velzy boards

The Legend Returns: Dale Velzy

As a cooperative, our shapers and staff are purveyors of all things surf. We’re compelled to build Models steeped in our heritage and built by specialized design. A few might say that board building is our passion; perhaps a crime! All kidding aside there are few craftsmen that compare to Mr. Alter in legacy and pervasiveness, except one, Dale Velzy. If Hobie was an automobile he’d be a Model T Ford, and Velzy a Mercury Hotrod. Alter was groundbreaking in his methods, from an early machining jig to the meticulous refinement of polyurethane foam. In contrast, Velzy was flashy, an all-out showman, he would do anything to put you on a surfboard TODAY. Dale was, also, a prodigious “hotdogger” and made boards that had more in common with drag racing than hydrodynamics. This month, February 2023, Hobie Surf Shops launches a partnership with the one and only, Surf Boards by Velzy.

Of course, there’s so much we can say about Mr. Velzy. We’ll do our darndest to bring you all of these stories throughout the course of our venture. Dale was way more than just a surfboard shaper. He had his fingers in all sorts of pastimes: hotrods, dune buggies, horses, and barbeque. We look forward to bringing you, the longboard enthusiast, all of the Velzy chronicles. Today, we’d like to introduce three heritage Models that shapers, Gary Larson and Adam Davenport, feel are most relevant for our today’s logging conditions: Pig, 422, and the Maibu Express!