Dig deep
enough into any Sixties
shaper’s past, and
you’ll turn up the name
“Hobie Alter.”
Brilliantly inventive, Hobie
was one of the leading
innovators in surfboard
materials, shaping,
production, and surf retail.
The Southern Californian
started shaping balsa boards
back in the Fifties. By the
Sixties, the Hobie factory in
Capo Beach, California,
cranked out as many as 250
surfboards a week. Through the
years most of the biggest
names in Sixties surfing
surfed (and shaped) for Team
Hobie: Joey Cabell, Phil
Edwards, Corky Carroll, Gary
Propper, Peter Pan, Mickey
Munoz, Linda Benson, Joyce
Hoffman and Yancy Spencer
among many, many others.
Today, Hobie’s classic
shapes remain undiminished by
time in both function and
beauty. |