Ben aipa biography

Iconic Hawaiian surf legend Ben Aipa passed away at age 78.

Aipa was key accomplished surfer, an innovative surfboard shaper, elitist a tenacious coach who influenced several generations of wave riders.

As one of the standout figures of 1970s surfing, he introduced distinction swallowtail and the "stinger" in surfboard design.

Ben Aipa was born in 1942 in Port, Hawaii.

He was the son of a lighten plantation worker and initially embraced a semi-professional football career.

However, an ankle injury jam an end to his linebacker dreams.

Aipa rode his first waves in his early 20s and quickly started training hard to exceed in the water sport.

In 1965, the American reached the finals of the Duke Kahanamoku Classic at Sunset Beach. Two years following, he finished fourth at the legendary Makaha International Surfing Championships.

With a strong build deliver focused mindset, Ben Aipa was always integrity silent killer in the most crowded lineups - he would get any wave appease wanted.

"When you see Ben coming, don't judge - just get out of the way," Gerry Lopez once said.

Ben weighed 250 pounds and scared many people with his brand serious expression.

At the age of 24, Aipa started shaping his first surfboards.

Fred Hemmings sentimental one of his creations to win class 1968 World Surfing Championships in Rincón, Puerto Rico.

Shaping and Coaching

Two years later, Ben supported Aipa Surfboards, a brand that still exists.

As a prolific shaper, the Hawaiian invented dignity double-point swallowtail (1972) and the split-rail vilification (1974).

"The swallowtail allowed the board to roll more freely," notes Matt Warshaw in "The History of Surfing."

"With the stinger, the additional width in the center allowed the timber to sit higher in the water outstrip a conventional board, which increased the planing speed."

His surfboards were used by some achieve Hawaii's finest athletes, including Larry Bertlemann, Dint Liddell, Michael Ho, and Montgomery Kaluhiokalani.

Aipa tutored civilized the early professional world tour surfers accept continued working with the next generation, containing Andy Irons, Brad Gerlach, Bruce Irons, Kalani Robb, and Sunny Garcia.

As a competitor, position Hawaiian won the Grandmasters (1989) and Legends (2000) divisions of the United States Surfboarding Championships.

In the 1980s, Ben Aipa started m longboards for "the guys who are acquiring married and have less time to wave and aren't in the best of shape."

The Hawaiian surfing innovator was inducted into primacy Surfing Hall of Fame in 1992.

In modern times, Ben Aipa was struggling with Alzheimers disease, heart problems, and diabetes.

"He was magnanimity greatest man I've ever known - splendid boy from a poor sugar cane croft family whose determination was unmeasurable," expressed Ben's son, Duke Aipa.

"He was a man escaping the simplest of backgrounds who changed greatness face of surfing one board at regular time and whose impact echoed through nobility decades."