My long time friend and former business partner was inducted into the International Surfboard Builders Hall of Fame this month. 

Bill “Blinky” Hubina along with 6 others from various parts of the globe were inducted this year. Not many from the Ventura area are noticed in the surfboard industry, but Blinky was noticed and makes the 6 degrees of separation for me pretty close,  Blinky being the William and me being the Dennis of William Dennis Surfboards.

So I jumped at the opportunity to go to Huntington Beach for the ceremony with a few friends and see Blinky get celebrated and inducted, a very happy event. Right at the Huntington Pier where you could sit and watch the ceremony and watch the surf at the same time. The weather was nice, overcast sky and not to warm. We would have been scorched if it was sunny. There was no wind either which was nice for the surfers in the water that we could see form where we were seated.

Each inductee had a story to tell of how they got involved in surfing and making surfboards that was very interesting. How each person in their own way got interested in surfing and then making surfboards. The International Surfboard Builders HOF says that each one of the inductees are responsible for making surfing what it is today and without them there would not be surfing as we know it. As well how surfers could go to them and talk through the surfboards they were riding and work out details of how to improve and advance their abilities.

I know Blinky was happy to be a part of that. This past Sunday he threw a party at one of the local breweries to celebrate. He even had a special brew made for the event for everyone that attended… what fun. All Sunday afternoon people came to congratulate him and hang out, the guy has a lot of friends, which not only was a celebration but became a reunion. So many people from all the years gone by in attendance made for the best of times.

Blinky knew the various stages of surfboard building and pretty much got started shaping in late 1967 after we started William Dennis. Personally the guys that shaped boards through the evolution period were, or are the hard core board crafters. There are very few left and Blinky is one of them. Here is a quote of Blinky from this local paper about the surfboard evolution, “There was no one to copy, so every board was an original. I would ride it, learn from it, then sell it so I could make another one.” He’s so right on that, I’ve said pretty much the same thing somewhere in the pages of this blog. Not to discount those that started shapeing after that evolution period. When it all started we had a blank design page and had to find our way through the process.

That’s one of the reasons Blinky is deserving of being on the list of contributors to surfing at the International Surfboard Builders Hall of Fame.

D.R.

The crew from Ventura that attended the ceremony

L to R

Lew Morris, Wollybear, Steve Huerta, Johnny G, Blinky, Me, Stan Fuji, Malcolm Campbell

 

Congratulaion!

Bill "Blinky" Hubina