International Surfboard Builders Hall Of Fame Inductee Details

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Inductee Name Bill Blinky Hubina

Event Year 2022

Inductee Location Ventura Surf Shop

Inductee Contact 88 E Thompson Blvd, Ventura, CA 93001

Inductee Brand

Inductee Boardshop Ventura Surf Shop

Boardshop Link https://shopvss.com/

Inductee Bio FOCUS ON SURFBOARD SHAPERS | BILL “BLINKY” HUBINA Mar 30, 2022 | Feature, News, Ventura, Ventura County, Warren Barrett | How did you start shaping and when? Started working in 1963 with Tom Hale of Ventura Surf Shop and Tom Morey of Australian Surfboard. We were in a Quonset hut at the end of Santa Clara Street. The Quonset hut next to us was where Yvon Chouinard was making mountain climbing equipment. In 1964 Morey changed his surfboard name to Morey; he made boards under that name for a few months until he formed a partnership with Karl Pope. They opened the shop on Front Street in 1964 with me as their first employee! In 1965 they sent me down to Clark Foam to learn how to glue up blanks for the rockers we needed. This led to rough shaping for Richard Deese. Richard was a master craftsman and had previously work with Dewey Weber and other shops in the South Bay. In early 1967, along with Dennis Ryder, I left Morey Pope to start William Dennis surfboards. Within a few months I was shaping my first 7’11” board for myself, which at the time was short for a 185-pound surfer. What designs are you most excited about? My designs at that time were the most exciting, with the boards getting shorter and shorter. There was no one to copy, so every board was an original. I would ride it, learn from it, then sell it so I could make another one. In the spring of that year, surfing Rincon, I met Bob McTavish; he was looking for a place to shape. During the next few months between his board orders and mine, I could buy my first drum of resin. I still get excited about every board we make at the shop. At 78 years old, I now rely on a great group of team riders to give me feedback so we can constantly improve the shapes. How do you feel about machine-shaped boards? There is a place for the shaping machine. A lot of shapers that have been shaping for years would say that it’s sad it was invented. It was originally made to increase board production in larger shops to meet the surfboard demand. This is and was in my opinion a proper use of a shaping machine. I used to shape 20 to 30 short boards a week in the ’60s and ’70s. Eventually I had young shapers I trained to help in production. This is before the machine and is what a lot of shapers have done. Now I use the shaping machine to meet demand and keep the shapes consistent for John Gianelli, who I have been passing on my skills to for the last two years. It is nice at my age to only shape when you want to, just to keep up the stokes! I don’t believe the machine should be used by shapers without hand-shaping experience of a few years. Because of demand in the sport during the last few years, there have been a lot of new shapers using the machine who are making boards way beyond their skills at the cost of the shapers they copy! Thank God for the few older shapers and young shapers with fresh shaping designs that only hand shape. Which other shapers have influenced you? In my shaping I have been constantly influenced by other shapers and hopefully influenced others. I have to give credit to Richard Deese and Bob Cooper for my shaping, along with every other skill needed to build a surfboard. I have a great respect for Reynolds Yater, who has been shaping longer than anyone in our area. Malcolm Campbell, Wayne Rich, Robert Weiner and Spencer Kellogg are great friends and shapers who share their skills without question. What are your favorite things about living and surfing in and around Ventura? Living in a small town on the beach can’t get any better. Started surfing the point in 1960, in 1961 I went to Ventura College, so getting poor grades can be partially blamed on surfing! Ventura County has a lot of surf from the county line to Rincon. Of course in the ’60s, the golden age of surfing, the waves were less crowded, surfers from other areas were few and things couldn’t be better! Things have changed over the years. Where there used to be only a few spots we surfed, now every spot that has waves gets surfed. Popular places can be overcrowded and frustrating to some surfers that have been spoiled from the early years. Surfing and living is still better here than a lot of other beach towns, there are still a lot of waves to be ridden by those that work a little harder to get them. I am so glad that I have been living and surfing here all these years, making surfboards, making friends, plus having one of the oldest family businesses in Ventura . . . with the same phone number silence 1967. — Interviewed by Warren Barrett

For the complete biography, go to: BILL “BLINKY” HUBINA interview

Thanks to: https://shopvss.com/ for the photo

Links Bill Blinky Hubina Talks About Making Surfboards and Surfing - Ventura Surf Club FOCUS ON SURFBOARD SHAPERS Bill “Blinky” Hubina - VC Reporter Times Media Group Shaper Profile Bill Blinky Hubina - Ventura Surf Shop William Blinky Hubina California Surfboard Shaper Legend - YouTube