I am seeing if anyone has any info on this board. It is the first board I ever purchased, probably around 1994 or so. It has no signature, but I believe it was shaped around 1974 in Escondido. I have always loved the wing logo and it is still in pretty good condition.
Cool! Right out of the early 70’s. Wooden fin and all. Funny how even back then without the Interweb and only a couple of Magazines at the time; Guys would pick up on similar or the same designs. If it wasn’t a Sunset it could have just as easily been from Santa Barbara, Pismo or Santa Cruz. It wouldn’t have had a green deck or color if it were from up there though. We were in the "Black wetsuit / Clear board era. Just a bit pre-leash Lowel PS Looks like the fin is drilled.
Sunset was out of Encinitas, not Escondido.
1974 sounds about right. That’s when winged swallows were very popular. That would also make it a board built after the leash appeared, but not everyone was doing leash cups as standard yet. Is there any serial number on it? Ed Wright was the original owner, but he had some real solid guys shaping for him around that time who went on to establish quite a reputation on their own. There is no signature on your board because almost no one signed boards back then.
Take a look at this page, it will tell you a lot about Sunset Surfboards and you’ll see the list of shapers
http://stokednboard.surfingheritage.org/pdf/Sunset_Enc_Ca.pdf
I sold a lot of Sunsets out of my Shop in Beach haven spent the winter months in Encinitas.
Ed Write started sunset surfboards some of the shapers were Bill Shrosbree, Sid Madden, Pat Flecky, The Willis Brothers Tim Bessel also worked at Sunset but later on. I had a winged swallow that looked very much like that shape. Mine was a n ocher to orange color fade airbrush shaped by Ed Wright. It is hard to say who shaped that Board. My guess would be that this is an Ed Wright shaped board. He was an excellent shaper. I don’t recall when but at some point he had stickers made up for the shapers. Many of the shapers started their own brand with limited success others did pretty well for them selves. Willis Brothers made a name for themselves on the North Shore Bessel is one of the best working in La Jolla, Sid madden had the fresh Pineapple Surfboards for a few years then sold it to Shrosbree. Pat did his own thing for many years around 1976 or so he and Mike Croteau teamed up and were building boards in Carslbad. Brain Fredricks brought Sunset from Ed in the late 70’s maybe 1978 or so. He is starting to make a bit of a comeback with Sunset useing late 1970s templates and building some fun looking single fins. If you want more info on that Board check Surfy Surfy in Leucadia or Moonlight Glassing in San Marcos.
The Moonlight crew are the original glass factory crew from Sunset.
Stoked n board says that Fredericks took it over in '89. Other guys who shaped there were Barnfield, Barry K, and some obscure guy named Rusty.
The page says that Ed Wright supplied info for the file.
I sent an email to the guys at surfy surfy. The fin has been drilled unfortunately. I looked at the boards they are reproducing from the late 70s and they look to be much more rideable. This board was fun at a quick break as long as it was head high, but isn’t much for smaller waves.
Typical for the period. That was the “cool” style at the time. Pretty much a California pointbreak “speed” shape. Usually in the mid 7 ft range.The stars in the mags rode those, so the sheeple went along. Here on the East Coast I watched most of my friends struggle and stagnate on boards just like that. We seldom get waves over head high, and even then it’s short period stuff from a local fetch. They went straight pretty well, until they got some push under them. I opted for something in the 6’8" range with more curve in the outline. Even that had its limitations in waist high EC beachbreak. Got me a 6’4" egg and returned to the joys of doing full, loose turns.
I’m ready to break down and cry… I have so many good memories of surfing a bit after 78’! My surfboard had a winged swallow (w flutes!). This is during a time -when people didn’t try to be “surfers”, you either surfed or you didn’t.nowadays, people buy board’s who just like the image… they have " wall hangers" and never ding em up! Back in the day -we surfed board’s to the ground! Infact, I had well over 15 dings in less than two yrs! I’m not talkin pressure dings, but rather 3" + chunks o foam tore out of the friggin rails! They had a “in-house” ding repair man in most surf shops. Also, surf shops sold board’s and wax - not bs…prices were around $160/ $175.00 for a cherry new board!
that’s HOGWASH! I had a 7’4" Joey Thomas surfboard -howcome I could carve on it on a one foot wave! And everything in between…Maybe you don’t know how to surf a short board so well :/?you can’t fool me, i’ve seen people knockin the sh*t out of waves on 7’ er’s! But Eggs are the cruisers, 7’ short boards were for performance surfing back then…get it right.
If this were true - that he owned a 6’4" egg, then he would have had to -either been a pro surfer, or a top rated surfer who knew a known shaper…were you that good? I wasn’t. I was just enjoying every little ride I got on the 7’er’s…are you sure you aren’t making this up? Nobody - not even the experts in surf shops were riding anything even 6’6" long. LISTEN, I don’t believe it. Maybe if the majority were riding six four - six eight eggs back then i’d believe it…but even the experts were riding 7’+ psb’s… were you in this category? A pro, or surf shop junkie? Perhaps if your were D. Nuhiiwa’s surf buddy, or Dick Brewer’s glasser- id believe it all…but I’m sorry I’m not buying it. Not for a minute! Any fotos?
More personal attacks from the uninformed. Basically, accusing me of lying.
I have reported this behavior to the mods, already. I have followed up as the abuse and uncalled for insults and attacks have continued.
This is the kind of behavior that can get someone banned from this forum, for good.
I can easily prove what I wrote. I have pictures of the board, photos of myself riding it, and a letter from the shaper that I happened to scan last week.
But, since the source of the ‘challenge’ comes from an entity I don’t respect, I feel no need to prove anything.
Shapaholic, for your info, I was riding a 6’3" G&S Egg in the early 70’s. Not sure where you are getting your info.
you win! I’m sorry. I want to build an egg! And I’m not even joking! Cheers! You are ok.:)) I apologize to anyone I’ve dissed.
Watch that stuff. Someone might call you a liar. Someone who wasn’t even surfing in the early 70s
My egg was shaped by one of the guys who was featured in the G&S ads
. He started his own label when he stopped riding for G&S. Progressive Design out of Solana Beach
And yes, that’s the deck of my egg.
I think sometimes -SammyA could be less abrasive is all…his sarcasm can be taken the wrong way… but whatever! I don’t want to hold a grudge. I just apologized to everyone. Like me or hate me I don’t care. I’m into surfing and shaping bcuz of the fun of it all anyhow… time for my pbr! Dustin off a blank I’ll cut into…happy boarding! You win.
Grew up in Huntington Beach, but my sister was going to college at San Diego State, so I was fortunate enough to be able to split some of my time surfing in San Diego. Picked up the Egg on one of my San Diego stays and brought it back to Huntington with me. You’d have thought some kind of alien showed up at the beach when I came back with that board, as I was the laughing stock on the beach, until I hit the water. That board ripped on the beach break, pretty so everyone was asking to ride it. Ugly ass shape, with a solid orange pigment. Wish I had it now.
Yup. The popular boards of the time all had that sleek, racy look to them. The problem is, most folks don’t ride sleek, racy waves most of the time. Those who weren’t around back then have no perspective on what was being touted as the latest and geatest in those years. It was just before pro surfing reared its ugly head, and Lopez was king (in the surf media, at least). Everyone was trying to copy Bolt, but only so many were riding Pipe and Sunset. Guys were buying boards that were best suited for Hawaiian reef surf and trying to ride Texas beachbreak and Malibu on them. Wrong tool for the job.
My friends were skeptical when I got my egg. But, most of them had stagnated on unsuitable shapes and never got some basic stuff like cutbacks down. They were also surprised at how fast it went. It’s a basic fact that wide boards go faster on slopey waves.
I was forced to shape hundreds of Bolt/Brewer style boards in the early 70’s. I was working with a couple of big surf shops in North Florida and that is what the kids wanted. I didn’t like the way they rode. Big thick beak noses.flat decks and boxy rails. Fast down the line but hard to turn in Florida slop. I loved to build eggs but they were not in favor at the time.
Back then the board market was driven by the mags and films such as Five Summer Stories. Jerry lopez and guys like Sam Hawk were the current gods.
Things never change. Now it’s Hipster shapers with no experience shaping but a lot of experience manipulating the internet. Life goes on. I just laugh.
sorry double post.
I had a 6’ 10" Sunset very similar to that, that I bought used in Hawaii in ‘74. It worked well in small island surf and I brought it back to Florida and surfed it for 5 or 6 more years. Although they do have a narrow tails, boards like that were much wider and thicker than today’s HPSB so they worked pretty well. Especially if you were 18-20 years old 
By 70-71 most boards were well under 7ft. At the time I had ridden a 6’2’ diamond tail single fin and even had a garage shape twin fin ( they call them mini-simmons now) that was only 5’6". Didn’t ride worth a crap but that is how short we were going. Most Florida boards in the 70’s were under 6’6".