This year’s International Surfboard Builders Hall of Fame induction ceremony will be held on Saturday, October 19th at the Huntington Beach Pier Plaza.
The festivities begin at 10 a.m. and continue until the end.
The ISBHF is now in its 25th year and features an impressive lineup of talented “foam artists,” including the first-ever female Hall of Fame inductee, Cher Pendarvis.
Previous Star Hall of Fame inductees include Hobie Alter, Phil Edwards, Ben Aipa, Jerry Lopez, Mike Doyle, Bing Copeland, Hap Jacobs, Sam Hawk, Harvey Fletcher, and Bob McTavish. , Joe Quigg, Lance Carson, Bob “The Greek” Boren, and Bob “Ole”. Olsen, Donald Takayama, Doug Haught, Mickey Munoz, and many others, all of whom I don’t have space to list, are all ultra-cool stars. This is a very nice award. To receive recognition, one must be selected among previous Hall of Fame inductees.
This year’s Hall of Fame inductees are:
Ricky Carroll: Florida legend, great surfer, master shaper, and a very nice guy. Ricky shaped his first board 51 years ago when he was just 13 years old. He was one of the top surfers on the East Coast, competing at the professional level for years and constantly honing his skills in surfboard shaping.
He made boards for Natural Art, Island Surfboards, Sea Shapes, and Local Motion before establishing his own factory and launching RC Surfboards. Not only does he continue to grow his own brand, he is also a licensee for numerous top surfboard companies. If you want a quality board in Florida that’s right for you, Ricky is your go-to.
Al Merrick: Speaking of “legends,” this is that guy. Originally from New Jersey, Al came to California, started surfing in San Diego at the age of 10, surfed really well, moved to Santa Barbara in 1965, started building surfboards in 1966, inspired by Bob McTavish, and became really good at it. and made surfboards for many people. Working with great surfers including Sean Thompson (who won the world title in 1977), he slowly built the Channel Islands surfboard brand into an industry leader.
But it was when he brought in 12-year-old Tom Curran and together they made history that Aru and the Channel Islands were thrust into the limelight as the go-to brand for surfing greats. did. Tom will undoubtedly become one of the greatest surfers of all time, and Al will likely join him as a shaper and surfboard designer. Remember the classic story when Al, Tom, and I went surfing on a flat day in Carpinteria, which is now not space?
Hank Warner: Hank is said to be the liveliest “74-year-old Gremmy” on this coast. If you know him, you probably know that to be true. A San Diego surfing icon, both in and out of the water.
Hank has shaped over 35,000 surfboards on his own. Let’s think about it. It’s really a lot. I still knock them out every day. I can’t see the end. He has modeled for all the top brands in the San Diego area and even has his own brand. This man is a 63-year veteran of the surfing industry, from 1961 to present. Truly “historic”.
Cher Pendarvis: First female Hall of Fame inductee. Cher was born in 1950 and spent the fifties in Hawaii, learning to surf on borrowed boards and starting repairing scratches at a local surf shop, trading three months of work fixing scratches to buy her first board. I learned how to do almost everything. Over the next few decades, he worked in surfboard construction, making fins, glassing, becoming a noted shaper, working with all kinds of surf industry legends, being a great artist, and creating classics that are still used today. I designed the Donald Takayama Surfboards logo. , has been an excellent surfer all his life. This girl can make them and then take them out and ride them.
Al Fath: Al and his brother John opened Allen Surfboards in Downey in the 1950s and later moved to Long Beach. I first started seeing them pop up around 1960 in Surfside, where I grew up and learned to surf. The great Mark Martinson had one, too. That was enough for me. The brothers and their Allen surfboards became legends in the Long Beach surfing world. Great guys too.
Richard Deese: Richard was in the South Bay like the Fass brothers were in Long Beach. He made boards under his own name for the infamous South Bay Surf Shop. Most notable was his “tunnel” fin design. In recent years this has been revived by Bob “Greek” Bollen in a new version with “turbo tunnel” fins.
Sam Egan: An internationally respected Australian board builder, Egan began manufacturing plywood rescue paddleboards in the 1950s, leading to balsa wood surfboards and eventually foam. He is one of the guys who has handcrafted hundreds of millions of boards for various Australian brands over the years and has made boards for many great surfers including Simon Anderson.
They used to be assembled from top to bottom, but around 2000 they were limited to strictly shaping them to avoid the chemicals associated with glass processing. To this day, he remains one of the most talented handshapers in the world.
If you’re in the area, this is a great event to attend. Plus, there’s cool Polynesian music playing and lots of cool surf people to hang out with.
