9’ 9" Surfboards by Challenger D-fin pig, in poor shape, and heavy as a rock. Looks like it had a stripe at one time.
Bought it from a guy who had it in his attic for 10 years with the intent to patch it up, but never got around to it.
Love to hear any background info at all, I have done a little research online just to get me started.
The discoloration in the yellowing indicates a pigmented stripe all the way around, and a pigmented tail patch on the deck. If the little bit of color in the ding in the stripe is a clue (3rd pic) it was probably green, maybe a chalky green, or maybe turned chalky with age.
I think I can print a halfway decent lam with graphics pulled off the internet.
Not aiming for a full restoration, but like to make it presentable & get it back out in the water at least a few times. Thinking new wood D-fin, tail block, & nose block. The fin is original but in bad shape, the nose is chewed up pretty good. A restored stripe, tail patch, & lam would be a nice touch.
Challenger was founded by Bill Bahne and Frank McCleary in 1960. Around 1963 Carl West came on board. Bahne exited to start his eponymous label around 1964. Bobby Thomas took over the operation in 1966. Your board was probably made before 1965, judging by the general look of it. The tail may have had Slipcheck on it, thus the color difference.
While it has numerous small dings the good news is that it doesn’t appear to have major rot or water damage, except that funky bit ahead of the fin. Is the fin loose at all?
Thnx Sammy, its in worse shape than the pictures indicate, the fin is loose, the rails are beat up pretty good, and there is a major delam / mush in the nose. But nothing is wet & the rot is minimal, I think it will ride again!
I’ve bought several old rental boards to strip and reshape. They were 10’ x 24" x 3+" and in very bad shape but also very inexpensive.
After stripping off the glass I’ve found that the boards I got here had extremely heavy glassing, the stripped off glass was heavier than most boards are today. The foam is also heavier than today’s foam, so the end product is heavier than I am used to, but I’ve been riding riding EPS since before the Clarke shutdown and these old boards are all PU foam.
Well, standard glass job on a mid 60s board was double 10 oz with four layers on the rails. The foam was 4 lb density, I believe.
By 1967 weights began to drop, both via the glass and foam density.
Typical 9’6" in 1964 was around 26-28 lbs. By late '67 they were closer to 22-23.
Well, there ya go. That’s the perfect board for a Gene Cooper style chambered board project.
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