Corky Carroll: Surfboard Builders Hall of Fame set to welcome some industry heavyweights

The 19th annual induction ceremony for the International Surfboard Builders Hall of Fame is set for Saturday, Oct. 13. This year’s event will fittingly be held at the International Surfing Museum, 411 Olive Ave., in Huntington Beach.

Previous inductees include surfboard building legends such as Phil Edwards, Skip Frye, Mickey Munoz, Mike Doyle, Bill Holden and Doug Haut.

The ISBHF began back in 2000 as the brainchild of local Huntington Beach surfers Bob the “Greek” Bolen and Mike “Mickey the Rat” Ester — Bob being a master surfboard builder himself, along with being the owner of Huntington Beach Realty.

This year’s line-up is a powerful one, actually one of the strongest in the 19 years, in my humble opinion, anyway.

Rusty Preisendorfer, one of the most important shapers of the past 40 years, leads the lineup, which also includes the likes of Harold Walker, Ken Adler, Robbie Dick, Mike Minchinton, Able Gomes and Scott Busbey. These dudes are all heavyweights in the world of building surfboards.

Let’s take a look at some of the new honorees:

Rusty Preisendorfer got his start at age 16 and worked for Gordon and Smith as well as Canyon Surfboards honing his craft. By 1985, when he launched his own line, he was already recognized as one of the hottest contemporary shapers in the world and had such surf stars as Mark Occhilupo and Dave Parmenter riding his boards in competitions around the globe. Using only a big R with a dot behind it as his logo, the brand soon expanded into a clothing line that was super successful.

I once did a Surfer magazine television comedy spot at his surf shop in Del Mar, pointing at the logo on the building and saying, “And now they even have surf shops for adults, this one is R rated.”

Rusty is not only a leader in the surf industry but also a great guy and it’s really cool that the ISBHF is recognizing him this year.

Harold Walker, who makes foam blanks that the boards are shaped out of, is another of my favorite guys in the surfboard industry.

He started way back in the late 1950s, when foam was first being used as the primary material for board building. Hobie Alter and Gordon Clark came up with it and soon Gordon set up a business to make the blanks, his primary customer being Hobie. It was about then that Harold also got into the game and started supplying many of the other surfboard builders of the time, including Hap Jacobs in Hermosa Beach.

Before long, Gordon put the pedal to the metal and pretty much took over the entire global surfboard blank market. He had a policy of not selling to anybody who bought blanks from anybody else, especially Harold.

Harold hung on for many years but eventually he found it impossible to stay open only selling a few blanks here and there.

Then, in a shocking event in the surf world, on Dec. 7, 2005, Gordon Clark abruptly closed his doors and went out of business. There was an immediate panic throughout the surf industry — nobody had any idea where the blanks were going to come from to supply the surfboard building industry. Walker Foam had a great reputation for a good product, but could they supply enough?

The answer was no, but Harold geared up and gave it a go anyway. Before long they were rockin’ and rollin’ in orders and even though it was impossible to keep up, it was a much better situation to be in than not having any orders at all.

Since then, things have leveled off and Harold Walker has had a nice run as a leading surfboard foam producer. One of the true “survivors” of the industry.

Mike Minchinton is one of those dudes who is known very well within the industry but not so much out of it. He is a master craftsman who can build the most beautiful balsawood boards, most contemporary shortboards, most classic retro longboards, wood fins and tail blocks and pretty much anything else.

He’s a Huntington Beach local surfer who was head shaper for Robert August surfboards for decades. He personally crafted many, many shapes and designs for leading surfers, from the likes of Paul Strauch to Mike Doyle and countless others. In fact, Mike shaped some of the best boards I ever rode.

Kind of like the late Terry Martin, Mike is one of those hard-working semi-unknown dudes who just puts out zillions of great boards. I’m stoked he made the list this year.

More next week on this year’s inductees and on the event. Stay tuned.

Ask the expert

Q. I recently switched from prone surfing to riding a stand-up paddleboard. This was due to a back injury that was preventing me from getting to my feet from a prone position. I know that you went through the same adjustment a few years ago so thought I would come to you with this question. When I ride backside to the wave I’m not sure where I should keep my paddle. I am regular foot and when I go left I have been holding the top of the paddle in my right hand, with the blade forward. I reach across my board to put the paddle in the wave face to help pull me up the wave face when I want to climb. But I don’t use the paddle at all to cut back — in fact, I really don’t cut back much. Any ideas on this that might help me improve?

Stan Goodwin, Long Beach

A. There are actually two ways that you can approach this. One is to hold the paddle like you have it and switch hands to get the blade into the water on the downhill side of your board for bigger cutbacks or turning to the right. The other is to hold your paddle with the top in your left hand. You jam the blade into the water behind your back on the wave face side of your board to turn to the left and climb, etc. Then you simply put it into the water on the downhill side of your board to cut back or turn right. That way you never have to switch hands. I have seen it done both ways by excellent surfers, so it mostly comes down to which is most comfortable for you. I personally prefer to not have to switch hands. Good luck.