Flashback to the Summer of ‘69
The Shortboard Revolution began in 1967 when longboards reigned supreme and over the next 2 years, board lengths dropped from 10-foot tankers to 7-foot “mind machines”. Such was the era of hippies, psychedelics and anything goes.
The designs that defined the summer of ‘69 actually had their genesis in the fall of 1968 at the World Surfing Championships in Puerto Rico. Back then, long before digital media, GoPros, videos or cell phones, the bi-annual gathering of surfing’s best was where surfboard design concepts came together and where the agenda was set for the coming year. While Hawaii’s Fred Hemmings eventually won the contest, it was the influence of the Australians
