One of the gems in The Endless Summer -- indeed, one of the gems in all of surf movie-dom -- is the the 44 second clip of Dora in teensy, sloppy, crowded Malibu. He's riding a 9'4'' D-Fin Jacobs, with a clear layup and a wide balsa stringer.
The window of time captured (circa the summer of '62) is a big part of what makes this clip so engaging. Noseriding was around, but hadn't yet become a de rigueur componant of longboarding. Dora's Jacobs was a double-ender pig, better suited to turning and trimming than tip riding. There was nothing about the board that encouraged him to ride any further forward than needed...so he didn't. In effect, he was riding the wave, not his board...which became the mantra of the shortboard revolution a half dozen years later.
The 2" wide balsa stringer along with the stylized diamond logo was one of the calling cards back in the day, right along with Yater's split stringer merging together at the nose made any gremmies heart go pitter padder.
ReplyDeleteThis segment of Mickey is one of my favorite vignettes in Endless Summer! When I first saw it in the 60s, I was fascinated by his relaxed control, trims, and his side slipping maneuvers. Yes, he was very progressive for the time. Aloha, Cher
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