A friend of mine has an old Hansen he wanted me to fix up for him. I checked out the serial number and I’m pretty sure it’s 18632. It’s a “The Master” model and it has a 1/2" thick stringer, dark purple resin tint on the bottom and one of the most hideous bright orange and pink fabric inlays on the nose I have ever seen. So I’m assuming 60s vintage? It’s probably just a pop out. He bought it for $10 at a yard sale in New Hampshire about an hour from the coast. Certainly worth it at that price.
It has a large fin that’s not particularly well foiled with a bolt through the deck and a large screw. He was wondering about putting a leash plug or loop on it since we surf in rocky areas and he doesn’t want to ding it worse than it is.
Any ideas when it was shaped?
rachel- hansen master? i think from 1967/ early 68. with the original fin and bolt? great! don’t put a leash plug- put a loop. a leash plug with bring down its value for collectors should your friend want to sell it. those surfed really well- i have surfed a few and really liked them. the hansens from that time were really good- the ones i have seen were pretty foiled and nice- progressive for the time. most certainly not a pop-out. if your friend surfs it he might very well fall in love with it- those were among the best of their time. please post photos.
Steiny, thanks! Good to know it’s not a pop out. I asked him to take some pictures for me today so I’ll post those eventually.
Leash loop definitely. Much more cosmetically pleasing. I’d feel horrible drilling into an old board.
When he first grabbed it out of the garage I could see the belly in the bottom and 50/50 rails and my first thought was how much fun it would be to ride. If he makes a trip down to DC this summer we’ll definitely be bringing it back to rideable condition. I don’t feel like a full restore is necessary, it looks like it’s in pretty good condition. Mostly just try to color match the tint and go after any delam.
Yeah, the Master is definitely NOT a popout. It’s one of the higher performance boards from that era - '67ish. With the tint and fabric, that thing is probably worth a pretty penny.
P.S. Vintage boards with transparent tints and fabric inlays are not popouts. Most of these are from the late sixties when popouts had already died out.