Surfing Heritage and Culture Center (SHACC) to Launch Ben Aipa Exhibit Saturday, May 31st

The surfing community is invited to the opening of the new Ben Aipa Exhibit on Saturday, May 31st from 4:00 to 7:00pm at the Surfing Heritage and Culture Center (SHACC),110 Calle Iglesia in San Clemente.

The exhibit, entitled, “In the Moment,” celebrates Aipa’s 50th Anniversary of Shaping the World of Surfing, and is being co-produced by SHACC and Aipa Surf. Admission is free for SHACC members and $5 for non-members, everyone will be entered in a drawing to win a Surfline Premium Membership. Food and beverages will be available – from Hapa J’s, Primo Beer, Hawaiian Spring Water, Wind and Sea, and the Kona Shave Ice Truck.

A wide variety of Aipa’s custom, handcrafted short boards will be on display, along with a collection of high performance long boards, which he helped modernize, paving the way for the Aipa line of super sturdy Molded Epoxy Sandwich surfboards. The exhibit will also include a series of photographs and articles that capture some of this legendary surfer-shaper’s achievements.

“We’re honored to have this opportunity to showcase Ben’s visionary innovations in surfboard design,” said Paul Strauch, Executive Director at SHACC. “His breakthrough designs, such as the swallow tail and the sting, helped fuel the transition to radical, high performance surfing in the early ’70s.”

With a team of Hawaii’s top young surfers that included Larry Bertlemann, Michael Ho, Buttons Kaluhiokalani, and Mark Liddell, Aipa quickly emerged as one of the premiere surfboard brands – gracing the covers of surf magazines and being featured in the most electrifying surfing films of the era.

Ben Aipa was inducted into the International Surfing Hall of Fame in 1991. In 2004, Surfing magazine named him one of the “Top Ten Shapers of All Time.” Last weekend, at The Boardroom event at the Del Mar Fairgrounds, Aipa was the featured shaper for the “Icons of Foam, Tribute to the Masters” shape-off. Roger Hinds took the win over fellow shapers, Matt Calvani, Cordell Miller, Davey Smith, Axel Laurentz and Skye Richards in a competition to shape a classic Aipa “Sting.”

For more information, please visit SHACC .