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A new crop of surfboard shapers and makers will be honored Oct. 15 north of the Huntington Beach Pier at the International Surfboard Builders Hall of Fame, this year marking its 23rd year.
This year’s class of inductees include Charlie Baldwin, Lance Collins, Chris Hawk, Bill “Blinky” Hubina, Rick James, Frank Petrillo and Dick Van Straalen.
The International Surfboard Builder’s Hall of Fame was founded in 2000 by Huntington Beach surfers Mike “Mickey Rat” Ester and Bob “The Greek” Bolen. The very first inductee was Surf City board builder Bill Holden, who was followed by more than 140 inductees the last two decades, including icons such as Dale Velzy, Gordie Smith, Greg Noll, Hap Jacobs, Jack O’Neill and more.
“It’s like a meeting of the tribes – it’s a neat thing to have, to be able to get these people together, these wonderful board builders,” said Bolen. “These people who shaped the industry, who have never been acknowledged.”
Surfboard making isn’t always a lucrative career – for many, it’s the passion for the sport that has driven their careers, often spanning several decades.
“These are the guys who really built the industry,” Bolen said. “They’ve never been honored and people realized they needed to be honored.”
The previous year’s inductees decide who will be inducted the following year in a peer-selection process.
Collins, owner of Wave Tools in Costa Mesa, started surfing in Seal Beach in the ’60s and in 1969, at age 21, made his first surfboard. It was too small for him, so he sold it for $35 and made himself another one.
By the ’70s, he was the go-to shaper for “Echo Beach” surfers, the neon punk movement that rode into Newport Beach.
He has shaped at the same address since 1973 and just celebrated the company’s 50th anniversary in 2019.
Born nearly deaf, Collins said couldn’t hold onto other jobs because employers got mad he couldn’t hear. He couldn’t afford hearing aids, he said, so he started his own business.
“I’ve made a living doing this my whole life,” he said.
Hawk, who died in 2009 at age 58, got his start with Bolen, who had a surf shop in a barn building in Midway City. Hawk and his brothers would come and use left-over foam to make boards, helping to sweep up the shop.
By the ’70s, Hawk had started his own brand.
“He really has a great legacy,” Bolen said.
Just months before he died of cancer, Hawk was inducted into the Surfers’ Hall of Fame, writing in cement: Peace. Love. Surf.
In the water, Hawk was known for a surfing style that was smooth and soulful, always waiting for the biggest wave to come before getting barreled.
“There was something about Chris that was memorable,” said friend Chuck Burns at his paddle-out memorial. “There was a time when the Hawk soared.”
Petrillo got his start in a garage, later making and selling boards out of the Frog House in Newport Beach. He also had a shop in Hermosa Beach on 6th Street and Pacific Coast Highway, with several team riders out of the South Bay representing his brand.
He moved to Texas to build boards and homes, but returned to Southern California in recent years.
James learned to shape at Greg Noll’s factory in Hermosa Beach, before later making the pilgrimage south to San Clemente and operating out of Catalyst Surf.
Hubina, owner of the Ventura Surf Shop, will be coming down the coast for the event. He got his start in 1963 with Tom Hale, also of the Ventura shop, and Tom Morey, who would eventually invent the Boogie Board.
Morey opened a shop with partner Karl Pope and hired Hubina as their first employee. By 1967, he left Morey and Pope to start William Dennis Surfboards.
“My designs at that time were the most exciting, with the boards getting shorter and shorter. There was no one to copy, so every board was an original,” Hubina wrote in a bio. “I would ride it, learn from it, then sell it so I could make another one.”
Straalen, who is not expected to attend, started shaping boards in Australia back in 1956, inspired by a USA Lifeguard Team visit that showcased innovative boards.
Baldwin, who won the East Coast Surfing Championships in 1971 and is founder of Inlet Charlie’s Surf Shop in New Smyrna Beach, will be traveling from Florida for the event.
The morning kicks off at 9 a.m. with Polynesian entertainment and the induction ceremony starts at 10 a.m. After the induction there will be an after party at noon at the Ale House, 301 Main St.
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