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

Tall, cigar-chomping surfboard shaper from Santa Cruz, California; owner of Stretch Surfboards; best known for his distinctive "bat-tail" four-finned boards. Riedel was born (1958) in Santa Monica, the son of a surfboard shaper father, and learned to surf at Malibu, sharing waves with his father's close friends Phil Edwards and Tom Morey. 

Riedel began making boards after his family moved to Northern California in the late 1970s, setting up a workshop in an abandoned horse stable. Two years later he opened his own surfboard and sailboard shop in Santa Cruz. 

In 1988, Riedel broke his neck while while windsurfing, and was initially pronounced dead by emergency medical personnel. He recovered, but with partial paralysis on his right side. The right-handed Riedel returned to work, taught himself to use tools with his left hand, and stoically resumed his business. 

A respected but little-known shaper for the better part of two decades, Riedel came to the surf world's attention in 2005 when Santa Cruz local Anthony Tashnick won the Maverick's Surf Contest on a Stretch-designed four-finned gun with an unusual bat-tail shape. Meanwhile, Southern California big-wave charger and aerialist Nathan Fletcher began showing up in videos and in magazines using Riedel's four-finned boards in waves of all sizes. 

 magazine took notice and named Riedel their 2005 Shaper of the Year. "You can and should try everything -- surfboards aren't like girls," Riedel said, discussing the popularity of his four-finned models. "You can hook up with whatever one you want and nobody's going to slap you for it." 

Riedel was also instrumental in developing advanced tow-surfing boards in the early to mid 2000s. In addition to surfboards, Riedel's Stretch factory also produces a number of kiteboards and surfing-inspired wakeboards.

Riedel, Bill "Stretch"

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Encyclopedia of Surfing

Encyclopedia of Surfing