Alaia

An alaia (pronounced [aːˈlɐjaː]) is a thin, round-nosed, square-tailed surfboard ridden in pre-20th century Hawaii. The boards were between 7 and 12 ft (2.1 and 3.7 m) long, weighed up to 100 lb (45 kg), and were generally made from the wood of Acacia koa. They are distinct from modern surfboards in that they have no ventral fins, and instead rely on the sharpness of the edges to hold the board in the face of the wave.

Modern alaias are 5’ to 12’ long and are the larger version of the Paipo board, used for knee or belly surfing, and the smaller version of the Olo board, generally between 18’ and 24’ long. All of these board types are similar in that each is made of wood and is ridden without a fin/skeg.

The alaia’s roots span back a thousand years. Lala is the Hawaiian word describing the action of riding an alaia surfboard. Lala is a word found in the Hawaiian dictionary meaning ‘the controlled slide in the curl when surfing on a board.'

“In Hawaii the board was called alaia. In Japan it was called Itaka. There is evidence of early surfers riding this style from all around the world, but in the early 1900s this style vanished.”

Alaia boards began making a comeback around 2006 when surfboard-shaper and experimenter Tom Wegener tested prototypes made of paulownia wood among pro-surfers. The first contemporary professional surfers to master the skill of riding an alaia were documented in the Thomas Campbell surf film The Present. This appearance dramatically increased the popularity of the alaia board type. Wegener used Australian surfer Jacob Stuth to test the first models, and over the next several years, he perfected the art of alaia design.

Shaper Donald Takayama furthered this movement with his designs under the Hawaiian Pro Designs label, shaped by Florida native, Brandon Russell.

“Ancient Hawaiians made their boards out of local woods–‘ulu, koa and wiliwili.” Modern Alaia boards are made of many types of wood, including Redwood, Cedar, Pine and Balsa. Typically, commercially sold alaia boards are made of paulownia.

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Wikipedia