I have recently acquired a nice Overlin twin fin with wide round tail and full Union Jack (British flag) bottom.
Clear deck with cool Overlin logo. I’m guessing it’s early to mid 1970s.
Looking for history on Jim and Tom Overlin (Santa Cruz?) - who might have shaped this distinctive board, who it was shaped for, are the Overlins still around, got contacts??
Overlins were Dewey Weber factory ex pats that ended up in Santa Cruz building about 80 boards a week in the 70’s. Tom was the shaper/factory guy (good shaper too … in fact, Iggy taught Tom who taught Joey Thomas who taught me) and Jim managed the promotions West while Mike Grassley took care of the East. They had an arraingment with Haut at the time which provided each with boards out of the same factory. I think Tom lives in Oregon and I heard Jim passed away a few years ago.
I know more but will have to write it tomorrow. I have a couple good stories.
I ride my bike by the Haut Shop (westside of Santa Cruz) on my way to work and you can still see the old Overlin Sign in the window of the factory. I’ll try to take a photo and post it in the next day or two.
Interesting history on the Overlins. Here is one that I’ve had in my rack for some time. It was pretty tattered when I found it in a pawn shop. The WAVE Set fin box and “finger” fin was what caught my eye initially. Once I had more time to study it, the focus was the caliber of the pinline work. Back to back fine lines in green and dark blue. It seems that there was a talented pen and ink illustrator in the family too from the logo design details.
I think that little twin fin is '70s vintage. I had a 6’9" Jim Overlin with lines like the one Tomas shows in his photo, and with the Waveset box. It also had a very kicked-up nose on it … not exactly the perfect board for sloppy Jersey Shore beachbreak. But I bet it would have ripped at some of the breaks in and around Santa Cruz.
The shop had a half-dozen or more Overlins on display, all with that very streamlined shape, all single fins. This would have been in '68 or '69.
It had to be that vintage because it came with “Drop Acid Not Bombs” and “Make Love Not War” penciled in along the stringer … Wish I still had it.
Tomas - I love the pin line work on that board. Nice detail!
I’ve tried riding the Overlin that I have pictured a few times and it really didn’t go well at all. The forward 1/3 of it has a slight belly, the rails are mostly 50/50, and thickness stays right through tail. Hard to paddle and get into waves, and very slow once it does get going.
I bought used in Central Jersey about ten years ago. It probably came from one of the shops that are mentioned.
My twin fin has such a distinctive design on the bottom - full Union Jack - I’m hoping someone out there will remember it or put me in touch with Tom Overlin.
My guess it was made for someone like 1960s British Surfing champion Rodney Sumpter (of Endless Summer fame), who travelled to the USA and Hawaii to compete for Britain from the mid 1960s onwards…
If anyone is visiting the UK it will be on display at the Eden Project in Cornwall in July and August this year as part of an exhibition called ‘full circle’ - looking at how boards went from natural wood to toxic fibreglass & foam, and now the search for an eco friendly future.
The Eden Project have built a biodegradeable board from a managed balsa source, hemp coth and vegetable based resin.
This thread confirms my previous impression that there were quite a few Overlin (both Tom and Jim) boards in NJ. My dad and his friend (Carl Danish) had Jim Overlin boards. My first standup wave was on a weird transitional era Jim Overlin that had been put through the mill by the time I got my hands on it in as a grom in '84.
Then 2 years ago my friend gave me a Tom Overlin 5’8" twinnie that looks a lot like the Union Jack board. The tail isn’t as wide but it has that same hoggish outline and doesn’t ride very well. It’s a good piece to have in the collection but is better as a decoration.