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Started surfing on a 9' balsawood Hobie in 1954. at eight years of age. Went through kookdom, then honed my skills on another Hobie followed by a Velzy/Jacobs bought at the old San Clemente shop. In 1958, 12 years old, I received my first free, sponsored surfboard from Dave Sweet. He invented the first polyurethane foam board. He also gave me my first job that didn't involve throwing a paper. I surfed and sold boards on the beach......I got $5 for every board I sold. Dave was a true surf design genius..........nobody understood what he was doing! I rode for Dave Sweet for 10 years.........and received approx. 30 free boards until I quit competitive surfing at 22. I was never much of a contest surfer, though I never lost any type of contest at the Santa Ana River Jetty and I won about 25 local club contests in Newport Beach. At seventeen I captured Jr. Men's second place in the U.S. Surfing Championships at Huntington Beach in 1963, behind Corky Carroll and ahead of Mark Martinson, Steve Dabney and Pete Kobzev. I had scored the highest point average of any contestant in the entire contest on Saturday. It was my first contest. During the summer of 1966 I was a part of the group of pro Californian surfers that helped introduce hotdog surfing to the East Coast of the U.S. There I won the New Hampshire Open and finished second to Dewey Weber at the East Coast Championships at Seaside Heights, New Jersey. I was Sales Manager of Dave's Shop from '64 to'68 and helped coordinate the Surf Team. I also was able to give some input for design and was fortunate enough to be able to ride the newest cutting edge surf designs coming from Master Sweet. I rode for Malibu Surfing Association, M.S.A., from 1964 till 1967. I spent two years as the Club Treasurer. Living in Newport, I was the Club's southern most member. I learned and perfected backwards surfing from Mickey Dora. I took it a step further, inventing a backwards turn. I have never ridden a short, little pointy board or a board with a leash. I have never owned a board under 9' with more fins than one. I ride only on paraffin. After 32 years, I am back riding for Dave Sweet Surfboards and currently ride the 10' classic style nose rider seen on the front page of my site. All color surf shots, so far, feature this board. I pledge to always try to perform my traditional surfing art at the highest possible level. I will always try to expertly perform the classical style, power, grace and beauty that is hotdog surfing. My personal goal is to ride the nose of my Dave Sweet surfboard, leashless, and in a skilled manner at 80 years of age.
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