During surfing's U.S. boom in the late 1950s, Hobie surf shop in Dana Point was cranking out more balsa wood boards than anyone else in the country. But one day, Gordon Clark and Hobie Alter shut down surfboard production for a whole year to experiment with a new material, polyurethane. Alas, PU blanks were born, changing how surfboards are made forever.
In the latest installment of "Shop Chronicles", we take a look back at the storied history of the iconic shop and how creating the PU blank was just the beginning of their contributions to not only the Dana Point community, but the surf world as a whole.
