8' 2" transition era Hansen with "Ventral" fin & box

Don’t know much about this, but I picked it up recently with the goal to patch it up, clean it up, ride it a little, and put it up for sale. Seems like it would have value to somebody, I don’t come across too many of these.

Its 8’ 2", 22 1/2" wide, 3" thick, its got volume like it was a Huck board, haha.

Has been the subject of some dubious resin work, and an ugly leash plug addition, but overall pretty clean and good shape.

I’m assuming this is a 70’s board, but you guys are the experts.

Would like to know about the fin / box, and if there is a way I can upgrade to a better fin that will fit the same box? It says “ventral” inside but my research indicates it may be a Guidance G fin setup. Pops in without screws.








Aloha Huck, What you have there is a VERY late 1969, or early 1970 board.      Hansen decided to abandon his in-house system, and tried several of the available systems at the time.    The board you have was shaped by Mike Holideck, long time sander at Hansen, who moved up to shaping.       I’m not sure how long he lasted as a shaper,     I’ve only seen one or two other boards shaped by Mr. Holideck.     He was known as ‘‘Holly’’ by the Hansen factory crew.

At 8’2" I would guess it’s more like late 1968 or early '69. But, as Bill said Hansen had their own fin system and that carried into the transition era. The fin is not a Guidance System, from what I can tell. Guidance had a tapered dovetail setup and the base wasn’t notched. Pretty sure it’s a Ventral.

For comparison, here is a Guidance ad. Quite different.

Well, as the saying goes, ‘‘Size matters.’’     But, board numbers matter too.       And in 1968, and early 1969, I was still shaping for Hansen.      Holly was still in the sanding room.       He did not  do any shaping until after I had left.       The outline screams 1969, and that style of board was still popular in very early 1970.

Thank you!

So researching a little further, I believe this is a SuperLight, or at least uses the same template & shape, sans the 3/4 length stringer. The fin system is different, and the fin is tranlucent orange not opaque black, but the fin looks to be the same shape.

See below: comparing my pics to the similar size 1968 superlight I found online.





Its taken me awhile to get to this point, but I’m seriously considering putting a standard fin box in the board.  I really wanted to keep the original Ventral box, partially because it so firmly fixed the date of the board, and furthermore, it seems like a good system.  But after searching thoroughly, even running “wanted” ads on internet, I have gotten nowhere.  I ordered some G 10 to make my own, but… 

The more I work on fixing the board up, the more I think it could be a viable shape, and not just a wallhanger as a transition era midlength.  With that thought in mind, a standard fin box, and options that come with it for trying different fins, makes more and more sense to me.  I know, I was told this from the beginning.  But I really didn’t think finding a few extra fins was going to be so difficult.

My current thinking is to patch it up and make it watertight, then try it on a few waves with the fin I have.  If it seems to have potential as a rider, I think I will switch the fin box before I complete my restoration work. Or maybe I’ll just do it - doesn’t seem like it would affect the value of the board much one way or the other.

I think with the right fin that stick would make a groovy addition to your quiver Huck.  

Thnx unclegrumpy I hope so. My g-10 came this is my first time working with it. Blades better be carbide, tough stuff.

The base works! A little tricky to get the castle crenellations just right, but not too bad with a table saw

Now just gotta shape the fin, and I’ll have 2. Maybe I won’t need a modern fin box, we’ll see how it goes.  Def won’t be spending 150 bucks on an old plastic fin.

I’ve built the edge up just a little at the tail - will add a bit of an edge here with fiberglass and resin.  Its a tiny modification, but should make the board a little more user friendly for me, and I justify it because my goal is to get the board back out in the water.  And it could be sanded off if someone was a real stickler for original condition.  But these midlengths don’t seem to be so passionately sought after by the hardcore collectors anyway, so I doubt anyone cares.  And I think a minor modification like this was probably done a thousand times to boards like these, back in their day.

Its crazy how much volume this thing has.  3 1/2" thick!!!  Like longboard volume in an 8 - 2 board.  Which is right up my alley, although I would def have foiled the nose and tail a little more.  The rocker is a bit different too, indicative of the time period, flatter through the board with all the rocker in the nose.  I know it will take a little getting used to, but I’m hoping I can still get some fun rides on it.




Pretty happy with the fin I made. The phenolic panel seems very strong. And visually its a good match for the original plastic fin but I like this shape better.  Its based on a shape I liked a lot on my 9’ single fin rounded pin, that really loosened the board up.

I may foil it a bit more, but thought I’d try it first.  Its a little thicker than the standard surf shop stilletto, but its foiled nicely, and tapers to the tip.  



Agreed. The board is pretty generic, so it would not be very desirable among collectors. If it was a specific model and had fancy color work, etc it would be a different story.

The current trend in the collector market is showing big interest in 80s boards. Prices on 60s logs have fallen off drastically from what they were 15 years ago. Some 70s boards also have high collector value but those are usually stuff like Bolts and Aipa stings. Transition mid lengths don’t seem to be garnering a lot of interest unless they are unique or have a connection to a specific shaper.

I like your G10 fin a lot.  Nice outline and foil.  Reminds me of some of of the early fins done by Hynson.  Sort of a “Dolfin” but a nicer foil and a little more rake.  The vertical in it makes a bit of a pivot.  Should be a much better choice than the original.  Well done.