Dave Sykes poses with his redwood "Topanga" surfboard

Dave Sykes poses with his redwood "Topanga" surfboard

Dave Sykes poses with his redwood "Topanga" surfboard.

Surf pioneer Joe Quigg said:
"[Dave] Sykes was the best surfer I had seen at that time because he lived there [at Topanga Beach] and surfed all day, every day. He could just glide and glide."

Surf photographer Craig Stecyk said:
"Topanga dweller Sykes’ finely honed speed lines and turning were years in advance of others. Sykes delighted in perfect planing surfaces and placed 15 layers of hand rubbed lacquer over his boards creating a hard shelled outer surface many years before the discovery of fiberglass and resin."

early 1940s

"A History of Surfing" by Nat Young (Gibbs Smith Publisher, 2001)

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Joe Quigg