Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1912-08-03
CALIFORNIA IRLSLEARN ART
OF HAWAIIAN SURF BOARDING

have fully caught the breaker, Then
slide backward on the Eoard until the
end of it strikes between the knees
and hips so as to remove the wcirht
from the front of the board to prevent
il from running into the sand. As the
board rides over the breakers and up
to the beach use the feet as rudder
with which to steer it, and as you are
carried into shoe hold to the board
with both hands.
There are just four things to avoid
to prevent danger, according TO
Freeth First, the rider must never |
get between the breaker and the
hoard, or there is danger of being hit |
by the heavy board. Another thing |
to watch is that you paddle until fully
uL to the breaker. Above all things
the rider should Remember not %
slide off the board too far when TAX |
ing the breaker; that is. the foot Of
the board should touch the legs of the
swimmer between the hips and the |
knees; otherwise the board might /
strike the swimmer in the body. The
last thing, but most important to re-
member. is never to let go of the
board Il,
The surf boards used by Freeth ana
his class ofspupils are of redwood and
weigh about forty pounds. The dimen-
sions are eight feet long, twenty-four
inches in width and two inches tick.
Athletic Girls. /
Although not many of the girls at
the beach have been brave enough to |
attempt the surf board yet the ma
jority this year are ambitious swim
mers or divers and each one seems toI
have some particular stunt in aquatlcs
in which she excelis. No one seems |
content merely, to Jump the breakers
and lounge on the sand in a stunning
bathing suit. 1t may be that the girls
ARE eager to vie with the different
holders of championships in their
swimming stunts, Of whom there are
several here. Lady LANCER, holder of
220, 440 and $50 yard championship
for Southern California;; Cliff Bowers,
Pacific Coast champion diver; Tommy
Witt, champion child diver, are all
here this year.
Among the girls who do fancy div
ing sturts, distance or fast swimming
are Miss Dolly Connolly, pretty
Redondo Beach High School girl; Miss
Pearl Hutchinson of Los Angeles, Miss
Norman Bennett and Mrs. T. B. Bas-
sett. -.
The art of riding the surf board in
standing position, which is done by
balancing the body on the board, was
revived by Freeth in Honolulu in 1900.
Although Hawaiians generally rode
the surf board, up to that time tney
rode only by lying on the board, al
though they knew that their early an
cestors had ridden In a standing posi-
ton. Freeth, who now has one ofsthe
cid surf boards given him by native
prince which had been handed down
from the early days, as boy persist
ed in trying tob ride the breakers m a
standing position as he had heard of
from the old natives stories.
The board given him by the prince
was sixteen feet long and about four
inches thick and after many falls ana
calculations, Freeth figured out that
his board was too long for the break
CTS, dS II COutuu IdhS (uS curve u
the combers. i
He finally worked out the dimen-
sions that are used now in the boards
III Hawaii, eight feet long, and twenty
four inches, by four inches thick Now
many of the Hawaiians ride the surf
board standing and carry a second
person on their shoulders.