One of my childhood neighbors recently retired and asked me if I wanted to take his old Hobie surfboard home with me. He’s an awesome guy who bought it new, but starting a family & a business moved him too far from the beach (upstate NY) and he hasn’t surfed it in +40 years. It’s super heavy, 9’-ish (shorter?) and a bit narrower than my daily log (old G&S triple-stringer).
My initial thought was that it might be fun to ride every once and a while, but I dont have much spare room in my garage for boards that don’t get used. It’s not in perfect shape, but once it’s a lot nicer than I was expecting…which made me a little concerned it might be a little too valuable to ride regularly. I was thinking I may help him sell it, but I’m hoping to find a little more information about acual value of boards form this era. My general understanding is that Hobie was a big manufactuer in this era, so these boards are fairly common (and not super valuable). Actual price would be whatever someone would pay…$500 to $1500, depending on condition & finding a buyer. Any other thoughts/opinions?
Pretty nice example of a mid 60s stock Hobie. Would need to know the exact length to narrow down the year. Since it has the ‘dogbone’ finbox and appears to be single glassed with a knee patch, my best guess is 1967.
Best thing about it is the fin. Most of them got lost or broken long ago. Very hard to come by these days. I’d expect you could get around $1000 for it, just because it has the fin and looks to be in above average condition.
I’m NE FL but the board is still in upstate NY. it does have a ding on then deck (repaired) and a little discoloration from where paint spilled on it. I’ll add a few more pictures.
The angle makes it a bit hard to see the true outline, but my first impression was that it is similar to the Gary Propper model that Hobie made. Especially the tail.
Yes, looks like the same outline. Pics from the tail are always a little distorted and the nose on the OP’s board looks a little fuller. But pretty much the same. Seems like in those days with Surf Teams etc that a shaper would shape a board that was worth duplicating as a prototype, which would later then become the basis for a team rider’s model. Rather than creating the model for a team rider based on his surfing as is more commonly done these days.
Thanks for the input on this. I’ve conveyed the feedback I receved on this post and via PM to the board’s owner (longtime family friend) and I’d like to close the loop on this thread. It seems the board + fin is worth something (<$1k), but considering the sentimental value, and his proximity to surfers (likely a few hundred miles), I doubt he’ll sell it. The pictures don’t do the board justice…it’d make a beautiful wall-hanger, but I think it deserves better than that. If I can lose a little more weight, I may try to get it to FL next time he heads down here or if I take a drive up the east coast.
