Just wanted to share some shots of a few of my new boards.
The first is a 9’8" Gordie. I think it was probably built around 1965. The number is MJS119 - from what I have read, its pretty hard to date Gordies by their numbers. She is 9’8" long and about 22 3/4" wide with a lovely pig shape and a great 2" balsa stringer. I haven’t had great conditions to play with her yet, but a the few times I have had her out I have really had fun. It looks like we might get a bit of swell this weekend so I’m hoping to log some more time at the helm. Someone had previously mentioned to me that the large lams, like this one, were used on team rider boards only - but I’m not sure what the validity is to that… Could have just been “On the Beach Bullsh*t.”
My other new board is a 9’8" Hansen 5050 that I just picked up from a local guy. She is WIDE compared to my Gordie - coming in at a healthy 24"! Not sure when the board was made - but I would guess around 1965 as well from the info I read on the Surfing Heritage Stoked-n-Board website. Looks like this board was shaped by Buzzy Smole since the serial number has a • on either side. The number is •6915•T. Unfortunately it looks like someone had previously used some tape to mask out “50 50” on the bottom (see the third photo) and there is some warp-age where the tape was. Oh-well. I bought her to be a rider. I can’t wait to get her out this weekend for a bit of surf as well. The guy I bought it from hadn’t taken it out of storage for a decade or so!
Just thought I would share some of my new old boards! Hope to have some feedback on how they ride next week.
Aloha Rob, based on the board number, that is most likely an early spring of 1966 board. The letter T in the number, is definitive of having been shaped by me. Not sure why the ‘‘dots’’ are there. Can you post a closeup of the number? I’ll easily recognize my writing. Most often I signed boards with a black ink Papermate ‘‘Flair’’ pen.
Bill - I saw the T at first and assumed you had shaped it, but then I saw the dots and remembered about Buzzy’s dots. I have uploaded a photo of it below. Sorry the quality is horrible. I can try to get a better shot tonight. There is a little ding right at the start of the number and I have gone back and forth with whether it is 6815 or 6915 - but I really think it’s 6915.
That is my writing, hands down. Can’t remember isolating the numerals with dots, like that, but it must have been short lived. Hell, that may be the only one!
Bill
edit: Good Lord! I just did the math, that board was shaped 48 years ago!!! I’m too immature, to be that old!
It is bullshit. I did a repair for a friend who had a really old Gordie with a huge lam that went rail to rail on the deck. Much bigger than the one on your board. The board was obtained from a local guy and his father had purchased it new at a shop in the mid Sixties, on the EC. He sure as hell wasn’t a Gordie team rider.
On the Hansen…does it actually say 50-50 inside the lam? The early ones had that and the lettering was usually a red 50 and a blue one. The red usually fades and disappears, so many old ones have just “50” in blue. The numbers on the bottom look like they may been done in red, and faded. Is there evidence that the numbers were on top of the gloss coat, or underneath? Oh, and I knew it was a Bill T shape because of the T after the serial number, but even he questioned the dots. Funny.
Thanks Bill. I was a bit confused with the dots - and the T. Pretty neat that a board you worked on 48 or 49 years ago is still doing it’s job and still bringing a smile to a riders face.
Was it normal for the 5050 to hold so much width (if you look at the attached photo you can see that mine is about 24" wide)? I’m used to boards of this era being a bit skinnier… 22"-22 3/4" seems to be the norm.
Thanks Sammy. I think this Gordie was also an EC board. I think the serial number started with the initials of the shop or dealer who ordered the board - so I need to dig around and see what MJS stood for.
The 5050 is still on the top (see attached.) You may be right about the 50 5o on the bottom. I assumed that someone just stuck large numbers (tape or vinyl printed numbers) on the bottom at some point since the foam looks whiter. There has definitely been some foam shrinkage / warping on the bottom near the letters though.
I can tell you that 24" isn’t unusual for that period. One of the selling points of the 50/50 was the added width.
Right around '66, damn near every label was touting wider, thinner boards. The Performer being a prime example, as was the 50/50, Hot Curl, and many, many more. I think Bill T will agree.
