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

Understated Australian surfboard shaper from Queensland's Gold Coast; best known for the sleek single-fin boards he made throughout the 1970s, designed mostly for the high-speed pointbreak waves found at nearby Burleigh Heads and Kirra Point. "The most underrated and understated shaper in the world," 

 magazine said of Van Straalen in 1998. "One of Australia's most sought-after boardmakers and way ahead of his time."

Van Straalen was born (1944) and raised in The Hague, Netherlands, the son of a chef father and couture dressmaker mother, began surfing not long after moving with his family to the Sydney suburb of Avalon in 1951, and five years later, at age 12, began shaping boards.

In the early and mid-'60s, Van Straalen worked for Bill Wallace Surfboards and Dale Surfboards, both in Sydney. In 1966, newly married and with a baby on the way, he left shaping and took a job as a flight steward with Qantas Airlines, then returned to boardmaking in 1968, after moving with his still-growing family to Burleigh Heads, Queensland.

Van Straalen's fine-tuned boards were produced under a succession of short-lived backyard labels, including Country Spaceships, Spirit of the Sea, and Whitelight Projections. Van Straalen for the most part built streamlined pintails, similar to those made by Hawaiian master shaper Dick Brewer, to whom Van Straalen was often compared.

Throughout the '70s, Van Straalen made boards for many of the world's best surfers, including Wayne Bartholomew, Peter Townend, Joe Engel, Russel Hughes, Mike Tabeling, and Michael Ho. His heyday as a boardmaker ended abruptly in 1979 when a factory fire destroyed most of his favorite surfboard templates. Van Straalen continued to shape but drastically reduced his output.

In the late '90s, Van Straalen began making high-end paddleboards; not long after that he began building boards for Queensland's globe-hopping alternative pro surfer Dave Rastovich.

Van Straalen was one of three featured surfers in 

 a 1966 TV documentary that screened across the nation.

Van Straalen, Dick

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Encyclopedia of Surfing

History of Surfing

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Encyclopedia of Surfing

History of Surfing

Interviews

The Sunday Joint

Videos