Aipa, Ben (1942 – 2021)
Innovative surfer-boardmaker-coach from Honolulu, Hawaii; a top competitor in the 1960s and early '70s, and creator of the swallowtail and sting surfboard designs. Aipa was born (1942) in Honolulu, the son of a sugar plantation worker, and didn't begin riding waves until his early 20s, after an ankle injury ended his semipro football career. He trained for surfing with the single-mindedness he'd developed as a linebacker, not missing a day in the water for all of 1965, and the following year ...