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Reminiscing is fun; I like breaking out my old sports trading cards, newspaper clippings, photo albums, paperback books, etc. They help recall life in simpler times, when material possessions weren’t half as available as they are now, where not everything had to be plugged into a wall socket, and each piece was designed and created simply and with regard. When applied to classic surfboards and collectibles from decades past, this doctrine increases tenfold.
Surfboards take up lots of space and decay rather quickly, so I haven’t kept most of the dozens I’ve owned over the years. But I can still remember my first one like I’m standing in front of it right now; thin, narrow, with a clear deck and a yellow bottom. It had a single, snap-on plastic fin, and a cool psychedelic graphic of the Sun near the nose in a modish, cursive red and black pattern. The nose was super flipped, and the tail round and forgiving. I’m not sure who made it or what brand it was, but it was a classic, atypical design representation of the early 70’s transitional period. Like a first kiss, every surfer remembers their first surfboard and every detail about it. Incidentally, I just had a new surfboard made; it has a clear deck, yellow bottom, a flipped nose and round and forgiving tail, the Sun replaced with a Lightning Bolt. By complete coincidence, I’d circled back to my first surfboard and being a 13 year old gremmie again.
Memories are good for a time, but the aging mind can go fuzzy on the details in a hurry. Humans, being the sensory beings that we are, like to touch things, examine them, discuss them. For keen surfers with a penchant for the classic old days, one event allows them to revisit and even own a singular slice of surfing’s rich history.
The “Hawaiian Islands Vintage Surf Auction” held on a bi-annual basis six times at the Neal S. Blaisdell Center in Honolulu has been a highly anticipated bastion of rare surfing memorabilia and collector’s pieces, a welcomed social forum for surf history buffs from around the world, and an extremely rare opportunity to capture metaphoric lightning in a bottle. Imagine being able to touch, hold, or own key objects in human history; Van Gogh’s paint brushes, Columbus’ sextant, Lennon’s Rickenbacker guitar, Astaire’s dancing shoes, or Darwin’s scientific journals.
ASP Hawaii Executive Director and longtime global surf explorer Randy Rarick is the driving force and curator of the HIVSA and has traveled the world in search of the exceptional. Since its start, the event has been held bi-annually, allowing Rarick sufficient time to locate, examine, classify, appraise, and assemble a diverse selection of highly sought after, saleable auction items. “It takes a couple years just to find good pieces and have ‘um restored,” he said. Rarick also seeks “provenance”, or origin and ownership history behind each one, which adds to their already high intrinsic value.
Unlike smaller, more storage friendly memorabilia like old surf magazines, framed photos, jerseys, and paintings, classic surfboards are often found covered in dust and grimy wax, stashed in the rafters, a carport, or under the house, and usually long exposed to the elements. Thus, they’re normally in need of TLC by the skilled team of veteran surfboard craftsmen that Rarick commissions to perform the restorations on these rare birds. They reappear in the HIVSA showroom gleaming, stately, and radiating aura.
Standing before a wall of fully restored classic surfboards is like walking back in time. There was a phrase I heard on TV recently that reminds me of this notion. “Lazarus Taxon” is a scientific term applied to an ancient animal species, long thought to be extinct, that’s suddenly rediscovered to be very much alive and thriving in the wild, a prime example being the infamous Coelacanth fish. This is sort of the same deal, and it takes a few minutes to fully grasp what’s in front of you and how the surfboards seem to have risen from the primordial ooze. By the time you’ve left the display area, your eyes are dry from all the ogling and you’ve muttered the word “WOW” about a thousand times. I don’t think that’d happen if the room was full of sticker covered 6’ thrusters.
The complete selection spans many eras of surfing and the often eccentric sub-strata within them. A few of the many amazing pieces on offer;
Also available were surf-themed beer bottle sets, vintage surf magazines, surf stickers, surfboard fins, classic surf films, old Aloha shirts, autographed posters, and much more for stoked collectors to browse through. Wall to wall surf; gotta love that! It was thrilling to rub shoulders with many of the original shapers of these surfboards who were there in person; Joe Quigg, Bob McTavish, Greg Noll, Rennie Yater, Corky Carroll, Rich Harbour, Ryan Dotson, Bob Olsen, Dick Brewer, Ben Aipa, Barry Kanaiaupuni, Randy Rarick himself, and others.
Part of the HIVSA week festivities was a screening of the documentary “Going Vertical”. It examines the late 60’s dispute between the Australians and Hawaiians over who first initiated the so-called “Shortboard Revolution”, a period of radical change between the lumbering traditional longboards and nose riding, cross stepping styles of the early 60’s into much shorter, foiled boards and fin designs and a more aggressive vertical attack off the tail block. The film was an introspective and often humorous study of the period, and its two main pugilists, Brewer (Hawaii) and McTavish (Australia), made a rare public appearance together at the film to take and answer questions from a completely stoked audience. Both had long settled their differences and are good friends today.
I’d been to the last 4 HIVSA shows, but mainly as a casual gawker, but due to my severe lack of disposable cash (and jealousy), I’d avoided the auction portion each time. I’d heard they were all barnburners and made it a point to attend this year, whether or not I was involved in a broadcast. And so after bidders had two days to poke, prod, and ponder the items on the block, the auction started on Saturday afternoon in the Pikake Room of the Blaisdell Center. The atmosphere was thick with excitement, anticipation, and implied the same kind of heady competitiveness that surfers exercise in the water. The demographic was decidedly mature, with astute, seasoned collectors from all over the world showing up with their poker faces on. As each piece was brought to the stage and paraded around the room, Rarick provided detailed narrative on their construction and background, and auctioneer extraordinaire Surfer Joe Teipel whipped the crowded room into controlled chaos each time. By night’s end, the event’s total haul was $650,000.00, with a portion of the proceeds going to the Outrigger Duke Kahanamoku Foundation and the Surfing Heritage Foundation. In its grand 10 year run, the Hawaiian Islands Vintage Surf Auction boasts cumulative sales of $3.2M.
All the auction hubbub aside, the show is largely about Rarick demonstrating his extensive knowledge of design histrionics, intuition for the rare, deep insider connections, and compelling lifelong passion for the sport and culture. Only he knows how much effort, patience, and expense went into assembling all these auction pieces in saleable condition, but the smart guess is it’s got to be tons of each. And yet, he does so in his typically measured, altruistic, almost fiduciary manner, and one that has little to do with profit. “After all is said and done, I net about $1.00 for each item in the show,” he said.
Still, Rarick finds rewards that transcend the monetary realm, "The 6th edition of the auction was without doubt the most successful event. Even though we limited the main auction to only 70 items this year, they fetched record numbers. "It's incredibly satisfying for me to see two stoked individuals for every item sold: the seller, and the new owner. Surfing has always been hugely popular for its lifestyle, its athletes, and its culture. This auction is a perfect barometer of that rising growth in popularity and global interest. By honoring surfing's heritage, we will also ensure its future."
Surfing goes a lot deeper than the last big money pro contest, the latest hip-hop aerial maneuver, or the fanciest boardshort technology. To maintain its unique foundation, it’s absolutely critical to the sport that its past is revisited regularly, its patriarchs reassembled, and its dusty old relics refurbished. Here’s to hoping that the surf gods rain down enough karma that Rarick reconsiders and decides to give the HIVSA another go in 2013. C’mon Randy!
Coming up in August on Oceanic SURF Channel
