Early Hansen Superlight Mini Questions

nomastomas · February 28, 2009, 10:05pm

A friend of mine says he bought this board new at the Hansen shop in Encinitas in ’70 or ’71. He used it a bit and then loaned it to someone else who lost it on the rocks (jetty? cliffs?) which is where most of the damage came from. It’s been in the rafters of his garage for the last 30 years or so. My friend would like to know a little of its history and what may be worth today.

The lam on the board identifies it as a Hansen Superlight Mini. Dims are 7’2-1/4”, 16”x23”x16” 3-1/4” thick. The board appears to me to be a smaller version of the Hansen Superlight and at 7-2 is clearly a transitional shape. It has a 2/3-length tapered, T-band stringer (1/8’ redwood, blue hi-density foam, 1/8’ redwood) and what looks like two glue-line stringers 6” offset from center. I’m not sure if the 2/3-length stringer made the longer version a “bender” or just reduced the swing-weight a little. Not sure what the advantage would be for the shorter version. Maybe just aesthetic? It also has a 10”, black “bolt-through fin”. Rocker is quite flat at NR=3-1/4” and TR=3”, rails are 50/50 pinched, with belly throughout the bottom and no apparent “V”. The board’s serial number is “ ∙ 1 9 2 8 2 ∙ ” located on the deck just behind the through-bolt. According to an earlier post by Bill T., on early Hansens the symbols preceding and following the SN indicate who shaped it. In this case, the dots indicate this board was shaped by Fred (Buzzy) Smole. What year was it shaped? Was this an established “model” or was it a custom? Was this a common model? Although the fin is set back too far, there’s no S-deck and the rails lack that knifey quality, this board is very hull-like with its flat rocker, belly and pinched rails. How well did it perform?

SammyA · March 1, 2009, 12:39am

Larger pictures would be nice…

Whatever…

If the board has a bolt through the deck, it’s probably older than '71. That was the first removable fin system Hansen used, and dates back to about '66 in origin. The Superlight was a standard model in the Hansen line that originated before the transition period, and was carried over into the shorter boards of the late Sixties. I’m pretty sure it was discontinued by 1970. Best guess is that it’s a left-over board from 1969. I’d bet Bill T can chime in with more specifics.

thrailkill · March 1, 2009, 1:31am

The board in question, shaped by Buzzy, is most likely a 1969 board. Buzzy moved to Idaho, in late '69, where he still lives today. The model was a common part of the production offerings, at that time.

nomastomas · March 1, 2009, 3:37am

Try these…