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Why Balsa?
As the early 1960s dawned an explosive era in surfboard innovation, newly developed polyurethane foam quickly replaced balsa as the standard material from which surfboards were made. The entire nation was affected by the new 60s surf culture. Dick Dale, the Beach Boys, Jan and Dean, The Ventures, and others echoed a distinct sound that legitimized a new lifestyle for an adventure seeking pre Viet Nam era generation. Ironically, at about the time of the death of the legendary Father of Modern Surfing, Hawaiian Duke Kahanamoku, the late 1960s ushered in a frenzied rush to shorter ultra lightweight boards and a new surf culture was born.
The short new styled turn-on-a-dime wave thrasher boards brought an end to the era of traditional surfing.
A new breed of aggressive enthusiasts poured into the sport. The next few decades saw radical change and dramatic innovation in the design of surfboards. Some say surfing lost its soul. Over the next twenty-five years surfboard manufacturing became more a science than an art. Equations for calculating optimum rocker and foil configurations seemed to replace a keen eye and skilled feel of hand along a rail as accepted shaping methodology.
Suddenly, however, it was as if the late Duke himself had sent a messenger. It was as if a call could be heard from a lone forgotten surfer sitting way outside beyond the wave crests on an old-style board waiting patiently for a set to approach. With this call a revival sprang up in the mid 1990s - a yearning for a return to the roots of surfing. Baby-boomers began to re-connect with the nostalgic pride in the glory days of the sport. Old-school surfers heard the cry and, after many land-locked years, they began paddling out again on new 9’6” traditional style boards. They were back, in search of that elusive perfect wave. Recently even die-hard short-boarders have discovered the thrill of riding the nose and hanging a few toes over the front fender of a classic-style surfboard. Remember surf knots below the knees? Even knee paddling is back!
The purest of the purists begin to speak in almost reverent tones when the subject of vintage solid wood surfboards comes up. Since the late 1950s and early 60s when Webber, Velzey, Noll, Gordon, and other pioneer surfboard makers began to abandon balsa for the new lighter foam technology, few surfers have experienced a balsa board. The elite few who have, boast the ride is more stable through the turns and rebounding off sections. When asked recently, an experienced surfer and well-known shaper told me: “There’s just something about the feel of a balsa board on a wave, something special that’s hard to explain, It’s a momentum unknown on a foam board, the ride is crisp and smooth - a glide - a closer feeling to the wave itself.” He paused, and with a slow grin added: “Besides, a solid wood board is so classic old-school, it’s the soul of early day surfing, and well…. a solid balsa wood surfboard just looks so grand and royal.”
Experienced surfboard shapers seem to all admit shaping balsa is more difficult and far more labor intensive than shaping foam. Most of the customary tools for shaping foam boards have to be put away because a solid wood board is all about woodworking and sculpture. A balsa wood board with a few full-length wood stringers is the ultimate surfboard shaping challenge. The variable grain directions and abrupt changes in wood density bring additional difficulty to attempting a professional execution. Add a laminated wood tailpiece, a matching mitered nose, a multi-layered skeg (fin,) and you’ve got the seaside equivalent of a Mt. Everest experience (almost). Instead of an ice axe and an iron will to reach the summit, it’s a 1960s vintage Skil model 100 wood planer and a quest to shape a bit of surfing history. That’s why balsa!
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