Tag Archives: Surfing history

Hawaii surfing and paddling championship held in June 1943

In June 1943, a surfing and paddling competition was held in Waikiki, sponsored by the Hawaii Surfing Association, along with the Outrigger Canoe Club and the Honolulu Junior Chamber of Commerce. Martial law was still in effect and barbed wire was strung out along parts of Waikiki Beach.

A few photographs of the event, and several news clippings, turned up at the bottom of another box of my dad’s papers.

Click on this photo for more. Center, standing, is well known surfer and long-distance paddler Gene Smith.

A few other pictures from the same event were found earlier (see the top three photographs in this collection).

Click for another glimpse into Hawaii’s surfing past.

More on the 1938 National Surfing Championship

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That’s my father in the center of this 1938 photo with other members of the “beef trust chorus”. It was part of a fundraiser put on by the Long Beach (California) Junior Chamber of Commerce.

I believe that he was, at the same time, president of the Long Beach Surfing Club. He was just turning 25 years old in December ’38.

He then used his dual positions to spark the First National Surfing Championship, a contest held in Long Beach. In some descriptions, it becomes the “First National Surfing and Paddleboard Championship”.

I found a number of newspaper clippings, mostly publicity in advance of the event, among his papers.

Unfortunately, he was much more active clipping and saving than dating and sourcing the clips. But enough are dated to see the picture.

So click on the clipping to see this bit of surf history.