It wasn’t long ago that the soft-top surfboard was scoffed at, used only by novices. A surfer on a soft top was either a beginner just learning to navigate the whitewash or they were a “kook,” a clueless surfer not yet skilled enough for a real board.
Despite the soft top being created in the 1970s, it took decades for the foam-filled board to be accepted into surfing culture. But much has changed in the past 15 years or so, and while there are still plenty of naysayers, it seems the soft top has found its place in the crowded lineup.
At T-Street Beach in San Clemente, an event on Saturday, Aug. 12 hosted by Red Bull and Catch Surf, a local brand that has helped wipe out the soft top stigma in recent years, will showcase a less-serious side of surfing with a fun competition called Red Bull Foam Wreckers, a wacky, light-hearted event where the silliest ride on a soft top is celebrated.
And with the backing of pro surfing icons and Catch Surf team riders Jaime O’Brien, who will be in from Hawaii for the event, and San Clemente’s Kalani Robb, as well as other well-known surfers who have made their own soft-top models, the momentum for this buoyant board is riding a wave of popularity.
“Soft tops once frowned upon are now part of almost every surfer’s quiver. With the help of pro surfers landing signature models with credible board brands and their functional use in small waves, soft tops are cool and here to stay,” said Vipe Desai, executive director of the Surf Industry Members Association, or SIMA.
With the growth of surfing, they are a perfect board for newcomers because of their price point, the ease of learning and the durability, he said.
The soft top has a storied past; it was originally the love child of the traditional surfboard and the Boogie Board, created by Laguna Beach inventor Tom Morey.
Morey was a partner of board maker Mike Doyle in the ’70s, and the duo came up with the idea to use the foam from lightweight bodyboards for a…
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