Hello,
any Skip Frye experts out there that can help me find out what and when this was made?
I’ve had this for 27 years in my rafters. No model, years or serial numbers visible.
Thanks in advance!
Most likely 1968.
One of several dead ends of surfboard design.
Stating the length would narrow down the age. But, Bill T says what I was thinking. It has a Waveset fin and looks to be around 8’6". So 1968 is on the money. I will disagree on the “dead end” thing. I bet Skip is still doing boards very similar to this. He was never one for extremes. His shapes were always subtle and balanced.
You really should check out the most recent issue of Surfer’s Journal (26.4). There’s a huge write-up on Skip and his boards. That board looks very similar to his Gypsy models, which according to Skip, he made for G&S in/around 1976. And Sammy is right, in the article Skip says he dusted off the Gypsy template for a customer in 2013 and made a modern version that came out great. https://www.surfersjournal.com/feature/cutting-room-caretaker-intangible-ingredients/
Wow, so much info overnight! Thank you guys so much!. When I got it in 89, It looked “old”.The board is 8’2" I Did use to ride it, and the trim/glide felt amazing, although this was in the late 80’s so I had to hide from the line up because “Longboards were for kooks only” back then. Then one by one, all my friends bought a beater longboard.
Thanks again!
8’2" definitely makes it a 68 board. Quite likely built in Summer or Fall of that year. Six months later (69) most boards were about a foot shorter.
Thanks for all that intel SammyA. A huge help!
At least 68 but quite possibly a year or two earlier. I lived on Missouri St. in PB in 69 a block up from Fryes “garage”. By then he and most every shaper had moved on to “Eggs” and very narrow “Downrailers”. That is a great writeup on Frye in SJ. Nice pics. The “magic” and the “Gypsy” didn’t come along until a few years later. Would love to go back to those days. Riding my Egg at Crystal Pier and So. Jetty. Spaghetti nite at Maynard’s and Girls!Girls!Girls!
Yeah… that was before they invented AIDS.
Yes and before tweakers, crackheads etc. You don’t have to have Sex with a beautiful blonde from Arizona to appreciate a thing of beauty. You’ve been in Baywood too long. Lowel
Byrd at Birds Surf Shed could give you more details on that board. That board is worth restoring.
A small window on that one. I agree with SammyA and Bill, Summer/fall 1968. Ad is from Surfer, September '68
But close enough! I did live in Hawaii in the early 70s. No AIDS then. The time of my life. Slow steady downward spiral ever since. HAHA
Close enough to ride my bike every day to here… https://www.google.com/maps/@35.2737137,-120.888404,19.01z
Back to G&S
IF of any interest…
Seeing this tread, I offered up a vintage photo.
Been a week or so, shit!
Finally connected the dots!
The Goose told story of Kava and Pipeline like waves in Taihiti.
It was a certain trip by a certain surf club…
I always felt sorry for Bigler and Purpus
Both surfed thier hearts out, just stuck on the wrong side
of the revolution (shut my mouth) I mean transition.
But now, Skip, now the guy has always been on it!
Photo’s from a “little side trip” to Taihit
Unlike most, Skip had his finger on the pulse.
Probably the most successful V outside of Bernard’s…
I love those rails.
Thanks Mattwho!
The footage and photos are solid gold! That bottom photo is the board. So Vee, such thin rails. Took me a couple of days to get all the repairs done properly, now she’s a rider again, ready for restoration. Turns out that board is my age, maybe a year younger… we’re both about to turn 50. Now I have to make the call to ride…or to sell.
Thanks again for all who chimed in. You have been a treasure of information!
Unreal!
Thank you!