Looking at pro surfing these days -- men's or women's -- it's hard to imagine that a top tier surfer would ride a flat rocker, rolled bottomed hull...with the fin set over a foot up from the tail!
But that was the case back in 1968, when Margo Godfrey (Oberg) won the World Contest in Puerto Rico with a board, and riding style, that any hull surfer would appreciate...
Footage of Margo riding that board can be found at this link. Click on the video on the upper left.
She's riding her 20" wide Hansen hull at the the :26 second mark. (Not sure of the length.) All the trimming and turning is done from the middle of the board...very cool stuff.
Also, at the :40 second mark, you can see Reno with a fin-up mini gun!
Hansen didn't have an uber-progressive image, but they were building some really nice hulls back in the day.
Check out this transition era Hansen Pintail. The board is crude by today's standards, but the Cardiff crew understood small wave hull fin placement...
Most California builders didn't...
Rusty Miller carving on a Hansen hull...
And how about these bitchin' big wave hulls Mike Doyle and Rusty Miller rode at Sunset in 1969 !
Another forgotten memory is Gerry Lopez's involvement with Hansen around '69. He was building and riding S-Deck hulls sporting the Hansen label...
Here's Horacio De Seixas with a restored transition era Hansen gun...
Getting back to Margo's board...I don't know who shaped it, but Kurt Ledterman was in the bay when it was built, and directed a lot of the design's nuances. Kurt had genuine respect for women's surfing. He and Margo remained good friends for many years to come.
Kurt was a stout surfer, with enormous style and wave knowledge. He flourished on D fin longboards...and continued to ride them during the 10-plus years when they were completely out of fashion.
Sadly, we lost Kurt earlier this year. Obits here and here.
(This is Kurt in a bad mood...)
(Three guesses why Kurt's nickname was "Archie" down at The Shores!)
5 comments:
Thank you for this, really interesting & informative. Margo's surfing is beautiful- inspirational!
Margo sat next to me in my 10th grade Marine Biology class with Mr. Torres at Santa Barbara High School. She had just won the World Championship in Puerto Rico. I didn’t realize what a big deal that was, but I always asked her about the surf conditions. We both rode Hammonds a lot at the time. I was just floundering at that point.
Peter Spacek’s first short board (1970) was a 7”2” Hansen pintail gun with that hulled belly. He bought it from some guy just back from “the Islands.” It was so incredibly thin, from the chest logo forward, we always joked that it was just for show, because it couldn’t provide much flotation.
I rode that board a lot, just before I devoted myself to the lower center of gravity of kneeboards. That Hansen Hull might have contributed to my center forward surf stance.
Best,
Dirk Brandts
amazing post
joel tudor once scolded me for riding a lovelace hull at the rivermouth..
i wonder why?
...i thought i was having fun?
Thanks for that PG very nice , well done !
Loved her surfing style....
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