Old Guys Rule at Surfer Legends Day

Hang Ten founder credited with creation of board shorts

Surf legends and swell guys packed an event over the weekend to honor the founder of Hang Ten.

The Oceanside Library's Community Room was the site of the event Sunday honoring Duke Boyd, as part of the California Surf Museum's annual Legends Day, reported the North County Times.

The event featured luau-style buffet and entertainment by Moonlight Beach Ukulele Strummers and Dancers. The highlight, though, was the tribute to Boyd, a man who made a huge mark on the surfing world through his wealth of ideas and deep, abiding love for the sport.

Jim Kempton, media director for Billabong and former publisher of Surfer magazine, said that while Boyd didn't start the surfing industry he surely introduced surfing to the world through Hang Ten.

In 1960, Boyd teamed up with a seamstress named Doris Moore to see if she would manufacture a surfing jacket he had sketched, but Moore was much more interested in the trunks in the drawing. They created a pair of "board shorts" capable of withstanding the saltwater thrashing they would receive. For the next 10 years before Boyd sold the business, the company's advertising would catapult the Hang Ten brand to international popularity.

Boyd, who sat quietly absorbing the praise on Sunday, said he was deeply humbled by the experience. He said in looking back at the rise of the modern surfing phenomenon that he was struck by the "mosaic of wonderful people" that made it all happen.

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