bad boys vintage surfboard

[stuartbeard]

Hi everyone, I just picked up this old clarkfoam board its a bit battered but I love the graphics! Can anyone tell me anything about it? I live in North Devon just a few miles from Woolacombe and Croyde

[oldmansurfer]

Interesting. Looks like a pros board or a pro wanabe. It has a Gordon and Smith logo so they are likely the manufacturers and the rest are sponsor logos....don't know just a guess.

[stuartbeard]

Hi Oldmansurfer thanks for your quick reply, I should have said the bad boys and lifes a beach logos on the bottom and the bad boys and bubble gum wax on the top are under the glass, the rest of them are stickers.

[benjl]

Does t have channels on the bottom by any chance?

[stuartbeard]

I don't think so, maybe this picture will help

[oldmansurfer]

Well I haven't ever heard of that Bad Boys Life's a Beach brand before but that is an old board. Has glassed in thruster fins. If you could figure out who it belonged to it might be worth something otherwise it's just an old board with some cool logos.

[stuartbeard]

Thanks again I know a few old boy surfers locally I will ask about, maybe someone will recognise it, failing that I will pop it into the surf museum or see Martin who works at tiki nowadays. Do you think its early 80's?

[dtc]

Gordon and Smith are the shapers - you can google them up and find out their history. If the board has a name and number written on it in pencil (usually along the stringer) then it will be hand made and its entirely possible that the company (still going) will have records of it. If there is no number, it could be one made under licence or just as a 'shop model' (ie not custom for an individual). G&S are well known shapers and not particularly rare

bubble gum surf wax started in 1984 in San Diego (where G&S were based as well) so realistically your board wont be from earlier than 1984 and probably not until the late 1980s (or later) when the wax started getting more popular. Bad Boys Life's a Beach also started early 1980s (1982) in San Diego.

so I'm thinking its a San Diego produced board, probably from the late 1980s or early 1990s, although potentially later.

Glassed in fins were still around in the early 2000s (I have a 2005 board with glassed in fins), so they dont assist all that much

btw, the tail pad seems a bit too far forward