Why Surfboard Model Names Have Made a Comeback

Mason Ho and the ‘Evil Twin.’ Photo: …Lost

Editor’s Note: Welcome to “By Design” with Sam George, which examines the genius, and sometimes the mystery, of surfing’s storied design history. Sam has been writing about surfing for more than three decades and is the former Editor-in-Chief of SURFER magazine. He won an Emmy for his work on the 30 for 30 documentary, Hawaiian: The Legend of Eddie Aikau. Today, Sam looks at the naming of the surfboard model.

Happy Every Day, Blue Dream, Scorcher, White Widow, G.O.A.T., Black Diamond, Utopia, Velvet Hour, Greedy Beaver, Skywalker OG, Cherry Picker, Uber Driver, Red Velvet, Ducksnuts, Mash Up…quick, tell me which of these wickedly evocative names belong to some of 2023’s most popular strains of cannabis, and which belong to some of 2023’s most popular surfboard models. No shame if you can’t: the colorful monikers assigned to both these consciousness-altering vehicles are virtually indistinguishable. But unlike Weed World, which has a long history of far-out product names (righteous buds like Maui Wowie, Purple Haze and Acapulco Gold to name a few), surfers today are, for the first time since the 1960s, increasingly more apt to score – I mean choose – their new board by name.

“It’s really come full circle,” says the estimable Matt Biolos, founder, head shaper and one-man brain trust at …Lost Surfboards by Mayhem. “These days pretty much every major brand has been bringing back the surfboard model.”

Back from where is the mid-1960s, when a perusal of surfboard advertisements in the period’s prominent surf magazines (oh, c’mon, there were only two: SURFER and INTERNATIONAL SURFING) would offer prospective new board buyers a wide range of models to pick from. Taking a page out of the automobile industry’s playbook, all the big brands – Hobie, Hansen, Bing, Gordon & Smith, Weber, Jacobs, Greg Noll, Con –acknowledged the inherent marketing advantage in providing customers the option of choosing a model by name. The 50/50, ‘Da Cat, Performer, Hot Curl, The Ugly, Pipeliner and Lotus were just a few of the popular models available. Then there were the pro endorsements: surf stars like Phil Edwards, Lance Carson, Mike Doyle, David Nuuhiwa, Corky Carroll, Nat Young, Joyce Hoffman and Gary Propper all had top-selling models, many of which delivered hefty royalty sums to this first generation of professional surfers.

In the late 1960s, however, the “Shortboard Revolution,” with its bewildering rate of innovation and “do your own thing” manifesto, blew the model trend right out of the water, where it languished for many years – about 40, to be exact. Then, right around 2011, one of the sport’s biggest surfboard brands took a flyer and began bringing the model back in a very unconventional way, marketing two designs with apparently the most unappealing names they could they could think of: The Dumpster Diver and the Neckbeard.

A modern classic: Dane Reynolds with the Dumpster Diver. Photo: Channel Islands

“I give credit to Channel Islands for reintroducing the model idea 50 years after that first time around,” says Biolos, with a nod to these two Dane Reynolds-endorsed sleds. “It really helped brands differentiate one particular design from another. It used to be surfers would come in and say, ‘I want a 6’0.’ Well, a 6’0” what? Now with different models to choose from, we can help a customer get exactly the kind of board they want. Or at least the kind they should be riding.”

Just why New Millennium board buyers have only now shook off the sport’s longstanding, if somewhat misguided, sensibility that led previous generations of surfers to believe that, unlike the rest of those kooks, they needed custom, personalized equipment, is a collective transformation that requires some analysis. Which Matt Biolos has done, and has winnowed his explanation down to two words.

“Quality and confidence,” he asserts. “Because one leads to the other. CAD (computer assisted design) has become so advanced that we can accurately recreate an original model design right down to the smallest detail. This kind of quality means that surfers can have confidence in the board they’re riding. And not just everyday surfers. I mean, the boards coming off the CC machines and finished by our shapers are so good we’ve seen some of our pros go into shops and just pick one out of the rack.”

Another big advantage of the model is the ability to offer a particular design at scale.

“We’ll offer models in multiple sets, “ explains Biolos. “Like ‘Pros’ and Bros.’ So for the bros, we might add a bit more overall volume to the design, and we’d definitely make it a bit stronger. But other than that, if a customer buys a Driver 3.0, for example, it will be the same board that Griffin rides, just slightly scaled up.”

While models have become all the rage lately (“Some models have actually become bigger than the brand,” says Biolos. “Look at the Hypto Krypto.”), one aspect of this new era of marketing is noticeably different than in the swinging Sixties: no names.

“Pros might ride certain models, designed with them in mind, but you don’t really see the models named after them,” Biolos says. “Like, Jack Robinson might ride a Sharp Eye ‘Synergy,’ but you won’t see his name on it. It’s not like in the ‘60s, or the skateboard scene back in the ‘80s, where every pro and their brother had their own model deck. I think you’d really have to identify with a particular surfer to want their name on your board. And while more and more surfers are happy riding a model, I don’t see them necessarily wanting to see a pro’s name on it.”

Which kind of makes sense. I mean really, why would any self-respecting surfer want to buy a Gabriel/John John/Griff/ Filipe/Carissa/Kelly model, when they could be riding a Ducksnuts?