The Larry Bertleman Thread

…Just post 'em man…

The Rubberman opened the door. Arriving amid a period of flux, he demonstrated that no limits exist beyond our imagination. He didn’t invent the shortboard; he just showed us how to ride it. No one had a greater influence on the way people surf – from the best in the world on down – than Larry Bertlemann.

The only son (he has four sisters) of a former survival instructor for the U.S. Air Force, Lawrence Mehau Bertlemann was drawn to adventure at an early age. Born in Hilo, on Hawaii’s big island, where his father ran an auto shop, Larry spent his early childhood hunting pigs and fishing with handlines, without so much as a thought on surfing. At age 11, he came to Oahu with his mother, putting Larry in proximity to Waikiki and the forces that would shape his life. “I still remember my first wave at Queens,” he reflects. “I rented a board for an hour and stayed out all day. They had to chase me in. Rabbit Kekai was up there yelling at me, but then my mom told him who I was. Our family had a lot of pull at the time – on both sides of the law, so he left me alone.”

Longboards were still all that was known, and Bertlemann borrowed anything he could get his hands on. He eventually found a 9’6" in the bushes and rode it for a month before snapping it. Rather than mend the hulking plank, he glassed a fin on the front half and set out for some serious fun. By this time, school had become a nuisance, so after eighth grade, he dropped out in favor of the beach. The only graduating he was interested in was going from the bunny slopes of Waikiki to the bowl at Ala Moana. Without conforming to the restraints of competition, he experienced success by the early '70s. In the 1972 World Contest in San Diego, he finished third, followed by a victory in the 1973 U.S. Championships. Contrary to advice from his shaper, coach and mentor Ben Aipa, Bertlemann turned professional.

At the time, Gerry Lopez’ subtle, Zen-like approach was considered the quintessential style, meshing with the wave being the ultimate goal. But Bertlemann, an avid skateboarder, envisioned translating his land-based repertoire of tricks to the water. “Visualization,” he insists, was what separated him from the pack. “A friend of ours used to take Super 8 movies of us, and I would watch them thinking, wow, I could cut that line shorter. Anything is possible. I knew what I wanted to do; I just had to get the boards to do it.”

The forward-thinking Aipa was the perfect match, creating wide, short (less than 6-foot) swallowtail and stinger designs that offered Bertlemann total freedom of movement. Always running at top speed and on the verge of spinning out, Bertlemann’s low gravity cutbacks, 360s and switchfoot antics were spontaneous, yet completely functional. As he was joined by fellow test pilots Buttons Kaluhiokalani, Mark Liddell and later his cousin Dane Kealoha, Ala Moana and the more rippable North Shore venues became ground zero for progressive surfing.

From the time he was a cheeky grom, hanging out at Sparky’s Surf Shop, Bertlemann was interested in design. He shaped his first board inside a friend’s house, much to the dismay of the boy’s parents. After watching Sparky and working with Aipa, he began shaping regularly, collaborating with Town and Country, George Downing, Hawaiian Pro Designs and others. A driving force in creating the swallowtail,

Bertlemann also helped in the revival of ultra-short twin-fins around 1980. Donald Takayama, who runs the Hawaiian Pro Designs label, has a retro Bertlemann model on the market today.

Despite his distaste for the conformity of competition, Bertlemann became one of the most popular and well-paid professionals of the early pro era. He managed to finish in the IPS Top 16 in both 1976 and 1979, but his focus remained on progression and visibility. “I surfed for myself and the public, not for five judges,” he insists. “How do you score a maneuver you’ve never seen before?”

His popularity, including a starring role in Hal Jepsen’s 1975 film Super Session and nine cover shots between 1974 and 1984 – the most of any surfer – enabled him to attract lucrative endorsements outside the industry. With no managerial assistance, Bertlemann struck deals with Op, Toyota, United Airlines and others, enabling him to dictate his own schedule so long as he remained in the public eye.

Staying visible was simple for a surfer of such caliber, so long as he wanted to. Somewhere during the mid-'80s, Bertlemann vanished from the surfing radar, with rumors of his whereabouts fluctuating wildly. Says Bertlemann, “I wanted to see how the world is without water. I went skysurfing in Arizona, lived in Palm Beach, Florida, on the PGA National Course, but kept my deal with United and Southwest Air so I could go surf in Mexico, Puerto Rico or Rio on the weekends. I’ve surfed places nobody has ever seen.”

Finally, around 1998, his need for speed and adventure got the better of him. The years of bodily abuse from skateboarding, surfing and motorcycle and truck racing resulted in two degenerating discs, leaving the right side of his body paralyzed. He has since regained motion through surgery and therapy, but he is far from the Rubberman of old. Back on Oahu, he has taken up tinkering with computers and shaping as much as his body will allow. Twice divorced with three children and as many grandchildren, he doesn’t plan to allow his roots to sink too deep. “Home is wherever you leave your bags,” he contends. Asked about alleged contemporary surfing, he contends, “What they’re calling maneuvers, we called mistakes.”

As for himself, the most progressive surfer of his generation still gets out occasionally, but, he adds, “Only cruising.” – Jason Borte, March 2001

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFlB0yVWzuQ

Great thread

Need to skate

Greg

Well written brother one of my ealiest surf heros(I started in 74) he always looked like to funkiest guy in the water. He totally out shone those media magnet white boys they called the Free Ride generation you know Bugs, Mark Shaun etc. Those guys had nothing on Larry you could get enough of him in a movie, that damn cutback drove me crazy for years. He was the Miles Davis of his time the progressive experimental free thinker, unfortunately the media doesnt hold that in high regard, they want winners even if the performance is substandard or ugly. Loved his surfing on single fins way forward in the box not on the twin fins though something happened that didnt look to good.

boogie on

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Well written brother one of my ealiest surf heros(I started in 74) he always looked like to funkiest guy in the water. He totally out shone those media magnet white boys they called the Free Ride generation you know Bugs, Mark Shaun etc. Those guys had nothing on Larry you could get enough of him in a movie, that damn cutback drove me crazy for years. He was the Miles Davis of his time the progressive experimental free thinker, unfortunately the media doesnt hold that in high regard, they want winners even if the performance is substandard or ugly. Loved his surfing on single fins way forward in the box not on the twin fins though something happened that didnt look to good.

boogie on

Kealoha, Bertleman, Buttons, Horan, Rabbit, Shaun, M.R., Blair, Ho: A hard generation to beat.

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Bertlemann, an avid skateboarder, envisioned translating his land-based repertoire of tricks to the water.

I remember in the mid 70’s by my cousins house was this drainage canal everyone skated called Wallo’s. This is the days when urethane wheels like Cadillac came out and took skateboarding to another level… Bertlemann was always there with the boys ripping it up… We used to watch in awe and when they would leave, we learned to ride the walls of Wallo’s… The place was a full scene sometimes with cameras, chicks, crowds… It was pretty awesome!

I’m envious

Any one care to explain the thoughts behind the stinger design??

I’m guessing: forward fin placement for the single fin , necessitated the rider being more forward on the board, and squat low on turns.

Possibly that step-deck thing allowed more tail pressure to be exerted when needed without the rider moving his stance back.

The actual wings high up, in the middle of the board, besides making a break point…well I dont see the necessity of it.

Anyone have better explanation?

The stinger was/is a design using a small wave board nose combined with a gun tail. I believe it loosened things up alot and broke up the long rail line of the same sized normal single fin.

The stinger I rode allowed me to pivot on the big wing. I could do it midway on the face as the wave was throwing - pretty radical for a single fin.

I belive the wings give you a longer water line, intern making the board faster. the “in-cut” tail, if i may, allows the board to be looser because its waterline is shorter.

This is the best hypothesis I can come up with due to my limited knowlege, but it sounds about right.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ncV244O4aYs&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFlB0yVWzuQ&feature=related

those boards were the worst things to ride at the time especially the single fins where the flex fin was pushed almost to the center of the board.

only the guys with the rubber bodies and the upcoming stink bug stance could master them.

no one better on those things than Bert, Buttons and Mark. Of course they rode with their butts about 6 inches above the boards and one foot on the nose and one on the tail.

Bertlemann was the elder coming right behind Reno who probably started that style of surfing.

No greater preASP performance pure hawaiian crew than Dane, Buttons and Bertlemann with Aikau(s), BK and Tiger holding court in the big stuff.

No greater mentor in hawaiian performance surfing than Ben who raised and coached most of the modern crew.

Of them all I think Buttons is the only one in as good shape and charging hard and clean in his 50’s. Dane’s running the Hyatt surf academy in waikiki in case you’re interested. Button’s body after all that abuse (physical and chemical) is truly remarkable even Bertlemann is almost crippled nowadays.

Dane

Larry

Buttons

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No greater mentor in hawaiian performance surfing than Ben who raised and coached most of the modern crew.

Of them all I think Buttons is the only one in as good shape and charging hard and clean in his 50’s. Dane’s running the Hyatt surf academy in waikiki in case you’re interested. Button’s body after all that abuse (physical and chemical) is truly remarkable even Bertlemann is almost crippled nowadays.

Someone just posted some photos of Ben, 66 years old, still charging. Looking pretty trim too. I thought he’d be huge by now.

yup Ben is ripped and rips for getting close to being an octagenerian.

Closer to 70 though

He is one of the best surfer/shapers his age in the water today

Larry probably punished his body too much in his youth doing what he did in and out of the water.

It’s amazing that Buttons hitting 50 is still charging hard as he did as a kid.

Probably it is a Woody Brown thing

“A driving force in creating the swallowtail” no I think more like the main force in popularizing it. I suggest Ben Aipa was the main force in getting them made.

I taught surfing to high school kids with Larry one summer at Tonggs (1976 or so) and only got to know him a little bit. This was pretty much at the height of his considerable powers. If you get one of the magazines from then, look at the backside bottom turns he was pulling at Bowls. I have come to 2008, nearly 30 years later, and not seen anyone doing those turns there. Well, I’ll admit to not spending much time at the Ala Moana Zoo either, but still… no one else.

You gotta look at a couple of the vids of his surfing those boards, though… they seem to only work when you (he) is nearly dragging arse on the deck. They really seem to require a very low center of gravity, which he (almost alone) had the legs to do… not to distract from the rest of the Aipa crew including Buttons and Mark.

Hey I thought that Buttons was a barely recovering heroin addict nowadays, being taken care of by a big name big wave surfer out North. But I guess being an addict alive for so long qualifies for something. He has a youtube wherein he “confesses” and urges to stay away from shit. Wonder the circumstances of that…?

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You gotta look at a couple of the vids of his surfing those boards, though… they seem to only work when you (he) is nearly dragging arse on the deck. They really seem to require a very low center of gravity, which he (almost alone) had the legs to do… not to distract from the rest of the Aipa crew including Buttons and Mark.

Hey I thought that Buttons was a barely recovering heroin addict nowadays, being taken care of by a big name big wave surfer out North. But I guess being an addict alive for so long qualifies for something. He has a youtube wherein he “confesses” and urges to stay away from shit. Wonder the circumstances of that…?

I was culling a bit yesterday and watched Buttons “Public Service Announcements”. He looked good, you could tell he was sober, clean, and doing his part to help in only a way he could. I thought it was great, even if it’s a day to day thing. Good for him too.

L.B.

wilkings

aloha~

Hey EP…

I’d be stoked to know that Bertleman is clean…too many burn-outs amongst the grommethood heroes.

Jay Adams anyone?

Edit: Nevermind, EPAC posted it above as a “youtube” video.

http://www.grindtv.com:80/…th_Larry_Bertlemann/

I was watching some 70s surf videos yesterday featuring Larry ,Buttons and the south shore crew ripping up V land and ala mo. They looked like they were having so much fun on those stingers with the fins way up in the box, i remember enjoying them as a kid, wouldnt mind trying one again.

Larry switch foot at the pipe looked as cool as anyone out there clean and smooth, as good as any of the goofys of the period.

Oh - please, I mind 'cuz I can’t get Youtube, but I got to watch that on the grind link so, much mahalo!

I liked what he had to say.