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

Alexandre, João (Dapin)

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

Hardworking and intensely private surfboard shaper from Hermosa Beach, California; best known for his longboards and easy-to-ride funboards; thought to have shaped more boards than anyone in the world. "He's not a trendsetter," fellow shaper Mike Eaton said. "He's just incredibly consistent, always delivers a solid product, and runs the tightest ship in the industry."

Becker was born (1940) in Los Angeles, raised in Palos Verdes, and began surfing around age 10. He learned his craft as a teenager in the early '50s from California board-building pioneers Dale Velzy and Hap Jacobs, and was the head shaper for Rick Surfboards in Hermosa from 1958 to 1979. At the end of the longboard era, Becker designed and shaped the Dru Harrison Improvisor and the Barry Kanaiapuni Model, both for Rick.

Becker and fellow Californian Mike Eaton were the only two full-time shapers in California to make longboards throughout the '70s. In 1980, at age 40, Becker, along with business partners Steve Mangiagli and Dave Hollander, founded Becker Surfboards in Hermosa Beach, taking over and expanding on the Rick Surfboards operation. "He never missed a day of work," Hollander later recalled. "He worked the day his mother died."

Producing roughly 10 boards a day, Becker likely passed the 100,000-board mark sometime around the year 2000—nobody else in the world was close. In 2004, 

 magazine estimated that Becker had shaped 130,000 boards; Al Merrick was at 45,000. "I'm not in the business to get anyone to ride a certain type of board," Becker told the 

 in 1993. "I'm in the business to keep people happy riding surfboards." (The 

 reporter described Becker as a "balding 53-year-old," self-taught, who listened to Rush Limbaugh through headphones while working and lived in the same duplex apartment he first rented in the 1960s.)

Becker never had a surf team, never wore a watch, didn't like to be photographed, and rarely gave interviews. Elected to the Hermosa Beach Walk of Fame in 2003, Becker skipped the induction ceremony and shaped boards instead.

In 2006, the never-married Becker moved to Hawaii and cut back his shaping output. In 2010, Becker Surf and Sport was acquired by surf industry giant Billabong; by that point, the company had outlets in Malibu, Encinitas, and Mission Viejo.

Becker died of bladder cancer in 2021, at age 81.

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Encyclopedia of Surfing

History of Surfing

Interviews

The Sunday Joint

Encyclopedia of Surfing

History of Surfing

Interviews

The Sunday Joint