Nuuhiwa |
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In modern terms, slap Rob Machado and Joel Tudor into one person and you'll have David Nuuhiwa. He is all about the light touch and smooth transitions and history. Nuuhiwa was born in Hawaii and began surfing at six, under the wings and watchful eyes of Beach Boys and local surfers like Nappy Napoleon, Bobby Achoy, Raymond Marie, Donald Takayama and Barry Kanaiapuni. Nuuhiwa was influenced by the "hotdog" style of surfing at Makaha and the south shore during the late 50s. He took that style to California in the early 60s and turned the world on its ear. To see Nuuhiwa working his Bing/Nuuhiwa Noserider or Nuuhiwa Noserider "Comp" on either side of the HB Pier was to see a blackbelt ninja noserider. Nuuhiwa was speed, grace and finesse. He had nine feet of surfboard at his disposal but mostly used the front third. Nuuhiwa could do everything from the tip: turning, climbing, dropping, side-slipping, going around sections. Nuuhiwa seemed to defy the laws of weight and balance and gravity, as if he had anti-gravity pads embedded in the nose that would take his weight up, not down.
In 1968, Nuuhiwa competed on a longboard at the World Contest in Puerto Rico. That same year, Nuuhiwa was frustrated by the summer Blackball regulation at the Huntington Beach Pier. Anyone with a surfboard over four feet was forced to go to the beach after 11:00, which left only kneeboarders. In the spring of 1968, Nuuhiwa cut down an old longboard to 3'11", reshaped it, put a giant fin on the back and paddled out into Blackball. As more than a dozen of HB's best surfers went ape from the Pier, Nuuhiwa ripped up some very good waves on a very small surfboard. When the lifeguards called him in to measure the board, Nuuhiwa's odd creation passed the tale of the tape and Nuuhiwa paddled back out. And the shortboard revolution was furthered.
