HISTORY OF SURFING FROM ANCIENCE TO OUR DAYS

10 min readJun 3, 2020

The history of surfing is a storehouse of vast experience, a series of trials and mistakes that led surfing to the way we see it and love it now. In our article you will find out how the history of surfing began, how it was started and what people made a huge contribution to the development of our favorite sport.

There are no records of the first surfers in the world, but it so happened that the history of surfing began with the Pacific region. Some Peruvians claim that their first settlers were pioneers in conquering ocean waves when they returned from fishing expeditions about 4,000 years ago.
The theory of the origin of the Polynesians claims that their migration began from the island of Sumatra in Indonesia, spread to Fiji, the Marquesas Islands, Tahiti, and finally reached Hawaii. There is no doubt that surfing was born during this development of the Pacific Islands.
The fact remains: Hawaii is the center of world surfing and the place where the history of surfing began. Hawaiians learned to ride the waves on wooden boards about 1,000 years ago. The royal family and their subjects were surfing. The Hawaiian Kings showed their skills in surfing in order to strengthen their position on the throne. They used huge Olo surfboards from 18 to 25 feet (6–8 meters) long, while commoners had the right to ride only shorter surfs called Alaia.

EUROPEAN SURFING OPENING

The history of surfing in Europe began only in 1779, when Lieutenant James King, who participated in the last expedition of Captain James Cook, published excerpts from his diary with notes on how Hawaiians live on the ocean and enjoy a beach lifestyle.
Time passed, and the Europeans began to use Hawaii as a transit point on trade expeditions. In 1821, Calvinist missionaries arrived from Britain to spread their religion among the locals. They considered the lifestyle of Hawaiians frivolous and banned surfing, thereby virtually destroying the lifestyle of Hawaiians. All this led to the fact that the traditional Hawaiian culture almost disappeared from the face of the earth. If it weren’t for a handful of native Hawaiians and a few curious tourists, such as Mark Twain, who described “swimming in the waves” in 1872 in his book “Easy”, then the story of surfing could end then.

HISTORY OF SURFING IN THE 20TH CENTURY

The resurgence of the surfing culture began with two personalities: George Freeth and Duke Kahanamoku. George Frith was a member of Waikiki beach boys, whose members practiced very rare surfing back then. In 1907, Frith met the American writer Jack London in Honolulu. London became interested in surfing and wrote an article in a magazine that brought Frith fame on the American continent. George Frith moved to California, where he demonstrated his ability to ride the waves on Venice Beach, and later on Redonodo Beach, where he was nicknamed “a man who can walk on water.” George Frith was indeed the first to bring surfing to the mainland of the United States, but his influence is not comparable to what Duke Kahanamoku did — he introduced the whole world to surfing.

Duke, like George Frith, was part of Waikiki beach boys. In 1905, he beat various world swimming records, and since 1912 he represented the American swimming team at the Olympic Games, during which he earned many gold medals. Kahanamoku traveled extensively around the world and introduced surfing Australia and New Zealand, as well as the east coast of the United States. In 1917, Duke saddled the legendary big wave, rising over a reef off the coast of Waikiki, Hawaiian island of Oahu, using a 50 kilogram mahogany board 16 feet (almost 5 meters) long, driving more than one and a half kilometers! One of Duke’s companions was Tom Blake, a California surf pioneer. He became the first surfer to ride the waves of Malibu in 1926. In addition, Blake organized the first surfing competition on the US Pacific coast, which he himself won by riding on a board made with his own hands.

EARLY SURFBOARDS

Hawaiians rode on boards made from a single piece of wood of different species: pine, mahogany or balsa. These surfs were very heavy, had no fins and were practically uncontrollable on large waves, however, this was not particularly required, since in those days everyone skated in a straight line from the waves. In the 30s of the 20th century, Tom Blake helped develop a hollow board called the Cigar Box. The board was a hollow structure of balsa, frames, dowels, waterproof glue and varnish. Boards of this type were lighter, more buoyant, but were as uncontrollable as their predecessors. Plus, all early surfboards tended to slip from a wave taller than 6 feet (1.8 meters).

In 1937, one of the local Hawaiian teenagers revised the design of the board, having come up with a V-shaped bottom in the tail area so that the surf would better stick to the wave wall. Such a design change has led surfers to learn how to make sharper turns. After World War II, the forefront of a new trend in California surf design was Bob Simmons, Dale Velzy, and Joe Quigg. These shapers already made boards with a large fin and fiberglass coating.

FIRST “OFFICIAL” SURF SPOTS AND THEIR Pioneers

It is possible that surfing would not have become so popular in the mid-twentieth century, if not for the first surfers who conquered the waves of Oahu, Hawaii. These people became an example of a “surfing” lifestyle, it was with them that the history of surfing began, close to the modern one. Adventures, surf-trips and non-conformism were invariable elements of their life. This image of the surfer remains virtually unshakable to this day. The first surfers earned the title of sports legends, pushing the boundaries of what was considered impossible.

FIRST POPULAR SPOT — MAKAHA

At the beginning of the 20th century, the main area of surfing was the southern part of Oahu around Waikiki. With the development of boards, surfers such as John Kelly, Wally Froiseth, and Fran Heath began to look for more interesting waves. In 1937, they left Honolulu and camped in the Makah Valley. Waking up the next morning, they saw huge waves crashing on a reef. For information: the spot of Makakh begins to work with the size of the swell more than 10 feet (3 meters), while waves with a height of 20 feet (about 6 meters) rise only several times a year.

The history of surfing was interrupted by World War II, as most of the surfers took part in hostilities, but by the mid-40s, surfers returned to Makakha, including a new face — George Downing. Downing began to study the spot and its waves almost enthusiastically. When the swell came, he made notes about the period between the waves, about the number of waves in the set, about the pause between sets, how the swell grew and fell over a certain period of time. And when the swell was gone, he swam with a mask and snorkel, exploring the bottom. In 1950, while traveling to California, Downing made a new 10-foot board and a large fin specifically for large waves. This board allowed to begin the conquest of really big waves in Makaha.

In 1953, a local photographer photographed Downing, Brown and Buzzy Trent on 15 foot waves (5 meters). This became a real sensation in the mainland USA after the pictures appeared in newspapers, Life magazines, National Geographic and other publications. Until that moment, no one had seen a wave of this size ever be subdued. This event led to the appearance of the first big wave surfers. Then a group of Hawaiian and California surfers set up a camp at Makaha, building huts and frame houses. The number of big wave surfers grew, but Downing remained the best. The conquerors of the waves spent time in the Makah Valley surfing and fishing. But there was a problem — this spot worked quite rarely, so the surfers had to scout other territories. So began the study of the northern coast of the island.

WORLD RECOGNITION

Until then, surfing was still part of the underground and there were very few surfers. The situation changed when the Gidget book hit the shelves of bookstores in the late 50s, and the movie of the same name came out on the screens of cinemas, from this the story of surfing changed its course. ”Gidget, little girl with big ideas”
(“Gidget, The Little Girl With Big Ideas”) is a novel written by Frederick Kohner in 1957. He drew inspiration from looking at his daughter Katie, who surfed and was a bright representative of the Malibu surf culture of the time. Columbia pictures acquired the rights to film adaptation of the book and made a film in 1959 in the vicinity of Santa Monica. Both the book and the film literally blew up the public. Cinemas were filled to capacity. The influence of the film and the book cannot be underestimated, since it was Gidget who brought surfing from the underground, turning it into a popular activity among thousands of young people who lived near the ocean coast. According to rough estimates, the number of surfers in California alone increased from 5,000 in 1956 to more than 100,000 in 1962.

The emergence of surfing in music has also served as a catalyst for the popularization of surfing. The first compositions in this style appeared in surf films, but soon teams appeared that devoted all this time to this particular direction in music. The most striking examples of these are Beach Boys, Jand and Dean, Dick Dale and Del Tones.

The explosion in the popularity of surfing turned it into a subculture, and also provided excellent opportunities for the development of the commercial side of sports. So a new direction in business emerged — the surf industry. John Severson’s The Surfer magazine first hit store magazine racks in 1960, board shapers began experimenting with new materials and shapes, drawing on knowledge from ship hull technology. By the end of the 60s, boards had become shorter, turning from large long logs into 6-foot surfboards, designed specifically for speed and maneuverability.
Short and lightweight boards spawned a new, more aggressive riding style, which has its roots in Australia. By the 70s, brands like Billabong, Quiksilver and O’Neill appeared and quickly gained momentum. There is no doubt that Jack O’Neill played a major role in the development of surfing when he invented the wetsuit. With the advent of hydriks, surfers got the opportunity to do their favorite thing in cold waters.

SURFING COMPETITIONS

By the mid-70s, events were held in Australia, Brazil, the USA and South Africa. These unrelated competitions were grouped by IPS in 1976 into what can be called the ASP (The Association of Surfing Professionals) stage of origin. In the first year of the tour, Australian Peter Townend became the first world champion in surfing. Sean Thomson (Shaun Tomson, South Africa), Wayne Bartholomew (Wayne Bartholomew, Australia) and 4-time champion, the legendary Mark Richards (Australia), won titles in subsequent years. Thanks to these riders, the history of surfing has entered a new era: by 1984, the tour had expanded to 20 international events.

By the time the number of contests grew to 60 contests per year, the ISP was reorganized into ASP, which in turn introduced a two-round rating system for athletes in 1992. There was a rating in this system, which included 44 of the best surfers in the world who fell into competitions without qualifications. To identify new stars, the World Qualifying Series (WQS) was introduced, in which 16 applicants competed to get into the top 44.
Over time, the tour slightly changed. Until this moment, its stages were held in large cities in the middle of summer, mainly with the aim of collecting a large number of spectators. But at this time of year, the conditions on surf spots left much to be desired. As a result, the fast-growing surf industry, whose individual brands were sponsors of the stages of the tour, insisted that the competition be held on the best surf spots on the planet. Global brands began to organize their events in more exotic places, such as G-Land in Indonesia, J-Bay in Africa, Mundaka in Spain, Tavarua in the Fiji Islands, Teahupoo in Tahiti and Trestles in California. For events, the time of the largest swells and the highest quality waves was chosen. In addition, a waiting period has been introduced. Thus, the world’s best surfers began to compete on the world’s best waves.

In 1999, ASP appointed Wayne “Rabbit” Bartholomew to the position of President of the association, where he spent 10 years. During this time, Rabbit changed the tour a lot — he reworked the judging system, which at that time was based on the number of waves caught and maneuvers performed, and also moved the competition from the “so-so” beaches to surf spots with the best waves. In addition to the above, he organized live streaming of video from the competition, providing an opportunity for a global audience to watch the progress of the competition from almost anywhere in the world.

Nowadays, a new surfing story is being created by the actions of WSL (until 2015 ASP). Thanks to her, such world-class stars as Kelly Slater, John John Florence and Mick Fanning arose, and the leading companies in the surf industry grew into multi-million megabynds.