Thomas Edward
Blake is one of the most important figures in surfing, and probably the most
important single person in the history of wooden surfboards. Whilst Polynesians had been riding waves on
wooden surfboards for hundreds of years, it was Blake whose experiments and
innovations through the 1920s and 30s led to lighter paddleboards and
surfboards, alternative (and widely accessible) construction techniques, the
introduction of the fin and a rudimentary leash. Esteemed surf writer Drew Kampion credited
Blake with transforming surfing from a Polynesian curiosity into a 20th
century lifestyle, and rightly so.
In 1927, the same
year that he pioneered surfing at Malibu, California with Sam Reid, Tom Blake
built a replica Olo surfboard in Hawaii.
The board was fifteen foot long, and would’ve been enormously heavy (somewhere
in the region of 150lbs), so he drilled hundreds of holes through the deck to
remove excess weight and sealed the ends of the holes with a wooden
veneer. The reduced weight helped Tom to
win many paddleboard races, so he continued to experiment with lighter
boards. He had some success chambering a
solid board by cutting it into strips, carving out internal sections and then
putting it all back together, before moving onto constructing surfboards from multiple component parts rather than shaping them from a solid timber. Blake started to build his paddleboards using
a skin and frame technique similar to that used in the construction of aircraft
wings, which made them significantly lighter than the solid plank boards most
widely used at the time weighing as little as 40lbs. Whilst Blake’s boards had solid wood, straight-edged
rails, planked or plywood decks and were held together with brass screws and
pins sealed (caulked) with black pitch, construction techniques for wooden
surfboards have improved in the intervening 84 years since he patented the
design in 1931. Nevertheless, the
original design was used for decades on beaches around the world as a lifeguard
rescue board, and produced commercially by several manufacturers (Thomas Rogers
Company of Venice, CA, the Los Angeles Ladder Company and Catalina Equipment
Company).
It was in 1935,
however, that Tom Blake made his most significant contribution to surfing. In an attempt to provide some directional
stability whilst surfing, he attached an aluminium skeg salvaged from a
speedboat onto the bottom of his cedar surfboard and encased it in a thin layer
of wood for protection. At a foot long
and 4 inches high, many surfers would struggle to recognise it as a fin,
however it was this that allowed surfers to ride at a tighter angle across
peeling waves and to begin to effectively turn surfboards. Tom Blake’s inquisitive mind and relentless
quest to improve the performance of his equipment changed surfing forever. It has been said that if Duke Kahanamoku was
the father of modern surfing then Tom Blake was its inventor, and rightly so. Modern surfers certainly owe him a great debt
of gratitude, so why not say a little thank you to Tom next time you lean into a turn.
“Along the shore
I wander, free,
A beach comber at
Waikiki,
Where time worn
souls who seek in vain,
Hearts ease, in
vagrant, wondering train.
A beach comber
from choice, am I,
Content to let
the world drift by,
Its strife and
envy, pomp and pride,
I’ve tasted, and
am satisfied.”
Thomas Edward
Blake
1902-1994
For a more thorough biography please take a look at the fantastic Encyclopaedia of Surfing or the Legendary Surfers website.
All images reproduced from the Surfing Heritage Foundation.
