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for primates : a catalogue of surfboards in australia since 1900
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: tom blake 1935 |
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TOM
BLAKE AND THE HOLLOW BOARD
1926
- 1935
Eight-oared
shell (modern rowing boat)
Dating back
to 1855 when this keelless eight-oared racing boat made its appearance
at Henley on Thames.
Designed by
Matthew Taylor, for the Royal Rowing Club, it was built, with an outer
skin of bent or moulded cedar wood, bottom side upwards on the moulds.
Ribs were
fitted inside the skin after the boat had been reversed.
Oxford University
launched a similar craft of their own, at Putney in 1857, 63 feet in length
and 25 inches in beam.
Over the years
the dimensions and fittings varied but these were prototypes for most racing
boats into the 20th century and is used in the University Boat Race crewed
by a coxed eight.
Hulls were
made of cedar wood imported from Central America which although only three
sixteenths of an inch thick could withstand pressures of 8,000 pounds below
the waterline.
During the
1970s experiments were made with fibreglass, and other materials, which
has led to the modern rowing eight and the four which now dominate the
sport..
http://easyweb.easynet.co.uk/jim.shead/Boats4.html
The Hollow Paddle
Board, a timber frame with plywood skin, was developed by Tom Blake in
Hawaii.
Around 1926, Tom
Blake attempted to recreate some of the larger ancient Hawaiian solid wood
Olo designs that he had restored for the Bishop Museum, Honolulu.
"Strange as
it may seem, three old-style Hawaiian surfboards of huge dimensions and
weight have hung on the walls of the Bishop Museum in Honolulu for twenty
years or more without anyone doing more than wonder how in the world these
great boards were used, as they were too heavy and long to be practicable."
Blake,
page 59.
Chief
Paki's Olo 15ft 7'' circa 1830 #502
Held by the Bishop
Museum, Honolulu, Catalogue No. 298
Image : Margan
and Finney, page 23
"I too wondered
about these boards in the museum, wondered so much that in 1926 I built
a duplicate of them as an experiment, my object being to find not a better
board, but to find a faster board to use in the annual and popular surfboard
paddling races held in California each summer."
Blake,
page 59
This board successfully
performed to Blake's expectactions, however the extreme weight was a major
difficulty. His first experiment, hollowing out a solid board, had been
attempted previously -
"As early as
as 1918 Claude West had experimented to make a hollow board, chippig and
gouging out a solid redwood slab and fitting a small sealed and screwed
deck.
The experiment
was not a success; plywoods were not yet, nor plastic glues, timbers were
sun dried intead of kiln dried as now, and sun-cracks quickly gaped to
let in water.
'Snowy' McAllister
of Manly...also experimented with chipped out boards.
He, too, was
unsuccessful, though he improved on the West model, also steamling the
tail in the hope of gaining more speed."
Maxwell
,
pages 239-240.
Probably similar
attempts at hollowing boards had been made by other surfers before Tom
Blake...
however a combination
of drilled holes and extended curing made a noticable difference
in weight
"This surfboard
was sixteen feet long and weight 120 pounds." Blake,
page 59
Blake also reported
the length of this board as 14 ft 6 inches in 1935, see below.
"hollow
- length, 14 1/2 feet; width 20 inches; weight 120 pounds"
Tom Blake's First
Experimental Hollow 1926 -1928 14 ft. 6 inches
Image cropped from
a photograph by Thomas Edward Blake, 1930
"Waves and
Thrills at Waikiki "
National Geograghic
Magazine May 1935 Volume 47 Number 5 page 597
Nat
Young personally interviewed Tom Blake for his recollections of this period,
published in 1983's The
History of Surfing, and although the length varies from Blake's
1935 notes, the account is detailed...
" He purchased
a solid slab of redwood 16' long, 2' wide and 4" thick.
It weighed
around 150 pounds - too heavy to be of service as a surfboard, even when
shaped.
So to lighten
it he drilled hundreds of holes in it from top to bottom, each hole removing
a cylinder of wood four inches long.
Then he left
the holey board season for a month.
After the
wood had fully dried he covered the top and bottom surfaces with a thin
layer of wood, sealing the holes. I
t finished
up 15' long, 19" wide and 4" thick, looking like a cigar.
It's weight
was only 100 lbs, because it was partly hollow."
Nat
History page 49
The second edition
of History of Surfing (1994) is dedicated to Tom Blake who died
May 5, 1994, aged 92.
The complete photograph,
see below, notes a third length for
this board of 14 ft 6 inches.
There is some confusion
as to these board's actual lengths.
It is possible that
the board's length was reduced between 1926 and 1930, due to modifications
or repairs - it certainly reduced in weight..
The board's paddling
performance was demonstrated in 1928 when, after a slow start, Tom Blake
emphatically won the 880 yards paddling race at the Pacific Coast Surfing
Contest, Balboa, California.
Blake,
page 59
" WORLD'S
ORIGINAL HOLLOW BOARD.
TOM BLAKE
- BUILT IN 1926
START - 1ST
ANNUAL PACIFIC COAST SURFING CONTEST - BALBOA CALIF. 1928
The
long white board above was the first reproduction of the ancient Hawaiian
OLO chiefs board, however it was hollow to lighten it. Duke Kahanamoku
also rode this board. Thos. Blake"
Uncredited photograph
and hand written notes by Tom Blake from a copy of Hawaiian Surfboard,
1935.
Hawaiian Historical
Society.
reproduced in Lueras,
page 83.
Encouraged by his
initial experiments, Tom Blake's second proto-type was a major advance...
"In the later
part of 1929, after three years of experimenting, I introduced at Waikiki
a new type of surfboard;...but in reality the design was taken from the
ancient Hawaiian type of board, also from the English racing shell."
Blake,
page 51
The construction
of this board is unclear, in Blake's notes does "English racing shell
"
refer to the template, the ribbed construction or both?
It may have used...
- the drilled hole
technique
- laminated with
chambered strips, or
- built form a timber
frame and covered with a layer of the newly developed marine grade ply-
wood, in the manner of racing shells or canoes of the period.
or some combination
of these methods.
Given the reported
weight of only 60 pounds, one of the latter methods seems most likely.
The template of this
board was radically streamlined compared to it's predecessor.
The application of
a light skin over a ridgid frame for boats dates back to the Irish chonicle
or the Innuit kayak.
"It was called
a 'cigar board', because a newspaper reporter thought it was shaped like
a giant cigar. This board was really graceful and beautiful to look at,
and in performance so so ggod that officials of the Annual surfboard Paddling
Championship immediately..."
Blake,
pages 51 - 52.
"a
light, hollow 16 footer, broke all paddle-race records at Waikiki."
Tom Blake's
Hollow Paddle board, 16 ft 60 pounds1929
Image cropped from
a photograph by Thomas Edward Blake, 1930
"Waves and
Thrills at Waikiki "
National Geograghic
Magazine
May 1935 Volume
47 Number 5 page 597
A third hollow board
followed...
"The riding
model, 'Okohola', came a month later (after a paddling competition),
December 1929.."
Blake,
page 59
" ... a riding
board sixteen feet long. The new riding board was a great success and Duke
Kahanamoku built his great 16 - foot hollow redwood board along about the
same time. He is an excellent craftsman and shapes the lines and balance
of his boards with the eye; he detects its irregularities by touch of the
hand."
Blake,
page 52
"a
reproduction of the ancient Hawaiian rider."
Tom Blake
Hollow Wave riding board 15 ft December 1929
Image cropped from
a photograph by Thomas Edward Blake, 1930
"Waves and
Thrills at Waikiki "
National Geograghic
Magazine
May 1935 Volume 47 Number 5 page 597
This success of the
design, primarily as a paddleboard, was followed by the common hollow
design of plywood covering over a light wood frame, with a bung.
He rapidly incorporated
current aircraft and boat building techniques into surfboard design and
his design of a light timber frame covered with plywood panels resulted
in a huge weight reduction.
On 18th April, 1931
Thomas Edward Blake submitted three pages with a detailed drawing for a
' Water Sled'. and was subsequently granted US Patent No. 1,872,230 by
the US Patents and Trademarks Office, Washington DC.
Initially viewed
with scepticism, the paddling advantages were emphatically demonstrated
as Tom Blake dominated paddle races in California and Hawaii in the 1930’s.
Aware of the life
saving potential of such a craft and an enthusiastic promoter of his sport,
Tom Blake gave his design international exposure by publishing the
blueprints and construction details, principally in various Popular Mechanics
Magazines of the period. See below, or Plans
and Specifications.
From: Tom
Blake : Riding the Breakers on this Hollow Hawaiian Surfboard
-
Popular Mechanics
Magazine
July 1937 Volume
68 Number 1
pages 114 - 117
Publication saw
the design rapidly adopted around the world, notably Australia, New
Zealand, Peru and South Africa.
In these countries
it had an extended life due to the lag before these countries caught up
with the developments in fibreglass and foam.
In Australia the
design first appearred as the Racing 16 and was later modified to a finned
Malibu or Okinuee (1956-1958) while in New Zealand the lag was even longer
and hollow Malibu boards were manufactured up to 1961.
Maxwell
pages 240-24.
Circa 1934 Tom Blake
added a small water ski type fin/skeg to one of his hollow boards.
Although an significant
addition, because of the emphasis on paddling, the small size relative
to the board, the increased danger and the difficulty in attachment, many
riders do not consider fins as a necessity.
It rarely appears
on Australian examples of long Hollows.
Tom Blake's first
fin with Big Surf Handle
Photograph and hand
written caption by Tom Blake.
Surfer Magazine,
March 1981, Volume
22, Number 3, page 37.
 |
circa
1935
Nub Fin/ Keel
Tom Blake
solid timber
2 x 12 b @ 6?
inches (Approximation)
Photograph: Bjorn
DeBoer :
LONGBOARD Magazine
Vol 4 No 5.
1996
November/December
page 68 |
In
the area of design, although many surfers maintained an aliegence to the
Alaia, the pioneering of large surf at Makaha and on the North Shore saw
the development in 1937 of the
Hot Curl.
A solid wood no-fin
gun-template board with deep V bottom at the tail was built by John Kelly,
Wally Froiseth and Fran Heath in Hawaii.
"THE PHOTOGRAPHER
DISPLAYS SOME SURFBOARDS, ALL BUILT BY HIMSELF
He stands
before his redwood favourite, 11 feet long, 23 inches wide, and 31/4 inches
thick, square-edged on the bottom for steadiness.
Number 2,
of red cedar and a foot longer, is for fast paddling.
For big waves,
the third, hollow - length, 14 1/2 feet; width 20 inches; weight 120 pounds
- has proved easier to handle than the fourth, a reproduction of the ancient
Hawaiian rider.
The fifth,
a light, hollow 16 footer, broke all paddle-race records at Waikiki.
The last,
solid and heavy, is a training board."
Boards
and self portrait by Thomas Edward Blake 1930.
Photograph and notation
published in
"Waves and
Thrills at Waikiki "
National Geograghic
Magazine
May 1935 Volume 47 Number 5 page 597
Notes :
1. This portrait
introduced a portfolio of seven duo-tone surfing photographs with notes,
that were also reproduced in Tom Blake's The Hawaiian Surfboard,
1935.
However, these
are in blue duotone, especially selected by Blake for this printing.
2. The photographs,
taken from Blake's board in his home made water-proof housing, were a major
inspiration to other surf photographers, notably Don
James and 'Doc'
Ball.
3. The last photograph
of the portfolio is of outrigger canoe surfing - one of the passengers
is aviatrix, Amelia Earhart.
4. The photgraph
was taken in the grounds of the Outrigger Canoe Club, Blake's boards are
leaning against the member's surfboard lockers.
5. This is the first
known quiver portrait.
6. The image
was not included in
The Hawaiian Surfboard, 1935
7. Another
photgraph from the same shoot, with Blake in the centre of the boards,
is the more commonly reproduced version.
8. None of the hollow
boards show evidence of a draining plug.
This is an almost
universal feature of hollow surfboards from about 1940 to the present.
Structually, if
the board is hollow it should have a drain or pressure plug to let out
any water from dings and to equalise the pressure for climatic extremes.
The
Runestone Museum, 206 Broadway, Alexandria, (320) 763-3160, www.runestonemuseum.org.
Admission $5. Closed
Sunday mid-October to mid-May. Admission includes the Minnesota Lakes Maritime
Museum next door, which includes a 40-foot replica of a Viking ship; dozens
of vintage "Lady of the Lakes," ribbed-hull wooden fishing boats; and what
the museum says is the first surfboard patented in the United States, by
a local man named Erick G. Erickson, in 1929.
surfresearch.com.au
REFERENCES
FOR THIS SECTION
books
1949 Maxwell, C. Bede
Surf : Australians Against the Sea
Angus and Robertson Sydney
1959 Bloomfield, John
Know-how in the Surf
Angus and Robertson 89 Castlereagh Street,
Sydney
1961 Harris, Reg. S.The History
of Manly Life Saving Club 1911-1961
Published by Manly Life Saving Club, NSW
Printed by Publicity Press Ltd.
1964 Severson, John:
Surfing
Around the World
Doubleday and Company, Inc, Garden
City New York.
1965 Farrelly, Midget. As told to
McGregor, Craig : This Surfing Life
Rigby Limited, James Place, Adelaide
1966 Finney, Ben and Houston, James
D. : Surfing – A History of the Ancient Hawaiian Sport
Pomegranate Books P.O. Box 6099 Rohnert
Park, CA 94927 Reprint 1996
1968 Kahanamoku, Duke With Brennan,
Joe: Duke Kahanamoku’s World of Surfing
Angus and Robertson Publishers Sydney
, Australia 1972 2nd Edition A&R Paperbacks, Sydney , Australia
1968 Pollard,
Jack (ed.) : Ampol’s Sporting Records
Jack Pollard Pty.
Ltd., 42 Pacific Highway, North Sydney NSW 2060
Reprinted 1969,
1971, 1973
1970 Margan, Frank and Finney, Ben
R. : A Pictorial History of Surfing
Paul Hamlyn Pty Ltd, 176 South Creek Road,
Dee Why West, NSW 2099.
1964 Pollard, Jack (ed.):
The Australian Surfrider
K.G.Murray Publishing Co.P/L,142 Clarence
Street , Sydney Australia
1972 The Best of Tracks
(Vol. I) Editors : Falzon, Albert; Stewart, John; Grissim, John. :
Tracks Publishing Co Pty Ltd. P.O. Box
178 Avalon, NSW.
'Bob McTavish’s Personal History of Surfboard
Design – Pods for Primates Parts 1' (pages 120 – 122).
1992 Stell, Marion K. :
Pam Burridge
Collins Angus & Robertson Publishers
(Australia) Pty. Limited
A division of Harper Collins Publishers
(Australia) Pty. Limited
25 Ryde Road, Pymble NSW 2073, Australia
1979 Pearson, Kent : Surfing
Subcultures of Australia and New Zealand
University of Queensland Press,
St. Lucia, Queensland
1997 Warshaw, Matt : Surfriders
– In Search of the Perfect Wave
Tehabi Books, Inc. Collins Publishers,
10 East 53rd Street, New York, NY 10022
1978 Warwick, Wayne
A Guide to
Surfriding in New Zealand Second Edition
Viking Sevenseas Ltd Wellington, New Zealand
1979 Young, Nat ; Photographs by
McCausland, Bill: Nat Young’s Book of Surfing
A.H. & A.W. Reed Pty. Ltd. 53 Myroora
Rd, Terry Hills, Sydney.
1983 Young, Nat with McGregor, Craig
: The History 0f Surfing
Palm Beach Press,40 Palm Beach Road, Palm
Beach NSW 2108
1997 Kampion, Drew:
Stoked :
A History of Surf Culture
General Publishing Group Los Angles
1998 Second edition by Benedikt
Tashen Verlag GmbH, Hohenzollernring 53, D-50672 Koin.
1991 Carroll, Nick (editor): The
Next Wave : A Survey of World Surfing
Collins Angus & Robertson Publishers
Pty Ltd 4 Eden Park, 31 Waterloo Road, North Ryde NSW 2113
web
sites
Malcom Gault-Williams: LEGENDARY
SURFERS
Tom Blake's Hawaiian
Visits 1925 to 1950.
Notes by Judy Blake, 2007.
Posted by email from Gary Lynch in March
2007, with the note:
"FYI. Very interesting details recently
unearthed by Judy Blake."
Hi Gary,
I've been meaning to get back to
you on some info (interesting but not earth shattering) I discovered on
Frances E. Cunningham Blake. She was born in Bartlesville, Oklahoma on
July 8, 1907 and was 1/8 American Indian. Frances must have been very young
when she married Tom. She and Tom were passengers on the Calawai which
departed from Honolulu, Hawaii and arrived in San Pedro, California on
Dec. 12, 1925. Frances was 18 and Tom was 23 at the time.
Frances' parents, Alfred and Laura
Cunningham were each 1/16 American Indian. Her older brother, Edward was
14 years her senior. I don't know what happened to her dad, but Frances
and her mom were living with the Lombard family in Los Angeles in 1920
and Edward was still on the ranch in Oklahoma. Robert Lombard was
her mom's brother. Frances was 12 years old when the 1920 census was taken.
I cannot find Frances (Cunningham
or Blake) on the 1930 U.S. census. Either her name was misspelled, she
was not counted, or she had died or remarried when the 1930 census was
taken.
I have records of a few other return
trips Tom had made from Hawaii but Frances was never on the passenger list.
Tom was on the list of the
Calawai when it arrived in Wilmington, Ca. on Nov. 1, 1930.
He was aboard the ship, City
of Los Angeles on Oct. 2, 1931 on it's arrival in Wilmington.
On June 18, 1932, he traveled on
the Calawai from Honolulu to Los Angeles.
Tom arrived in Los Angeles aboard
the Lurline on March 6, 1937.
The next record I have of his arrival
from Hawaii was on July 16, 1941 on the ship, Matsonia. He just missed
the bombing of Pearl Harbor.
The final passenger list I found
with Tom's name was from the Lurline on April 17, 1950.
Right after my last email in November,
my mom was diagnosed with terminal cancer. She died on Dec. 18. My dad
is still having a difficult time coping with the loss. They would have
been married 65 years next month.
Judy Blake
surfresearch.com.au