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History Of Surfing

            The ancient Hawaiian's left accurate evidence of their sport. Petroglyphs of surfers carved in to the lava-rock landscape, and chants that tell the stories of great surfing feats. Some of these chants date back as far as 1500 A.D.
             Surfing was a part of the Kapu system of laws, which held Hawaiian royalty above the commoners in the kingdom.
             The Kapu system also decided how, why and with what the boards were to be made with. It also depended on the future rider's status in society. .
             The ancient Hawaiians had four basic types of surf boards. The olo. The olo boards was only used by Hawaiian royalty. It was a lengthy board between 16 & 24 feet long up to 20 inches wide and 5 inches thick. Because of its size the olo board could weigh up to 175 pounds. .
             The kiko. The kiko was usually between 12 & 18 feet long. Using this board needed a lot of skill and experience.
             The alia or omo - the alia was used by commoners and was between 10 to 12 feet in length,.
             The Paipo or kioe - this board was more like a body or belly board and was used by the children. This board was around two to four feet long.
             In 1932 American Tom Blake made the first ever hollow boards using red wood strip. .
             Californian bob Simmons is widely recognised as the father of the modern surfboard design. His major breakthrough came in 1948when he shaped a board from balsa wood covered it in fibreglass and stuck a fin near its tail. His idea spread like wildfire through. California. Simmons later designed the hot curl board, built to out turn the curl.
             In 1956 hobie alter and david sweet made the first foam board but they encountered innumerable problems; the foam shrunk, the moulds were difficult to work with but by the 1960's foam boards had begun to replace balsa boards along the coast line.
             someone had a board shipped to Australia in1912 but it wasn't until 1915 that the sport was properly understood. Duke Kahanamoku visited Sydney. Here he carved a board.


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