Donald Takayama Nat Young Model

Donald Takayama Nat Young Model
This is a 22 year old Nat Young model shaped by Donald Takayama in 1992. 9'2" by 22 1/4 x 3. This model has no concave and has a nose reminiscent of the Magic Sam. I am not sure if the two legends were trying to duplicate the Magic Sam, but I can tell you that this board is fast. I rode it at Church on its inaugural paddle out, for me at least, and had an absolute blast on it. It is a 2+1 set up with a 7.5 inch DT center fin. The sidebites have carbon fiber strips in it. All the dings in it are professionally repaired and there is a bit of delam on the deck, but it is not bubbling so I am not worried about it. It has Nat's famous dinosaur logo on the top and bottom. The rails were drawn freehand as they are not perfect. It is still an interesting piece of Hawaiian Pro Designs history based on the collaboration of DT and Nat Young.  

Donald Takayama Hawaiian Pro Designs Epoxy Flyer In The Pink ITP

The Epoxy Flyer surfboards were what Donald had been working on prior to leaving us to surf with Velzy and Harold Iggy


Donald Takayama was working on a new epoxy surfboard system that was designed to replace the aged Surftech Tuf-light line of Hawaiian Pro Designs surfboards before he went to that uncrowded lineup in the sky. Today I had the opportunity to test ride one of the prototypes of his endeavor.
 My current quiver includes a 10ft. Model T, a Takayama nose rider circa 1982, a 9ft. Scorpion, a 9'2 speed shape, and two Skip Frye mid lengths, a 7'2 and an 8'0.  I have ridden a Surftech In The Pink at Blackies, Diamond Head and at Concessions and liked how it rode. The conditions those days were good with no wind and decent swell. I had an absolute blast on the surf tech at Diamond Head, though  I don't really care for the way the Surftech paddles. It is corky and it makes you feel like you are above the water more than you actually are. It does hum when you are going down the face of a nice wave, which is annoying as well. I do like the durability of the Surftech, but don't like the "paint job" on these boards as they don't hold up well.

The ITP Epoxy Flyer is an entirely different surfboard. While it is epoxy, it doesn't have that Surftech feel to it. Now I don't know about the construction of the Epoxy Flyers but what I was told is it has a bamboo stringer, comes off a CNC, and is hand glassed, versus the sandwich construction of the Surftech ITP.

Test Ride: I rode Hawaiian Pro Designs In The Pink Test model 002 at San Onofre's Old Man's on 4-21-2013. I believe it was 9'0 and 2.91 inches thick. I didn't note the width but I imagine it is comparable to other ITP models. The board was outfitted with the standard 2+1 setup, FCS side bites and a 7-inch Takayama finger fin. It paddles like a poly board and rides like a poly board. It is extremely lightweight and is fairly easy to throw around. I caught a few good lefts and got in the pink rather easily, and going frontside, was able to carve four buttery turns on one wave all the way to the inside. In essence, HPD has the makings for a very competent alternative to the Surftech technology that surpasses it in many areas, without the chatter and without the corky feeling of the Tuf-lite system. If Hawaiian Pro Designs can come up with a glass/epoxy foam schedule that equals the durability of the Surftech without compromising the poly riding feel of the Epoxy Flyer, it will have the makings of a winning combination. As with all new technology, the durability is not yet proven as these are still just in the testing phase, but so far, I am very impressed with how the Hawaiian Pro Designs In The Pink Epoxy Flyer rides and paddles, so much so that I wanted to walk off with the board today, test model or not.

What I would like in the final version? The durability of the Surftech without the crap paintjob; A smidgen more heavier than what it is now (my preference for heavier weight glass boards, my Scorpion is 6x6x6; and a much less capital outlay (read: less expensive) than a similar poly model.

Blackies Pissing Contest part 2

walang hihiya.

Donald Takayama Paddleout-Skip Frye Eulogizes his friend Donald

Skip Frye spoke of his relationship with Donald Takayama and the impact that Donald had not only on his life, but the life of others in the surfing community, and the surfing community itself.

Donald Takayama Paddle Out- Nephew Michael Takayama Celebrates DT's Life

Ode to Donald Takayama

In the 3rd grade at Star View School, I befriended a pudgy Hawaiian menehune named Michael Takayama, (who I affectionately called "Coconut hair" back then). We met on the playground where (as Michael remembers it) I asked him if he wanted to be friends. He was wearing an Aloha shirt and white pants. And we became friends that day. Later that week, he introduced me to gummy bears. Now back in the 1970s, gummy bears came from Germany and they were a rare treat that I never had before. I had a pouch drink called a Poke'm, which was basically a green colored drink in a plastic bag that you poked with a straw and drank. I traded him the Poke'm for a bag of the gummy bears.

During Library Day, Michael and I went to the library at Star View and Michael used the Dewey Decimal catalog cards to find a book titled "The In Sport." In that book, was a listing on Donald Takayama and his contest accomplishments in the world of surfing. "Who is he?" I asked Michael, and Michael replied, "He's my uncle." That was the first I heard of the surfer Donald Takayama. Now at the time I didn't really understand what surfing was and didn't actually see someone surf until 5th grade when we went on an end of the school year field trip to Huntington Beach. It was then that I saw Michael paddle out on a surfboard and attempt to catch some waves in front of Tower 3 in HB. It was blown out and windy and I watched Michael stand up and then fall, then do it again. He was the only surfer at Star View.

It wasn't until the 7th grade at Vista View school that Michael got me into surfing. He taught our friend Bill how to surf and Bill in turn took me out on my first surf session. We had fun at Brookhurst St. in HB and I got hooked. Bill, Michael, myself, and several others spent many days surfing Brookhurst, messing around and doing things that junior high kids do. Paddling out in monstrous walled out unsurfable Brookhurst because we didn't know any better to surf the RJs. Paddling out in fluorescent green weird water. Burning a huge dead bird in a fire pit. (Big mistake, that think stank the air). Eating at Massimo's Pizza. Hanging with Michael's older brother Larry. Seeing Guy riding a longboard wearing an all black wetsuit.

In the 11th grade I finally got to meet Donald. Bill, Michael and I went down to the factory in Oceanside and we filled out papers for custom boards. This was around 1984. "Two weeks." Donald said. Well, that two weeks turned into two months, then three months, until finally we went down again to see what was up. Our boards weren't even started. So Donald, who at the time had longish hair, took us into the shaping bay and proceeded to shape our boards. We watched as he mowed the foam and got three safety nose thrusters all rough shaped. Several hours later we saw our boards fine tuned. "Two weeks" Donald said as he left left the shaping bay. I was totally stoked to see Donald in action. I'll never forget watching him with the planer. At the time, to me, he was just Donald Takayama, uncle to my childhood friend Michael Takayama. It wasn't until I stopped riding thrusters and jumped onto a longboard did I really find out what Donald had accomplished before we were even born. All the stories that Michael told me when we were small kids, how DT named velzyland after Dale Velzy, how DT shaped the best boards of the era. . . It all came to light as I began riding Takayama surfboards again.

Everyone knows the story, Uncle Donald comes to California as a boy of 12, already an accomplished shaper, and works under the tutelage of Dale Velzy. He then proceeds to work as a hired gun at the factories of other shapers, designing for them what would arguably become the best boards in their stable of boards, and the best boards of the era; The Jacobs Takayama Model, the David Nuuhiwa Noserider, The Weber Performer ( of which he and Iggy fine tuned) and the list goes on.

I got to hang with Donald a few times at the shop as Michael and I would stop by after a surf, and proceed to laugh so hard my ribs would hurt. Stop and say hi when he would be out early in the van checking the North jetty. I was fortunate to experience even just the little things that made Donald, Donald. Sharing bars of chocolate in the retail store. Totally approachable. Totally cool. Da best of da best. I am fortunate to have surfed with Donald a few times and am fortunate to have met him and his wife Sid, all via my third grade friend, Coconut Hair. The surfing world has lost a legend. Arguably the most innovative surfboard designer ever, Donald Takayama is the legend of all legends. He will be sorely missed.

Blackies kook. . . In and outta da watah

I was at Blackies for the annual 4th of July parking fest fiasco. I wanted to see all the mayhem going on. I got there early and surfed micro waves with my friend Kevin but had to go home early, so I got out of the water at around 8 a.m. Sure enough there were cars circling, all manner of people asking if I was leaving. I said no, and proceeded to change, put the board away etc. I happened on another Blackies local who I never spoke to at all in the last 12 years I've surfed that spot. He rides a Dano log but wears a leash most of the time. I've seen him out in the water plenty times. I just never talked to him until the 4th of July 2012. Through talking with him I found out he is a Mercedes mechanic who after 19 years with FJ Mercedes (and Jim Slemons before that) opened his own garage in Costa Mesa. We were chatting it up with another guy when yet another Blackies local came up and started talking to the mechanic. They knew each other because the other Blackies local took his black wagon to him for repairs. At the end of their conversation, the guy with the wagon said to the mechanic, "Well let me know if you want to move your car into my space. I'd give it up but there are no WHITE people circling the lot." Was I surprised that this clown said this? Not really. I've been surfing Blackies since I moved back from Hawaii, and I've seen the guy around. He surfs every once in a while. I've never had a problem with him, though I've never acknowledged him, nor him I, not even when he stopped to talk to the mechanic. I was invisible to him when he made that comment. I never really cared for the guy for some reason, and now I know why. He is a kook, no matter how local he thinks he is. I would love to see him out at Bowls one day, which for the most part is a SEA of brown skinned people, and try and pull that WHITE crap in the Bowls parking lot. This clown is not worthy of the sport of kings.