Spoke to Hap today...cool story about the Pig.

a couple of my prized Jacobs...hangin in the shop.

the iconic diamond.

I had the honor to meet Hap Jacobs when we opened 16 years ago and have been blessed to have forged a friendship with him. I hadn't heard from him in a while, so about a week ago I gave him a call...he picked up right away and pulled his car over so we could talk. He was on his way to shape a few boards. The first thing he said was "Eric, great to hear from you...how are things back there in New Jersey? I always think about you guys when I see the bad weather...Hope you guys are all doing well." Pretty cool to talk to such a surf legend and such a humble guy. Hap's 81 and one of the nicest people I've had the privaledge to meet...a true legend and gentleman.

an original Velzy JacobsPig

We got to talking about boards and got on the topic of the Pig. He was telling me about the 1st time he and Dale Velzy made the original Pig model. He said Dale was shaping it and he was watching from behind, giving input. They wanted to shape a board that would turn real well and handle bigger surf and trim well with the narrow nose, even if it would sacrifice noseriding. "From the top it looked kind of like a Pig…big wide tail and narrow in the front." He said "Dale started shaping the nose and got through the middle of the board…when he got to the tail, he said you think I can leave it like this? You think it will work? Almost as if we just got lazy and didn’t want to finish it."

the boys themselves...way back.

original lam.

They took it up to the Hermosa Pier and Mickey Munoz rode it while Hap and Dale watched from the beach. He caught his 1st wave, did a nice turn and walked up and stood right on the nose. He and Dale looked at each other and they both said "Wow, it works...looks like it'll be a pretty good board for Malibu!" They gave it to another local that they knew was a really good surfer and he road it in overhead surf at the Redondo Breakwater. "He would take off and go every which way…left right left right with no control. It was to big and to steep and we knew it wasn’t going to work here." Pretty cool story about the origination of the Pig...it ended up revolutionizing board design and led us to where we are now.

Yea, I said Hap pulled over...he was on his way to shape some boards!  I'm thinking some might be coming our way...through the Beach House.  Couldn't be more stoked!