Vintage Surfboard by Tom Blake
Item Number: 123
Time Left: 27d 23h
Opening Bid: $3,000
Online Close: Dec 31, 2025 3:00 PM PST
Bid History: 0 bids
Description
“1930s BIG RED Original Kookbox’”
This vintage board was curated from the Huntington Beach International Surfing Museum in 2022. Peter "PT" Townend, IPS/ASP World Surfing Champion 1976, found this board. We entered the vaults of the Museum collections, and we picked through the many stored surfboards and this was saved in its collections. These boards as very rare and very hard to find in this condition and valued $2500-$6500.
From the Beardsley Family Collection.
The term kookbox was slang for early surfboards made of frame and plywood with a hollow core. The legendary Tom Blake first invented and patented the hollow surfboard/paddle board design in 1930 which was a major advance over the solid wood Hawaiian planks that often weighed 75 to 100 pounds. The hollow Blake boards in comparison weighed around 30-50 pounds which made them much easier to carry and easier to surf. Blake paddleboards were usually around 13ft long and were built commercially, or by homebuilders using plans that could be found in Popular Mechanics.
Special Instructions
Winning bidders receive an email on Friday, January 2 from the resort's secure digital credit card authorization site, with a request to submit credit card information for their winning surfboard. Once payment is processed, the resort will email the winner a payment receipt and a donation receipt.
Boards will be available for pick-up and shipping beginning Monday, January 5, 2026. Boards must be picked up no later than Saturday, January 31, 2026.
Kindly note, that packing, shipping, and handling are not included - winning bidders are responsible for pick up and/or shipment of their board, including costs to package/ship. Boards can be picked up at The Ritz-Carlton, Laguna Niguel or the purchaser can arrange for shipping. If shipped, we often work with a local UPS in Dana Point as the carrier. They have years of experience packaging/shipping our surfboards and do a wonderful job. Before you bid, you may inquire with our UPS Partner at (949) 248-9150 ext.0 to get a quote of how much shipping to your address will cost, as price varies due to location. If you arrange shipment with our UPS partner, we will handle the pick-up arrangement with them but will need to know your shipping address and phone number. They will be in touch directly to confirm packaging/shipment costs. The resort does not manage this. If you prefer to use a different carrier, you will need to arrange pick up directly with the carrier from the resort and next steps.