 "Photo: Courtesy of Ian Zamora")
So much of surf culture revolves around showing honor to surfing’s forefathers by riding their boards and practicing their way of riding waves. So many surfers use retro equipment from the 1940s to the 1970s, ascribing to this retrospective surf culture flashback. But all of these attempts of riding the boards of long ago have come second to the tradition of the alaia.
It is not common knowledge among the surfing and non-surfing population, that the act of riding waves on an extraneous piece of equipment dates all the way back to 3,000 years ago on the Polynesian islands.
The alaia (pronounced uh-lie-uh) beckons to the Hawaiians of the early 1900s. A handful of models have been distinguishable, but a typical board is 15 to 17 inches wide and .5 to 2 inches thick. To the eye of the passerby, it looks like a plank of wood and nothing else. But in actuality, it is a refined piece of surfing equipment that has excited the surf community.
Today, the board is made from Paulownia wood, but the ancient Hawaiian’s often used wood such as Koa. The wood’s strength, light weight, and water resistance make Paulownia different from the rest. The wood requires no fiberglass or resin like the foam surfboards of today, but only a thin layer of oil, usually linseed oil. This adds to the wood’s water resistance and also slicks the bottom of the board to give more down speed.
The hardest thing for wave riders to fathom about the alaia is its lack of a fin. The role of a fin on a surfboard is important for turning it. When a surfer shifts their weight to change the direction of the board, the fin keeps the board in the face of the wave and not sliding across it.
The shape of the alaia’s rails toward the tail of the board make up for its absence of a fin. Rails are the sides of a surfboard and the tail is the back end of a board where one would typically find a fin.
The rails on an alaia are left with a hard and boxy edge, compared to the rounded and thicker rails of modern surfboards. This edgy characteristic, often described as “knifey,” mimics a fin’s ability to bite into the wave and help the board stay within the face. However, even the hardest rails in the world are not as efficient as a fin, making turning an alaia extremely technical and tricky.
Another important aspect of the alaia is the displacement of the nose. The nose of the board, contrasting the tail, is the front end of a board. Having displacement in the nose refers to the curved roll that occurs on the underside of the board. Most boards have a form of displacement, to help guide them into waves. This is especially crucial with alaias.
“Getting into waves is the hardest part” Patagonia salesperson and alaia enthusiast John Peck Jr., said.
This is because alaias are not extremely buoyant. Paddling them is much more difficult than paddling a modern surfboard. If it weren’t for the displacement in the nose of the board, getting them to catch waves would be even more difficult.
Patagonia, a surf shop in Encinitas, has become the unofficial Southern California epicenter for alaia. They sell the Paulownia blanks and have hosted seminars on how to shape one’s own alaia.
“It’s good for surfers that have been surfing for awhile,” Peck said. “It helps to re-stoke them out … There’s no preconceived notion of how you are supposed to ride them. It gives you lots of freedom.”
To ride with the most success, a surfer must stay in “the pocket”, which is a section of the unbroken part of a wave closest to the part that has broken. When situated right in the pocket with that knifey rail stuck right into the face, alaias are noted for their self-generated speed.
Because of the difficulty of turning an alaia, it is best suited for waist to chest-high waves that break in a tapered form, always leaving the unbroken face to be ridden.
Both blanks and shaped alaias can be purchased at the Patagonia shop for anyone who wants to take their surfing to the limits of simplicity and nostalgia.
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