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Dale Velzy and Hap Jacobs
Dale was born in 1927 and raised in Hermosa Beach. He started surfing at the age of nine on a surfboard that his father made for him. The next year, he started shaping for himself and friends. In 1949 at the age of 22, Velzy opened up one of the earliest surf shops in the world in Manhattan Beach.
After the war, Simmons had built wide-tailed balsa boards which allowed people to learn to surf more easily than on the old planks. “Simmons made them light,” Velzy said, “I made them turn.” He put the fin as far back as he could on his surfboard. In 1954 Dale joined forces with fellow board shaper Hap Jacobs in Venice Beach. They called these surfboards Velzy Jacobs Surfboards.
Much lighter and much better balsa wood boards were just starting to appear and Dale Velzy and Hap Jacobs were making the only commercial balsa boards in California at that time. Hap was a soft spoken man where Velzy was a salesman. He could sell you anything and once sold Hap’s personal board without him knowing it.
In 1955 Velzy came out with his Pig board. It had its wide point toward the tail which made it turn much easier. Maneuvering on a wave could be accomplished by the new younger surfers of the era. This style of surfing became known as hot-dogging. This style now included walking on the nose, doing head dips, and the quazimoto.
Much lighter and much better balsa wood boards were just starting to appear and Dale Velzy and Hap Jacobs were making the only commercial balsa boards in California at that time. Hap was a soft spoken man where Velzy was a salesman. He could sell you anything and once sold Hap’s personal board without him knowing it.
In 1955 Velzy came out with his Pig board. It had its wide point toward the tail which made it turn much easier. Maneuvering on a wave could be accomplished by the new younger surfers of the era. This style of surfing became known as hot-dogging. This style now included walking on the nose, doing head dips, and the quazimoto. 
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