One of surfing’s high performance pioneers, Larry Bertlemann became one of the sport’s biggest influences. Born on the Big Island of Hawaii in 1955, he moved to Oahu at age 11 and surfed at Queens off Waikiki. One day he broke his 9’6 and tried glassing the fin to the front half of the board but had trouble getting it to stay. A guy walked up to show him how to do it properly and that guy turned to be Donald Takayama. From that very day he mindset changed on what types of surfboards could be ridden (longboards were the norm in the 60’s) and he would also work with Ben Aipa who began shaping shorter, wider, and faster twin fins, swallow tails, and stinger designs.

The new shorter designs allowed Bertlemann to surf faster and begin experimenting with radical maneuvers and would change surfing forever. Larry became one of the most popular and highest paid surfers during the 1970’s signing endorsement deals with soft drink and airline companies.

Larry first shaped his surfboard when he was 19 and has been most influenced by Ben Aipa. He firmly believes in hand shaping all of his boards and feels that there will always be a market for the artistry and craftsmanship that goes into a hand built surfboard. You can still order his famous twin fin design he used from his surfing hey day as well as retro shortboards, swallow tail thrusters, and quad models.