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In the summer of 1950, Hobie Alter combined his love for woodworking and the ocean to shape surfboards in his family’s Laguna Beach home.
His innovative craftsmanship and quality soon gained a reputation, attracting renowned athletes and craftsmen to the brand. In 1954, his father bought Hobie’s first surf shop in Dana Point, marking the first Southern California surf shop. Hobie revolutionized the surfboard manufacturing process in 1958 by partnering with engineering student Gordon “Grubby” Clark to replace expensive balsa wood with polyurethane foam, significantly altering the industry.
Today, Hobie Surfboards and Hobie Surf Shops continue to uphold Hobie’s legacy of innovation and quality in surfboard manufacturing and ocean sports lifestyle. They offer a variety of products from apparel to hand-crafted surfboards and stand-up paddle boards, serving not just the surfing and SUP communities but the greater community invested in a clean-living, ocean-oriented lifestyle. Hobie Alter’s impact on the “Sport of Kings” remains significant over seventy years later!