David Nuuhiwa was there occasionally, but was more of just a figurehead. Terry Martin was doing most of the shaping, but Lippincott would fly Dick Brewer, Sam Hawk, and Owl Chapman to shape also. I left the shop to head over to Oahu, and also because Lippincott brought his son Andy (who was clueless, but he wanted to try and find a path for him) in to help in the shop. Came back from Oahu, and ran the Plastic Fantastic shop for Bob Highsmith after that for another year. Looking back, I didn’t exactly work for pinnacles of the industry, lol.
Nice pedigree.
Natural Rocker, has its origin in the Balsa Era. All balsa was 3 1/4th inches thick, and came in various widths. Most boards would take 4 or 5 pieces, to make the width of a board. Most of the balsa ‘‘timbers’’ had some amount of curve, or rocker. The best, and most desireable pieces, had 3/4ths to a full inch of rocker throughout its length. With a careful glueup, you could get a 9 foot board, with 4 inch nose, and 4 inch tail rockers, in the finished board. The rocker was natural to the wood, as a result of the drying process. The concept use and understanding, of natural rocker, was well established, long before foam boards came on the scene.
Amen