About Our Club > Origin > Membership > Travel

The Origin of the Windansea Surf Club
by chuck hasley

"It all began in the summer of 1962. I was working at the Hobie Surfboard Shop in Pacific Beach. One day in the late afternoon Mike Hynson, Skip Frye and Billy Castor came in the store and said the Malibu Surf Club was going to have the last surfing contest in Malibu before they changed the area into a yacht harbor. Surfer Magazine had just come out with the news about the Malibu Club Challenge; the first nine clubs to send in $100.00 would be accepted into the contest. It would be the last chance to ride Malibu for surfers everywhere. However, in order to participate in the surf contest you had to be a member of an established surf club.

photo by leroy grannis

I asked Mike and Skip, 'Who are you guys going to surf for?' They said they were going to surf for the North Beach Surf Club in Pacific Beach. And I said, 'Why surf for them? Why don't we start our own club? Why don't we start the WindanSea Surf Club? I knew that there used to be a Wind and Ski Surf Club out of La Jolla. I figured the people up the coast would remember there was a club at Windansea and think it was the same club. I thought it would be a good idea and a good name for a surf club.

I mentioned to Mike, Skip, and Castor we would need someone who could maneuver and knew how to convince the President of the Malibu Surf Club, Dave Rochlin, into thinking we were already formulated. Castor said he knew someone who would be good called Thor Svenson. He was the perfect man for the job and was able to convince Rochlin we were an already established club. Thanks to Thor we were in.

During this period of time Butch Van Artsdalen was working at the Hobie factory in Dana Point where a lot of surfers worked. The word about the contest spread rapidly. I got a phone call from Ronald Patterson and he said his brother Robert wanted to surf for us and another guy wanted to also surf for us by the name of Joey Cabel. I said, ' right on, we want him.' Dave Willingham came through Hobie's up North too.

The same day we decided to form the WindanSea Surf Club, and knowing we needed an official logo ASAP, I asked Butch Cornelius who worked for me at the Hobie shop in Pacific Beach to help out. At that time Butch used to come into Hobie's in P.B. after school to help me silkscreen Hobie's t-shirts. Anyway, I asked Butch to design a logo for the WindanSea Surf Club and he did.

I became president, Mike Hynson vice-president, Loren Swan was social chairman, Rusty Miller secretary and Thor Svenson became executive director. With the help of Mike, Skip and many others the Club was formed. Most of the early members of the WindanSea Surf Club were free independent spirits and not "joiners" of anything. But everyone wanted to be a part of the WindanSea Surf Club. The Club has never been about "I"; it has always been about we.

Transportation to Malibu for the contest was needed so I called up the Paul's Lines Company and rented a bus. The Malibu bus ride was the most radical trip ever made with the most radical surfers ever born… but that is another story all by itself. We did however win the surf contest and many more after that.

The original ten surfers who surfed in the Malibu Surf Contest that year for the newly formed WindanSea Surf Club were; Joey Cabel, Ronald Patterson, Dave Willingham, L.J. Richards, Skip Frye, Mike Hynson, Del Cannon, Chuck Hasley, Billy Castor and Rusty Miller. With the help of Mike Hynson, Skip Frye, Billy Castor, Butch Van Artsdalen and many others we organized and recruited top surfers from around the world. Working together as a team we became world champions in surfing for four straight years. It was the best time of my life and I thank God for giving me an opportunity to be a part of the WindanSea story."

Membership
The Windansea Surf Club has over 300 members of all ages. Over 200 of those actively represent the Club in the community, in competitions, and in their travels throughout the world.

In order to become a member of the Windansea Surf Club you must be of outstanding character and advanced surfing ability for your age. If this criteria is met, you must then be sponsored by 3 existing members in good standing. One of those sponsors acts as the primary sponsor and speaks on your behalf at the membership committee meeting, and if recommended, at the next general membership meeting. Each new member serves a 1 year probation period in which they are expected to perform various community service projects with the Club before becoming fully accepted. Windansea Surf Club does not discriminate because of age, sex, race, or religious preferences.

If you would still like to become involved with the Windansea Surf Club but are unable to meet these requirements, we have a program where a tax deductible donation of $100 or more entitles you to become a Windansea Surf Club Booster. You will receive a written history of the Club, including various press clippings, a Booster T-shirt, and a window decal. You will also be invited to various Club events, including our booster contest where you will be able to surf Windansea for 1 hour with only 5 other people in the water. Many people consider this worth the contribution in itself. The Windansea Surf Club uses these donations to further our Clean Ocean Water campaign, and to help subsidize our competition team and community service projects. If you have any further questions or comments you may e-mail to the address below or write:

Travel
In 1967, Windansea members made a historic tour of the South Pacific, visiting Australia, Bora Bora, Fiji, the Hawaiian Islands, Moorea, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Raiatea, Samoa, Tahiti, and Tonga. The trip was documented in the film "The Plastic Fantastic Machine" and the book "The Plastic Fantastic Voyage".

photo by tom keck

In 1997, the Windansea Surf Club traveled to Rio De Janeiro to compete against 5 Brazilian surf clubs in a "Surfing Cultural Exchange" organized by the ISA, Reef Brazil, and local architect Joao Brizola. Besides the contests, our gracious hosts treated us to the sights and sounds of Rio, plus an official reception dinner with Mayor Conde.

We are in the process of planning club trips to either Portugal, Fiji, Australia, Hawaii, Mexico, Central America, and/or the United Kingdom.

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