Alaia Surf

Hawaiian traditional surfing from Jonathan Clay on Vimeo . Hawaiian surf-pro Tom Pohaku-Stone surfs a traditional wooden surfboard that he himself shaped. This is a sequence from the "Oceans" episode of the BBC's documentary series "Human Planet". Note to moderators: this sequence was filmed by myself for the BBC.

Alaia from Hydrodynamica on Vimeo . The alaia was the high performance surfboard of ancient Hawaii. While smaller paipo-type boards were common throughout Oceana, they were rarely large enough to stand up on and were usually surfed prone or while kneeling. Riding while standing set Hawaiian surfing apart, and the alaia was the board that allowed for the most expressive and creative stand up surfing. A true Hawaiian alaia would be made under traditional Hawaiian ritual in Hawaii. The boards used in the Hydrodynamica Project are alaia-inspired, they are not true Hawaiian alaias. That being said, these alaia-inspired boards, built and designed by Jon Wegener, illustrate the amazing performance capabilities of this ancient Hawaiian design.