San Clemente CA— On Saturday July 25, from 3:00 to 6:00 pm, the Surfing Heritage and Culture Center (SHACC) invites you to drop in for a book launch party with surfing icons, Larry Gordon and Floyd Smith, as they promote their new book “One Long Ride,” the Story of G&S.
The event is free for SHACC members, $5 for non-members, and will feature a no host bar serving wines from Longboard Vineyards, beers from Left Coast Brewing Co., and water from Hawaiian Springs.
Larry Gordon will not be signing books or memorabilia at the event. However if you order a copy of the book through the SHACC website, (signed by Larry) no later than Thursday, July 23, your book will be ready for pick up at SHACC. Floyd Smith will be signing books in person during the event. SHACC will also have some G&S tee shirts for sale, and a G&S Fibreflex Longboard Skateboard with YoYo Wheels and Paris trucks ($250 value) will be raffled during the evening.
In the fall of 1959, Gordon and Smith began making and selling boards out of a garage off Balboa Avenue, between Grand and Garnet, in Pacific Beach. Surfboard sales grew at such a rapid pace, Gordon & Smith set up a shop in January of 1960 at 763 Turquoise Street. Early on, they had virtually no local competition and quickly became one of the largest surfboard building companies in San Diego. For several years during the ’70s, G&S was the largest surfboard maker in the world.
Some of the sport’s top surfers were on the G&S surf team. As a result, Mike Hynson’s Red Fin model, the Skip Frye signature model, and the QuarterSpeed became very popular surfboard models in the ’60s. The G&S Modern Machine, introduced in 1974, was the precursor to today’s “fun shape.” In addition to Hynson and Frye, Dale Dobson, Billy Hamilton, Butch Van Artsdalen and Barry Kanaiaupuni rode for G&S at one time or another. Rusty Priesendorfer and Mike Eaton were among the label’s early, progressive surfboard shapers. Find out more about the history of G&S at the book launch event this Saturday at SHACC, located at 110 Calle Iglesia, San Clemente, CA 92672.
About SHACC
Surfing Heritage & Culture Center is a 501 (c)3 non-profit dedicated to preserving, presenting and promoting surfing’s heritage for the appreciation and education of current and future generations. For more information visit www.surfingheritage.org or call (949) 388-0313 x0.