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

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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

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Baxter, Jackie

Bay of Bengal

Beach Boys, The

Beacham, Debbie

beachboys

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beavertail

Becker, Phil

Bedford-Brown, Stuart

Belgium

Bells Beach

Bendall, Ma and Pa

Bennett, Barry

Benson, Becky

Benson, Blanche

Benson, Linda

Bermuda

Seagoing activity invented by surfers but performed almost exclusively beyond the surf zone, using a long, narrow, streamlined craft similar to a surfboard, which is paddled for exercise or in competition. A paddleboard is usually between 12 and 20 feet long, about 20 inches wide, and weighs between 25 and 35 pounds; paddleboarders switch between the prone and kneeling positions; paddleboard races usually range from two to 32 miles. Wisconsin-born surf innovator Tom Blake used a board templated from an ancient Hawaiian olo surfboard in the paddling portion of the 1928 Pacific Coast Surf Riding Championships; Blake's 110-pound semihollow board has been cited as the first paddleboard. Blake's boards got lighter and faster over the next few years, and he won virtually every paddle race he entered, with half-mile and 100-yard sprint times that stood as world records until the mid-'50s. Presaging what would later become the sport's most popular race, Blake paddled 26 miles from Palos Verdes Peninsula to Catalina Island in 1932; he was accompanied by Santa Monica lifeguard/surfers Pete Peterson (California's best paddler and maker of exquisite paddleboards) and Wally Burton. Blake finished in five hours and 23 minutes. Meanwhile, scaled-down versions of his hollow "cigar-box" paddleboard—or "toothpick"—were being adopted for wave-riding, and put to use by lifeguards; Blake- style surf- and paddleboards were mass-produced and marketed beginning in the early '30s. The 

 described a Peterson-built chambered mahogany paddleboard in 1939, noting that it had 15 coats of varnish and was held together with more than 1,500 screws. "All in all," the

 surmised, "it's a pretty delicate creature. If you rode one through waves it would bust up quicker than a house of cards."

Balsa/fiberglass paddleboards were introduced in the '40s; in 1955, California-born surfer Ricky Grigg beat 12 other paddlers to win the inaugural 32-mile International Paddleboard Race from Catalina to Manhattan Beach Pier. While no longer an intrinsic part of wave-riding competitions, paddleboarding races were instead held on their own, or as an adjunct to surfing contests, and renowned California surfboard shapers like Greg Noll, Hobie Alter, and especially Dale Velzy—mentored by Blake—made constant design improvements to their paddleboards. Paddleboard races were divided into two board-size classes, which ran simultaneously: stock (for boards under 14 feet; later changed to 12 feet) and open (or "unlimited," with most boards checking in between 16 and 18 feet). The Catalina-to–Manhattan Beach race continued to be the sport's premier event, but in 1961 it was canceled halfway through due to high winds, and remained dormant until returning in 1982 as the Catalina Classic. Now separated almost completely from surfing and surfing competition, paddleboarding became its own internationally practiced sport, and by the early '90s there were several events in Hawaii (most notably the Molokai Channel race), an all-year circuit in California, and spectator- friendly two-mile races in Australia. Escort boats are required of each competitor for long-distance races. Equipment innovations continue apace, with designers always balancing the same performance characteristics: longer boards are faster but unwieldy; narrower is faster but less stable; round bottoms are faster but difficult to balance.

Paddleboarding remains a fairly obscure sport, practiced seriously by just a few dozen men and women. Long-distance paddling has virtually no spectator appeal, and thus little appeal to potential sponsors; professional paddleboard racing made a quiet debut at the 1999 Molokai Channel race (32 miles from Molokai to Oahu), with surfwear giant Quiksilver putting up a $2,000 purse. Unlimited boards are now made with styrofoam, carbon fiber, and epoxy resin, and weigh as little as 15 pounds.

paddleboarding

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