Some people may think that I have lost my mind with this post, but it is the opposite. This is fundamental wave enjoyment with a very complex board. Just wading out into the water and jumping on to little waves is really a lot of fun and the best way to share your surfing experience with others that may not have ever entered the ocean before. It is the masterful design of the board makes it fun This entry is dedicated to Sally Parkin who has been the main engine driving the resurgence of the wood body board. She lives in the UK and makes these boards. Please check here site Original Surfboards http://www.originalsurfboards.co.uk/press.php She has recently discovered that the origin of the body board with the lifted nose may actually be South Africa which may be a bombshell to surfing history. Stay tuned. I was first introduced to the wood body board in about 2008 when John Isaac of Revolver Surf Shop in Corwall sent a board made in the 1940s. I was in the middle of the alaia fever and seeing that this board revolved around flex to ride the wave blew my mind. Then Christiaan Baily made a great little film on Dot, a core surfer who had been surfing the boards far longer than most surfers have been alive. This shows that the surfing world is much bigger than I ever imagined a few years before. If you have never tried one of these boards, please do yourself a favor and give one a try. Cheers, Tom
For further information on the World Wood Belly Board Championships, please see the Drift Magazine post:http://www.driftmagazine.co.uk/index.php/archives/2030#more-2030
Note: Nobby went back to Japan and looked into the Itako board and found that there were thousands of them all over japan. He uncovered a huge part of Japanese surfing that had been forgotten