Hi All,
I’ve just put my hands on this classic beauty! It’s an interesting story how this board made its way down to Israel (were i live) and i’ll be happy to share it, though that’s not the purpose of this post. I’m looking for information regarding this specific board and also about Frederick Wardy.
The Board: Did my Swaylocks research and came across a couple of “Wardy” posts.
First thing that pops up is the fin… a while back there was an interesting discussion about a similar shaped Wardy fin with a conclusion that it was a “modified” D-fin. Does the same holds for this board (it’s a wooden fin)? and what’s with the hole?! surely it wasn’t made for a leash…
The general shape: definitely not a pig, nose too pulled in for a classic noserider. Can anyone shed some light on the outline etc.? It’s a 9’2X22’’ (i don’t have calipers so no thickness). The nose has up rails i believe which blend into 50/50 all the way through to the tail.
Possible year?
The Shaper: My interest grew once i discovered that Wardy moved east and became a visual artist. This sort of corroborates the tight hidden links between shaping and abstract art much like the connections between art, science and engineering in the renaissance (harmony, balance, ratio etc.)
Is Wardy still among the living?
Where can i find more info about him, his shaping days and art (magazines? interviews? catalogs?)
This board is on its way to the shop and hopefully will reunite with the sea soon!
What we used to call a “Speed Shape”. Wardy was out of the Laguna area. So lots of fast waves from there South to Lower Trestles. Trestles was Off Limits those days , but still surfed regularly. The Marine Corp probably burned a lot of beautiful confiscated boards. Speed Shape in the vein of the Phil Edwards Model and Hynson’s Red Fin Model. Hardly anyone initialed or signed boards in those days. But, given that Wardy Surfboards was a small operation; it was most likely shaped by Fredric Wardy himself. He and Del Cannon were two of the best out of that OC area.
That sure looks like a solid glass fin to me. How/why did you come up with it being wood? D fins of the era were sometimes made of wood with a glass halo. Almost nobody did speed fins out of wood. Some fool put a hole in it for a leash, but that can be fixed.
I’d date the board at 1964-65 given the outline, stringer combo, and fin style. Wardy was a highly regarded shaper and was based in Laguna Beach. 525 Forest Ave was the locale, but he briefly had another retail shop in Pasadena. He also licensed the label in Hawaii to his former employee, John Thurston.
Del Cannon shaped for Fred for about year (1965), before starting his own label. Carl Ekstrom and Pat Curren also shaped some Wardys in the early days of the label. This board was probably shaped by Fred, but there’s a slight chance Cannon shaped it.
Fred closed up shop in 1969.
Trivia: Gerry Lopez’ first brand new board was a Wardy with a lime green tint.
It has to do with the outline, bottom contours and the rail. First understand what a “pig” is. If you stood on a ladder above a pig (i.e. Swine) and looked down on it’s outline from the air; You would get the idea. Big hips. Narrower rounded nose. A speed Shape is pulled in at the nose and hips. More parallel thru the mid-section. A simplistic explanation. Not much detail, but that’s basically it. Hope that helps. What I want to know is the “long story short” of how it got to Israel. Lowel
Israeli surfing had a kinda Promethean beginning, with Doc Paskowitz visiting Israel in the late 50’s and sending there after a few Balsa longboards to some Tel Aviv lifeguards. One of these lifeguards named Bebo Levi went back to the states in the 60’s and came back with the Wardy. He surfed it extensively, however for the past decade it was comfortably parked on his balcony, and that is where i found it!
The board is in the shop so i can’t re-check it, however seeing all the above comments, i tend to trust the experts over my unskilled eye. Thanks for all the info SammyA et al.! What is to be expected from a speed shape like this? Will it noseride? does it require a different technique than say a classic log?
From what I have “heard”, Fred was living in the NY area and had contacted the dreaded registerer of old trade marks about using his logo.
He got " you should have been more diligent "
I don’t think the fin was modified. As people moved away from the D fin there were many unusual outlines and variations of the so-called “speed fin”. The overall outline of your baord is not a noserider shape, per se. So the fin would not be like those found on period noseriders, anyway. Any skilled person can noseride a board, I see no reason why you can’t with this one.
