I have an old board - Newport Hanifin - I've had for years. I never new much about it and have never seen another does anyone know anything about the name?
back in the 70’s my friend had a Hanifin knee board
They were made by Pat Hanafin, who had a shop on 22nd street in Newport Beach during the early 70's, or so I am told by an old guy I work with.
I have a Hanifin as well. 7’0" mini-gun with a fin box. 2" balsa stringer, bumblebee nose and tail blocks. I just emailed Pat Hanifin, who is now a standup comedian and motivational speaker: p.hanifin@earthlink.net. We’ll see what he says!
i use to buy my materials from pat.
heck of a nice guy.
very gifted board builder.
his original shop was on 22st?
then he moved his business to a bigger location one block up.
he was one of the first in the industry to sell wholesale to the public.
i was saddened when he sold his shop.
the shop .........then........changed names and became,"surfside sports".
now,no longer in business.
herb
Pat Hannifin was a institution in Newport in the early to late 70’s. He really kicked up gears when the skateboard craze hit around '74, he also had the best deals on the O’neill animal skin wetsuits with the round buts so fashionable at the time. He moved over to where he later sold out to “Surfside Sports”. Probably most memorable to me as a longboarder at Blackie’s when it wasn’t cool. Pat was as nice as he was fair, and it seems TK Brimer, at the “Frog House” has assumed his mantle. Pre-Quicksilver, pre-dolphin shorts, he was the man. A pioneer of the 'Surfin’sport" type shop, but still core enough to carriy Clark, and Roger’s foam for the local board-builder’s like a Mitch’s and way pre-Basham’s. i miss the innocence of Newport back then, anyone rememer the “Forth of July Newport riots in '75”? Somebody I know burned down the lifeguard tower at 18th street, and after that the Forth was never the same, but still probably the best place to be anywhere back in the day… Pat was so cool he gave Russell a Tom Blake and a hand-shaped Hobie balsa-gun when he quit the scene. I am sure many people have coveted those things as they’ve hung in Russell’s rafter’s since then.
that was 75?
wow,time flies..................
use to hang over by junior beck's place alot.
herb
You mean “Junior Beck, the human wreck”, a natural surfing talent and a hell of a dory fisherman. I hope you were not doing drugs with him back then. On a brighter note: He was the one who gave “wingnut” his name.
I never met Junior, but…the people that do know him, have said that he only surfed one contest, then said f-it, but, could blow Nu’uhiwa out of the water on any given day
not the hard stuff ghetto,but ............
...........i am a product of my enviroment...........that's for sure.
junior liked me because i could surf and skateboard well.
it was a great place to find girls and party..........
some of the best local surfers hungout there,,,,,,,,the dunns,van ornum to namedrop a few.
i was known as the sealbeach local kid.
or just............
herb
jim,
in his time...........
pound for pound............
junior beck could out surf anyone.............even by today's standards.
herb
de ja vu
WOW!
thanks stevey,
miss those days...........i wouldn't have traded them for nothing !!!!!
herb
Roman Beck was an extremely talented surfer him, Walter Visolay, and Davie Abbott were the pre-groin Newport phenoms. Ask Pat Curren about Davie Abbott, Pat’s team-rider back then, when Pat was making boards there in the sixties, along side of Joe Quigg, and then some gremmie named Bobby Brown. According to those who knew him best back then, Junior’s personality changed when he started abusing drugs, especially when needles were involved. Quite a shame because he really had talent, but then again, i could go on for hours and hours talking of those who were casualties of drug abuse. Junior was still functional as a dory fisherman, and then a salesman for Russell, but still a casualty. By no means my favorite person, and I have known him since back then, so not basing anything on hearsay. I remember when Surfing magazine did their first four page fold out in the early seventies, it was a picture of Junior Beck. Still Junior was a force in the line-up, even in the late '90s.
I was very lucky to call Jr Beck my friend. I first met Jr in the mid 60s I was a inland kook and he was working at the dory boats cleaning fish we were the same age, so I guess that was our bond. My dad was a fisherman and we went to Newport almost weekly I would surf dad would fish it was a perfect setup for a young inland kook trying to learn to surf. On some windy blown out days I was surfing alone at blackies at times. Thats why Jr took notice of me. One day after a 3 hour session of kooking it I walk by the dory boats and this kid starts hecking me, I was a kook but I had the look down tow headed blond with a greek t, birdwells and a nice board. Jr was covered in fish blood and dressed in your basic old work rags . He just starts ripping me a new one but in a wierdly nice sort of way, like your a complete kook but sick with maybe someday you might be only half a kook. Then he starts claiming, Iam best surfer in calif ripping David and anyone else he could think of . It wasnt that he hated them it was just that he was better than them and he knew it. This was in 66 or so we were both 15 years old at best. Well I remember walking away from that first encounter wide eyed wondering what just happened , and if it was true was he right? who is he? ect.. As time when on I was so stoked to be hanging and surfing and calling jr my close friend we went on many adventures and surfed a million hours in newport for many years. Now is Jr the best surfer of that era? Far and away JR has more talent in his in his ear wax alone than 9999% of us will ever have. After a lifetime of hardcore surfing I still rate Jr the best Ive ever seen and thats with due repect to everyone else. The only way I can describe Jrs god given surfing talent is to take, Lopez ,Occy, Kelly, Nat ,and Dora blend them and you have the runner up to JR. Hundreds of newport surfers know this first hand Jr was untouchable on pure raw talent. His personal life had some problems but none of us are perfect Jr is a good person and thats that.
right on!
best post i read in along time.
herb
So I’m trying to raise some cash for a surf trip. Anyone interested in buying a piece of Newport history? I have a couple other beautiful boards of the same vintage. A single fin round pin midget smith all red semi-opaque pigment with fine blue resin pinline on deck. A single fin wing pin pat flecky with dark side of the moon album art airbrush on bottom. I need a semi gun and cash for central america more than I need these gems just sitting around.
Hey I thought this subject was about Pat Hannifin not Jr Beck, so far Pat as only been portrayed as a mere shop keeper or more likely a robber baron counting his gold. Newport like any beach town has a history of local surfing heros known only to the tribe. Surfers that never became big magazine stars for any number of reasons, but are legends in their own backyards none the less. In the present era young surf stars have complete internet documentation of their exploits from day one. Now go ahead and google Jr Beck and see what comes up, even though Jr has such long history, zero when I tried. So when Brett Simpson tells someone 35 yrs from now hey I was a big surf star, back in the old days boom there it is. For the great surfers of the past we only have word of mouth. Like the old Apache warriors handing down tribal history each beach towns original crew must give this history to the young kooks. In Newports case guys like Eddie Burke and Wick Murphey were such local stars they must go down in history as the kings of Ruggles ... , O crap Iam talking about Newport RI I digress. In Pat Hannifins case I think 4A would be a good starting point. In the 60s and 70s 4A ment you had made it to ASP world tour top 33. And that you were invited to the biggest contests Corky David and Dora were 4A ect, Pat was 4A to. Now this is the shame, a lot of the records of 60s and 70s contest seasons are long lost 3A and some 4A contests are gone forever only the word of mouth remains. again go to the internet and google WSA 4A surfing contests 1960 to 1970 and see what pops up, zero. Some of this history is in surfer mag but a lot of it is gone. I cant remember the exact details but I do know Pat had a Jeff Hakman type moment contest in the early mid 60s, Were he beat everyone in 4A at 15 years old I think it was in Santa Monica. Pat had Dale Dobson type of talent, a switch foot wonder, a unbelivable surfer on par with any of the great 60s surf stars. Every one in Newports 60s and 70s crew knows of his great talent. Pat was the Man!!! Far more than just a shop owner. On a personal note Pat and I when to Huntington one day on a big south swell Newport was getting side swiped by howling Santa Ana winds and Huntington had better shape. I paddled into a big set and it opened up due to the winds into a Indo like dream barrel. It was a complete accident I fell into the wave but managed to keep my line, spray pelting my eyes, a micro second from disaster the intire wave but I held on. Pat was in the photo zone he paddles up and says, wow I didnt know you could tube ride like that. Knowing it was a total mistake I firmly told him, pay attenion I do it all the time. Thrilled that a surf star like Pat had given me a kind word,.knowing I was still a kook compared to him.
Comedian Patrick Hanifin will be appearing May 28th at the Moonlight Amphitheater in Vista, California, with 60’s rock-star Gary Puckett. I’m in are you? Hanifin was such a cool guy back in the day, and successful as he was fair, maybe that is why he walked away from it while still on the top; perhaps he was too real a guy in a world of posers. Everyone from Sway’s dream of having the success that he had. I remember when I heard, he was getting out, and becoming a comedian- I thought it was a joke.