A-frame

Aaberg, Denny

Aaberg, Kemp

Abberton, Koby

Abbruzzi, Sid

Abellira, Reno

Abubo, Megan

academia and surfing

Adler, Tom

advertising and surfing

Aeder, Erik

aerial

Aguerre, Fernando

Aichner, Scott

Aikau, Clyde

Aikau, Eddie

Aipa, Ben

air-drop

airbrush

Airshow

Ala Moana

Alabama

alaia board

Alaska

alcohol and surfing

Alexander, Kala

Allen, Chuck

Alms, Paige

aloha shirt

Alter, Hobie

Alvarez, Pepe

Ancell, Kevin

Andaman Islands

Andersen, Lisa

Anderson, Craig

Anderson, Simon

Andino, Kolohe

Angel, Jose

angle

Angola

Angourie

Antarctica

Apocalypse Now

Arabian Sea

Aragon, Janice

Arakawa, Eric

Archbold, Matt

Arena, Eduardo

Ashton, Juan

Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP)

Atlantic Ocean

August, Robert

Aurness, Rolf

Auster, Ken

Australia

Avalon, Frankie

Azores

backdoor

backside

backside attack, Pipeline

backwash

bail out

Bain, Rob

Baja California

Baker, Bernie

Baker, Grant “Twiggy”

Baker, Tim

Bali

Ball, John “Doc”

Ballard, Bill

Ballard, Rochelle

balsa

Baltic Sea

Banks, Jim

Barbados

Barilotti, Steve

Barland, Michel

Barreda, Sergio “Gordo”

Barry, Michael

Bartholomew, Wayne

Baxter, Jackie

Bay of Bengal

Beach Boys, The

Beacham, Debbie

beachboys

beachbreak

Beachcomber Bills Grand Prix

Beachley, Layne

beavertail

Becker, Phil

Bedford-Brown, Stuart

Belgium

Bells Beach

Bendall, Ma and Pa

Bennett, Barry

Benson, Becky

Benson, Blanche

Benson, Linda

Bermuda

Bertlemann, Larry

Round-bottomed rowboat designed for use in the waves, usually crewed by four rear-facing rowers and an aft-positioned "sweep steer."

The surf boat, descended from the rugged wooden dory boats long used by fishermen and whalers, was adapted for rescue purposes by the Surf Life Saving Association of Australia (SLSA) in the late 1800s, and is now used only for lifeguard training and competition. The average surf boat today is 22 feet long, four to five feet wide, made primarily of foam and molded resin-infused fiberglass, and V-shaped at both ends; buoyancy chambers in the front and back make the boats virtually unsinkable, even in heavy surf. Oars, once carved from a single piece of hardwood tiber, are made of carbon fibre.

Surf boat racing started among Sydney-area SLSA clubs during the early 1900s; in what is sometimes regarded as the first formal race, a team from Little Coogee, Sydney, won a seven-team race in a 1908 surf carnival held at Manly. The basics of surf boat racing remain nearly identical today to what they were a century ago. Teams launch their boats from the beach, paddle through the surf and around a buoy anchored about 300 yards past the surf line, and race back to shore, trying to pick up waves on the way. Australia and New Zealand, in that order, have always been the two dominate surf boat nations.

Pioneering surf moviemaker Bud Browne thrilled audiences in the 1950s with footage of wooden surf boats riding 10-foot waves and smashing into each other during a Sydney club meet. Surf boat races were also a crowd favorite during the United States Surfing Championships held in Huntington Beach from the mid-'60s to the early '70s, and continue to be a popular part of lifeguard competitions around the world. Surf boating is physically demanding and sometimes dangerous: Australians joke that the best way to pick a surf boat crew is to line prospects up in a row and throw bricks at them; the ones who don't duck are selected.

surf boat

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Encyclopedia of Surfing

History of Surfing

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Encyclopedia of Surfing

History of Surfing

Videos