Date this board

[rodndtube]

Found at Spunky's Surf Shop in Fort Pierce, Florida. Not much is known about this board other than what you can see and the measurements I made at the surf shop. The board was given to Spunky by a friend who found it at a flea market. There is no known story or other leads.
Dimensions: 36 long x 16.75 x 15.5 nose by 16.5 tail & 13 pod. 1/2 inch thick. Skeg base is 9.5 inches long and 4 inches high and about 0.5 inches thick. The board is fiberglassed. It appears to be made of redwood and spruce and the skeg appeared to be made of redwood from looking at the skeg chip closeup.

[krusher74]

Very cool, and tiny!,
sorry have no info for you though.

[dr robert]

judging by the Madras shorts, and the duck hunting vest, I'm guessing about 1963.

Possibly pre-Beatles..but close to that time frame.

As far as the board..well, the clue is the template of
the skeg/rudder.

I'm guessing early 50's mindset, probably made mid, late fifties.

Probably not West Coast, same for Hawaii; East Coaster going solo, just winging it.. maybe coming off something read in a Popular Mechanic's magazine.

Somebody was out there..good for him/her/whoever!

Paipo on.

[SJB]

A very erudite exercise in deductive reasoning Dr. Robert.

I would add that the combo of madras shorts and down vest narrow the geographical locale down
to the Oregon Coast. Very styling.

The board however belongs in the kiddie pool.

Elementary Watson.

Hope you got some of this recent swell up in Cambria. Spudnut and I have had a blast down here
on the South Central Coast. Come on down.

[dr robert]

nice one on picking up the Oregon Coast influence..the eyeglasses and camo' cap are also clues.
still, it's a pretty interesting template.
stretch that thing out a bit, get some decent rail, bottom, foil ,and fin action going and I'll bet it's a goer.
it's got the aspect ratio thing going.
see ya' down south sometime this winter..usually down about 3 or more times per season for surf and general tourism.

[jbw4600]

I usually only date human females. But the board looks home made. As a side note I went to to a cafe a local beach where I had seen some Paipo boards a long time ago to take another look. There were 4 vintage paipo boards hanging from the ceiling. I will go back and ask the owners about them and take some pictures. One was like Dr Robert's older twin fin board but slightly longer. It was labeled Paipoboards California. There also was a Dextra, an El Paipo and custom twin fin . I liked the custom the best.

[mrmike]

look like one I would have made in the early 60s

[dr robert]

JWB..
interesting!
The Paipoboards California was Gordon Theisz' label for boards he primarily made in the 60's.
(He also shaped a handful under the Hobie label).
All that I have seen or heard about were variations on the Froiseth design.. template,fins,handle etc, including the one I have he made for Candy Calhoun in 1980.
I have been tracking this story for a while now, quite a cast of characters, and hope to shine a little light on it via a couple upcoming interviews with some of the main players.
Anyway..please do take some photo's w/dim's etc when you can..great find!

[rodndtube]

You are funny guys!! Thought I was reading People Magazine instead of the Paipo Forums with all the "style" comments

The shape and size of the skeg suggests to me that the board is early-1960s or possibly sometime in the 1950s. There is very little nose kick/rocker. There might be some very slight "V" in the tail that I notice more in the pics now than when I was holding and looking at the board.

[bgreen]

Rod,

Frustrating for the poster seeking a serious response, but entertaining for the passerby.

The outline had a little too much hip for me, but otherwise I thought the outline pretty modern looking. I consulted a couple of books - Greg Noll's 'The art of the surfboard' contains on page 53, a board with a similar looking fin, which was described as typical of the era - 1953. No balsa - was this an indicator of age or what was available. Was it a cutdown for a kid?

With no logo or other info a tough call. It could have been made anywhere - paipos turn up in odd places. The type of glass might give some hints. A post to Swaylocks?


Bob

[mrmike]

??????????

[rodndtube]

Bob, the comments made be chuckle a few times! No complains here. But, I am hoping to hear something more from the "woodies" on the forum regarding the types of wood used in the board -- redwood and spruce or something else?

The fin appears to be key in estimating the time period of the board. Maybe a comparison of the plan shape to what may have appeared in Popular Mechanics-type articles.

[dr robert]

I'll stick with my original theory that the skeg/rudder is key to estimating the vintage of this board.
I will also add that throughout the 50's and 60's in the U.S., woodshop was frequently a required class in the Junior High (7th-9th grade) curriculum.
So this little thing could well have been one of those projects..again, perhaps based on a Popular Mechanic's type of article or design.
As for my personal experience..when I was in woodshop, the major project was making a shoe shine kit (I'm serious).
I rebelled , and made a plywood paipo, with 2 little funky fins (screwed in) instead.
It all went downhill from there.