Buzzy Smole Hansen?

Hello all,

I recently picked up a Hansen out in Pennsylvania.  The owner said he picked the board up in Beach Haven, N.J. back in the 90’s.   From what I can gather from others’ posts, this may have been a personal board of Buzzy Smole due to the -S- marking on the stringer.  Unfortunately the number on the tail block is either illegible or the board was never numbered so I have no idea what year the board was made.  I sanded off a buch of old repairs the previous owner made which all turned dark black probaly due to the quality of the resin and reglossed today.  I still have to sand the bottom and do the same.  I probably would have left it alone had I known the history of the board but it’s too late now.  It looks much much better albeit not 100% original.  Any information of the year produced and if this was in fact a personal board would be greatly appreciated.  


Clearly a Buzzy personal board.       The tailblock and fin probably put this board in very early 1965.

Thanks a million for the information.  Without your knowledge we would have no idea how to decipher the codes you and the other shapers came up with.  I have been scouring the interenet and outside your discussions here, there is literally no way to identify hansen serial numbers. 

On another note, do you remember shaping boards and thinking “I am going to keep this one” because it came out well or because you played with the shape a little?  I’m guessing you  were doing 7+ boards a day so you saw many go through the shaping bay.  It seems like they could all blend together when you are producing that amount.  Also, when models like the master, doyle, or 50/50 were developed, was it on purpose, or was it someone came up with a great riding board then the company decided to produce and market it?  I apologize if you have addressed these questions in another post.

    Oh yes.     When all the stars align, a board will sometimes seem to flow together, almost on it’s own.    As to the various models, most are based on an  ‘‘in -house custom’’ that was a ‘‘step-up’’ in performance.    When i started shaping at Hansen, I was the only one of the four shapers doing five boards per day,    When I left, in 1969, I was shaping ten boards per day.     The other shapers were doing eight boards per day, or less.     As boards got shorter, it took less time to complete each one.     I was a young Buck then, in my mid twentys.      Looking back on those times, I wonder how the hell I did it.     One small board, in a single day, Is a challenge now.    As the expression goes, ‘‘Growing old, is not for the feint of heart.’’

That’s a nice one.  You didn’t hurt it any by cleaning up someone else’s poor repairs.  What’s the other board laying in the background??

The other board is a Con Ugly.  Both boards were picked up in Pennsylvania.  I think the majory of boards in the coastal states have been scooped up unfortunately.  

I am very envious you got to surf in southern california (and wherever else) during the time period you did.  Although I’m sure it was crowded then, it just seems like a fun time to be youthful and into surfing.  Im sure by time things were going shorter the whole mood had changed but just seems like there were a few golden years with no shortage of characters.  Thanks again for your contribution to the site.

Redoing old, poorly repaired dings actually improves the value and overall worth of a board. This looks like a true mid 60s classic. At least you didn’t decide to do one of those “glass off” abominations like that scam artist Rarick does.

“Green” with ----.