Anybody have an idea of when the first use of channels on a board happened? I’m guessing early 70s.
Umm, as my old Ethics professor used to say, “That depends” - in this case it depends on what you want to call a channel.
I recall seeing a Greg Noll Cat with some , built late '60s, but as I don’t trust my memory all that much I looked it up and yeah, Here ya go .
In theory, they would aid noseriding by creating a suction back in the tail. The one I saw had the channels in red, but this one shown is snazzier. I have no idea if they actually worked, there was a ridiculous amount of hype around then. Certainly I haven’t seen any more recent, so probably not.
hope that’s of use
doc…
Got this from George Gall.
“The shaper Byrne from Australia is credited with coming up with them in the 70’s.”
Awesome, thanks for the answers.
Found this article too. It has a good, thorough historical progression.
https://www.swellnet.com/news/design-outline/2016/08/22/tricky-history-channel-bottom
I think Greg Noll’s “Slot Bottom” would qualify as a pretty early version. Bob Simmons is reported to have experimented with channels as well. Modern channels were an attempt to enhance performance of Twin Fins and Single Fins. Once Simon Anderson popularized the Thruster, Channels fell from favor. For the average surfer in average surf, there is no noticeable difference in performance.
My take on the evolution of channels is that they gave twins better tracking while maintaining the desired “looseness.”
Popularity appears to rise and fall with the latest pro surfer to win a contest riding one.
IMO they fade because of the difficulty that shaping and glassing pose to large-scale (mass) production. Cost to the consumer goes up. Sales go down – overall, less profitable.
Bottom line, I don’t think the definitive channel design has been shaped yet…
Simmons probably tried a channel bottom. Hell, he tried damn near everything else, right?
Noll’s slot bottom boards were a type of channel bottom, but just one wide indent at the nose and tail.
Doc is correct, as some of the last runs of the Da Cat had a channel either side of the fin. I doubt those did a damn thing, and just looked sort of cool.
I have two channel bottom single fins and like them a lot. I know that laminators and sanders do not like them much. 
Billy Caster was doing some channel bottom boards, in the 1965/66 time period. Almost full nose to tail, on classic longboards.
Good read! Thanks Stoney.