Catri longboard identification help

Hi all. I recently picked up a Catri board being sold as a SUP and i’m looking for more information on it. It looks super vintage. I haven’t seen a shape like it, skinny and fat. It has a removable fin which may have been added later, but no leash plug. Any help with identification would be greatly appreciated. 

below is a link to the photos. I can take more if needed. 

https://imgur.com/gallery/E8SFaLP

You mention the fin, but fail to show it.

If you post your pics here they will appear larger, be easier to see, and avoid having to click a link.

You can post photos right here, you know?

My initial reaction is to date it 1965-ish.I’m a bit hesitant because something in the back of my old noggin is insisting that the logo style is more recent. Is the outline really as “gunny” as the first photo makes it appear, or is some of that effect lens distortion? I’ll open up my S-n-B tomorrow AM and see if that sheds any light.

Doc, the fin is in the third photo, you jsut cannot see any details about it.

That third photo indicates the board has some kind of fin, but that’s about all. Could be damn near anything.

I’m not Doc.

Sorry - looked at the user icon, not the name…

Unfortunately, as thorough as S-n-B tried to be, there are some omissions, and Catri is one of them. I’ll check to see if any of my contacts know anyone who worked in the shop where they were sold around here. According to this article at the Florida Surf Museum site, Catri was a former Hobie rep who began selling his own brand at about the beginning of the short board era, which would probably be 1968 or so on the right coast. If that stick is a long board (you did say it was advertised as a SUP) it might be rare and worth some money. Back to my question on whether the “teardrop” aspect of the outline shape is exaggerated in your photo - Catri spent some time shaping for DIck Brewer - I guess its possible that board could have been an attempt at an East Coast verion of the gun.

https://www.floridasurfmuseum.org/kahunas/dick-catri

Right, Sammy is better looking, to start with. Dammit. Has an actual personality too. I definitely don’t have his encyclopedic knowledge either. 

I’d be interested in the dimensions of the thing. With the fin way, way back as it is, an odd nose for the era, a picture showing the rocker might be educational too.

As an initial guess, Catri was a high school athlete. A competitor. And some surf contests had paddle races back then. And he had his own surf company, why not make a  paddleboard?

Not Sammy A, but only . 

doc…

More information. Apparently Catri spent some time with Dick Brewer at his factory in Hawaii in the early 60’s before heading to Florida. Maybe this is one of his early shapes? I think it makes sense as a Hawaiian board, it’s definitely not for charging Sebastian.

https://imgur.com/gallery/Zkk5hgl

 

re: the photos, it’s saying they’re too big to post here. I’m on my phone and can’t resize. I’ll grab more photos tonight. 

 

I think it’s a gun. Long and thicker than anything I’ve seen. I’ll get dimensions as well. I’d say length is about 12’. 

SnB had a pretty comprehensive entry for Catri, but now the only way to access the files is via the Wayback Machine/web archive.

Lots of holes left in the list since it was dropped off the SHACC website.

I know this much. Before Catri was a Hobie dealer he sold Surfboards Hawaii. In fact, many of the Florida Hobie team members were part of Catri’s crew that he brought along when he switched from SBH. Among the SBH team roster were names Like Tabeling, Valuzzi, and Propper.

Catri is credited with building the first commercially available foam boards on the whole east coast of the US. His partner in that venture was Jack “Murph the Surf” Murphy.

Here are more pics with dimensions. Looks like a 12’0" on the dot. 

 

https://imgur.com/gallery/o3cOtOP

Some may remember there was a competition event called Tandem surfing in the mid-60s, which I think had Hawaiian origins. That may be what this board was intended for.  It’s not a big wave “gun”.

 

I’ve never heard of it, that would be pretty wild. I wonder how it managed to find it’s way to south Florida. 

 

I originally thought the two pads were additions. I haven’t seen that placement before. Could they be original, or older than I thought? When did people start padding boards? 

Before there were StUPes, there were paddleboards.

Still a pretty big deal in the lifeguarding community. Long, thick, not terribly wide but ( unlike a gun) width carried well back with the pads a ways  back there for knee paddling. Not a lot of rocker, dead straight flat in the back third to half. Fin way way back. 

Sound familiar? Thought so. Have a look at some Marine Rescue is carrying ( my old friend Herb Rego’s company, nice guy) . The new ones are a bit different, some round bottom types, some scooped deck types, but the boards that look like yours are still well represented. In some cases they have interesting rules for particular competitions. Some very interesting stories there…

https://www.marine-rescue.com/rescue-equipment/competition-boards/competition-boards.html

https://www.marine-rescue.com/rescue-equipment/water-rescue-equipment/rescue-boards.html

Tandem boards tended to be very wide, 24" or better, there were special h giant blanks Clark made for 'em, round nosed, essentially like somebody put a Weber Performer on growth hormones.  Some strong guy would catch the wave, turn a little and then do sorta gymnastic poses with a very teeny tiny light weight girl while the board was more or less staying pointed, possibly a cutback but usually just a Waikiki type ride. . The names I recall are Pete (Preston? Sammy, help me out here) Peterson, Dewey Weber and Mike Doyle, the women ( again, memory may be chancy here)  - included Joyce Hoffman and Jericho Poppler. 

But again, I really don’t think this is a tandem, shape is all wrong.

Big wave guns…didn’t look like that. I think they went shorter, pintail and pointed nose pretty much all the same time. Rocker all the way through, rails more positive, and again, no knee pads. 

hope that’s of use

doc… 

Agreed. Could well be a paddleboard. the outline and size support that.

Tandem boards were wide and blunt.

Some famous tandem teams were Mike Doyle and Linda Merrill, Hobie Alter and Barrie Algau, and Pete Peterson with Sharon Barker. Barker was really athletic and part of the mid 60s Muscle Beach crew. Her stunning good looks and athleticism led to work as a stunt double in some 60s movies. She was Sharon Tate’s double in Don’t Make Waves with Tony Curtis.

Linda Benson also did some tandem comps with Doyle. Joyce Hoffman was too tall to be  a tandem partner. Most of the girls were petite and often had ballet or gymnastic backgrounds.

This is why you need to do comprehensive pics if you want info on an old board. What appeared to be a mid 60s log in your first batch of pics turns out to be a more modren board and quite likely a paddleboard. NOT to be confused with a twat yacht (SUP). Paddleboards do not employ a paddle. They are designed for racing.

This pic right here plainly shows a Fins Unlimited box that is original to the board. This is why I stressed a good pic of the fin. The board is probably no older than the mid 70s. Could even be ten years newer.

Because the board was made in Florida.

 

Thanks for all the help everyone. So it seems like it’s a paddle board from the 70’s or 80’s. I’m still looking for more info on similar Catri boards, but haven’t found anything yet. 

Tandem boards have always been nothing more than thick oversized longboards, usually 12’ plus and 25" plus wide.  I have seen several and had in my possession a Hobie tandem board at one time.  It was confirmed to have been used by Hobie Alter himself.  Dick Catri, Mike Doyle, Rabbit Kekai and Steve Boehne all participated in Tandem contests and exhibitions in the mid sixties.  When you see one they are easily recognized.  I don’t chase picture links.  But according to your description and the Tailblock pic;  I would say that is what you have.  It is not a lifeguard paddle board.  Not saying a lifeguard never paddled it, just saying that was not it’s intended purpose when it was built.  It was intended to be a Tandem Surfboard.  There was a resurgence of Tandem events and Exibitions in the 80’s and 90’s.

(chuckling) - this is what I meant by ‘encyclopedic knowledge’ And why I asked. 

It occurs to me, though I hope some of the more experienced shapers chime in and correct me as needed, the competition paddleboard people tend to have money and are willing to spend it. Niche market, but it could be quite a nice one for somebody that’s versatile, much the same demographic/financials as those that buy rowing shells. 

I’ll be real happy when things calm down, You and I are overdue for sitting down with a few beers

doc…