Takayama

Shapers come and go and come back again. Takayama has been hard at it since the middle-50s from Hawaii to California and back again. with very few detours. Takayama claims some fine names as shaping influences: Dale Velzy, Renny Yater Pat Curren, Mike Diffenderfer, Ken Tilton, Hap Jacobs, Joe Quigg, His first surfboard was a redwood in Hawaii, around 1948. Where did he get the redwood? "Railroad tracks," Takayama said. "They were changing railroad ties and had all these old ones on the side of the road and so I went over there and helped myself to it."
Takayama started surfing in Hawaii and worked for John Price and Surfboards Hawaii before he came to California in the middle 50s on a wing and a prayer. "Yeah you know I left Hawaii with a one-way ticket on one of those cattle planes, Trans Continental Airlines. Halfway over I go up and knock on the cockpit door and say, "Hey, Captain, we almost there yet or what, brah?' I showed up in LA when the only airport was at Burbank. I think I had $10 in my pocket. It was 1955 or 1956 or something like that. I have memory lapse now."
Takayama also can't remember how many boards he has shaped over the years, only that he has been doing it almost non stop since the middle 50s. He opened Donald Takayama Hawaiian Pro Designs in Encinitas but there were too many people poking their heads in asking "What's up?" He moved it all to Oceanside and has been there ever since.
He's been going non-stop for the last 35 years. He was one of the Re-founding Father who promoted the resurgence of longboarding in the early 90s. "I was working with Oxbow and Joel Tudor and Nat Young promoting the World Championships in France. Everyone came and it was enlightening to see everyone so excited. And from there it just kept escalating. I make boards for California but there are Takayama licenses in Australia and Japan and France. The demand is amazing. I had no idea surfing would be as large as it is today and as a manufacturer I know there is no way I or any of us can fulfill this market."
Takayama is and always has been prolific and he now has 12 different designs for Surf Tech. "Speed shapes. Hybrids. Noseriders. SurfTech is making my boards from 7' 2" to 10'. There is a Stephen Slater model and a Jeff Hakman model and the Model T and a board he calls In the Pink, which is a 9'3" by 20" noserider.
Takayama loves the Surf Tech system for a lot of reasons, but especially because they are hard to ding. "The boards are lightweight and very durable. You get what you pay for. The boards withstand a lot of abuse and they don't fall apart. The Surf Tech boards have longevity. They're like the family car."

9'6" - Model T Classic Glass

N : 19

M : 22 7/8

T : 16

Th : 3 1/16

FINS

Centre : Tak 9"

Side : N/A

Board Review

This design is the most well-rounded and versatile of Donald's classic retro line. With a broad, easily noserideable nose, and wide, surprisingly loose tail, this board is what every one of Donald's team riders has in their competitive quiver.
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