Jim Phillips Surfboards Hawaii AAA

[Sax-son]

I remember the Model A Surfboards Hawaii from back in the day and none of the shops around Ventura County carried them. I don't think the Santa Barbara Shops did either (I could be wrong). However, if I was in the market today for a Model A replica, I would sure be tempted by these, that phot looks absolutely beautiful. I don't remember even riding one, but my friends who were lucky enough to get one swore by them and loved them.

 

[Bruce Fowler]

Ah, okay. Thank you for the clarification. The Model A's I've seen have had the skinny single stringer running to thru the nose, different than what is seen in the thread post. I don't doubt that Haakenson's claim is legit, he is a very modest, low key guy unlike many other people that make such claims. Bob would be the last guy to do that.
Bob was also the brainchild for creating what became known as "the Tommy Band" when Al asked him to come up with a distinctive color design for young Tommy Curren, who was competing as an Amateur and Al wanted to have something help him stand out to judges in contests. As we all became aware, Tommy didn't end up needing a color design to 'stand out'...

 

[Basenji703]

The original Model A had a fountain stringer, tthin center with the outer stringers in a V. They were amazing boards back in the day. The ads said it was designed by Billy Hamilton.

 

[Bruce Fowler]

Hmmm, never say never...... I'd expect a shaper to have designed it over a glasser but I don't believe everything I read in surf magazines....... they've gotten
history wrong SO many times looking back now.

EDIT: I suppose if I owned the label, and I'm guessing John Price owned Surfboard Hawaii in CA back then (?) I would advertise the Designer as Hamilton, a Shaper & Famous & Ultra Stylish Surfer over my glasser, even if he thought of it 1st & ordered the board as such.

 

[ben714]

I’ve owned an original Model A and AAA.
Besides the obvious outline difference (square tail vs. pintail), the AAA felt a little more refined, and I prefer pintails so I preferred the AAA. The concave under the nose was more like a well defined flat area (I ended up copying this idea of a teardrop non-cave in a custom board I got - see attached picture).
The AAA could noseride really well, but the tail had too much roll in it and it wasn’t a good all-around board, at least not for me.

 

[Bruce Fowler]

Did the Model A have flex in the nose section?
I know people always cite that flex is what the Step Deck designs were all about, in particular the Yater Spoon.
I asked Renny about that and he said "no, I did it to reduce swing weight, maybe somebody's flexed but mine didn't and that wasn't
my intention".

...as told to me from the horse's mouth.

 

[ben714]

Did the Model A have flex in the nose section?
I know people always cite that flex is what the Step Deck designs were all about, in particular the Yater Spoon.
I asked Renny about that and he said "no, I did it to reduce swing weight, maybe somebody's flexed but mine didn't and that wasn't
my intention".

...as told to me from the horse's mouth.

It had a decent amount of step in the deck, but I didn’t feel any noticeable flex.
I’ve owned a handful of stepdecks and the only one I *might* have felt flex on is a Boss.

 

[Bruce Fowler]

Footnote: Sid Madden shaped Surfboards Hawaii boards back then. He designed at least one blank for Clark Foam.
I don't distinctly remember Billy shaping for Surfboards Hawaii back then but that may be because I was born & raised in
opened my 1st surfshop in Goleta (age 17) andstarted selling Bahne in 1970.

 

[Zenzen]

I’ve owned an original Model A and AAA.
Besides the obvious outline difference (square tail vs. pintail), the AAA felt a little more refined, and I prefer pintails so I preferred the AAA. The concave under the nose was more like a well defined flat area (I ended up copying this idea of a teardrop non-cave in a custom board I got - see attached picture).
The AAA could noseride really well, but the tail had too much roll in it and it wasn’t a good all-around board, at least not for me.

Thanks Ben, this is exactly the find of feedback I'm hoping for. How did it turn? Anything else you can add? I'm also wondering if JP has done some modern tweaks to the board or stayed true to the original design.

 

[ben714]

Thanks Ben, this is exactly the find of feedback I'm hoping for. How did it turn? Anything else you can add? I'm also wondering if JP has done some modern tweaks to the board or stayed true to the original design.

The only other details I can specifically remember is that I took it down to Mexico, surfed a point break for a couple days and got it “dialed”. Because the rolled bottom all the way through the tail it wasn’t the best turning board, but if you surf a board enough you can figure it out.
But I never had anymore sessions as good as those in Baja, and trying to bottom turn it backside was difficult, so I didn’t end up keeping it.
But, take all this with a grain of salt: just one person’s experience with one particular board. I’d assume a modern version would have some modern sensibilities built into the board, and just the weight difference between a vintage board and modern one, and the fin options you’d have, would probably make a world of difference.