My friend has this Weber Experimental Strato Series board around 7'-6". Really wild shape, crazy tail with a super thick chined bottom in the back, pretty thin and foiled up front. No stringer either, looks to be a layer of glass down the center. It's in OK shape other than the horrible repairs someone did but that could be cleaned up. Can anyone tell me about this board, never seen anything like it. Also need to find a fin for it, looks to be a Wave Set box.
Early ''V'' Bottom. Like all V's then, a POS. A sad part of surfing history.
Haha thanks Bill, yeah looks like it woudn't ride too well. Might work better with a motor on it.
Before he died, Bobby Challenger showed me a similar board he shaped.
Probably from the same era.
Year?
Bill T, I know you know.
Year? Probably 1966.
Typical early V bottom. That non-stringer is probably a paper glue line. I will have to disagree with Bill T and say the board is closer to 1968 in origin.
And, yes…that's a WAVESET box. If you look inside it there should be a label saying just that.
Sammy,
My first reaction was 1967, but since this looked like a very early form of V Bottom, considered an earlier date. The box, and when it appeared on the scene, may well be a good time marker.
Thanks Sammy, according to that page it's 69-71.
JohnnyK3 wrote: " according to that page it's 69-71."
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I think you read it wrong. By 1969, no one was making deep v-bottom boards like that. Those were a very short-lived and ill fated detour in the quest for shorter, more responsive boards. The deep V thing lasted less than a year. By 1969 they were obsolete.
I wouldn't disrepute Sammy, in 1968 a lot was going on at Weber, at that time one of the biggest board makers.
The 3rd year Performer which was ridden short was shot down with the Aussie's showing up with strigerless vee bottoms.
What you have there is rare, Strato was a label for something new, later the Strato was released to the public as a bulbous pin tail.
A couple of things;
The bottom "chimed Vee" very early
W.A.V.E set fin box 68 period.
Glue line (kinda cool) most everybody ate up the Midget Farrelley stringer less blanks.
Hang on to that thing, one more thing it was probably ridden with the Greeno stage 3 fin. They are out there but $$$.
Good luck!
Aloha…
Boy that brings back memories. I am working on an eight foot Strato vee, to compliment the seven foot Strato Mini Feather I have. I rode both back when I was young. The Mini Feather rode much better.
Thanks for sharing,
Joe
Thanks for the input everyone, my buddy will be stoked on the info about the board.
Yep, '68 would be my guess—a short lived design.
In the Cocoa Beach area at the time Oceanside Surfboards had their V-bottom,…Con with Claude's V Butterfly Morph,…
Hobie the GP Wedge,…
and Surfboards Hawaii and Catri's crew their V bottom,…right before he switched over to Hobie.
all caught up in the Austraila short board movement,…Nat along with Mike Tabeling promoting the Weber Strato Series with more designs and features --lighter weight and pintails, narrower outlines.
Spread Aloha, Randy
That's some super-cool surfboard history right there.
I eat that stuff up.
You can't move forward without looking back first.
That's why I love all you old guys.
HAHA!
I'm not that far behind you!
The first Harbour Rapier (67-68) looked very similar.
My buddy had one with the classic Harbour Sea Nymph laminate.