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Tom Morey (1935-2021) is one of the most influential personalities in surfing history.
Among many other design and technological contributions, he is responsible for the introduction of air lubrication in surfboard shaping.
It might sound weird and unusual, but Tom indeed tried the unthinkable - putting holes in a surfboard. How could that possibly work?
To understand it, we must reflect and try to put ourselves in the shoes of one of surfing's most underrated individuals.
Morey's ingenious character, combining engineering, creativity, art, and spirituality, led to several timeless creations and surf-related equipment, from pioneering wave pool designs to the modern bodyboard.
The man who, in March 1999, announced that "for numerous reasons, I am discarding the name Morey and will hereafter go by just plain 'Y;' that is, no first, middle or last monikers, just the single capital letter, 'Y,'" really applied his experience at Douglas Aircraft as a process engineer in composites in developing out-of-the-box solutions for the surfing world.
His disruptive attitude toward surfboards, for instance, gave birth to many innovative inventions and experiments.
One of them was the concept of air-lubricated surfboards.
What Is Air Lubrication?
Air Lubrication is a technology designed to reduce the frictional resistance between a ship's hull and seawater.
It uses air bubbles to create a layer of air beneath the hull, thereby reducing the drag experienced by the ship.
Frictional resistance accounts for a significant portion of the total resistance a ship faces while moving through water.
So, by reducing this resistance, air lubrication helps save fuel and reduce carbon emissions.
The concept also applies to planes.
It's basically a drag optimization feature, even though it comes with a few manageable downsides.
Regarding ships, it is most effective only on ships with flat bottoms.
The hull design must also be modified to include features such as protruding ridges or special stern designs, and the air cavities used to trap bubbles can potentially affect the ship's handling and stability, especially in rough seas.
Space Boards: The Air-Lubricated Designs
Morey knew all this and thought of applying his experience and knowledge from the aerospace industry to his lifetime passion, surfing.
In the 1970s, he shaped at least three groundbreaking surfboard designs: the air-lubricated AL#1 and AL#3 and the experimental nine-step air induction 6'10'' surfboard.
They were all part of Tom's "Space Boards" series, a collection of futurist wave-riding equipment with plenty of innovative features that he presented to the world in the form of written words.
"Hello. I am a spaceman," Morey wrote in a six-page essay article in Surfer magazine's March 1971 issue.
"I am the spirits of Einstein, Thomas Edison, Alexander Graham Bell, and Bob Simmons, taken possession, temporarily, of the innocent body known here on earth as Tom Morey."
"I (we, really) am looking at your surfboards of today and thinking they are junk."
In the winter of 1970, Y built the AL#1, a one-step, air-vented surfboard featuring a concave-shaped bottom.
The mid-step, which divides two planing areas, is vented, i.e., it has an air-lubricated area intended to reduce drag while riding across the water.
The seven-foot prototype created in Oahu, Hawaii, was the only of its kind ever shaped and allowed only part of the board to touch the water.
Although it was the most maneuverable board ever made, it was super fast in a straight line, proving the concept's validity.
Due to its sharp edges that made surfing uncomfortable and potentially harmful, a new version was developed.
The original is part of the John Mazza Collection of Historic Surfboards.
The AL#3 resembled a regular surfboard, even though it was equipped with two steps and three planes.
"Once I knew for a fact that a wide board given freedom from drag would really fly, I was mentally free to think in terms of wide flat stone-skipping proportions, which in a way led to the development of the first boogie boards, which, in fact, given decent size waves, really scream along," Morey noted.
The Nine-Step, Air Induction 6'10''
Then, there's the experimental nine-step air induction 6'10'' surfboard, which was put to auction in the 2005 Hawaiian Islands Vintage Surf Auction.
It was one of Morey's bold steps toward air-lubricated designs.
Alongside the nine steps with fiberglass Filon sheet and hard edge planning areas, there was a removable fin and a double pinline with a progressive round tail design.
As Tom said, "The faster you started to go, the faster it went!"
At the time, the auctioneers asked, "Can you imagine using this nowadays with a jet ski-assist tow-in?"
Dreaming is free. And that's one of the best lessons we all learned from Tom Morey.
More recently, Dane Gudauskas unveiled a Morey-inspired air-lubricated surfboard shaped by himself.
Y's legacy is alive.
Words by Luís MP | Founder of SurferToday.com
https://www.surfertoday.com/surfing/the-air-lubricated-surfboard
Tom Morey (1935-2021) is one of the most influential personalities in surfing history.
Among many other design and technological contributions, he is responsible for the introduction of air lubrication in surfboard shaping.
It might sound weird and unusual, but Tom indeed tried the unthinkable - putting holes in a surfboard. How could that possibly work?
To understand it, we must reflect and try to put ourselves in the shoes of one of surfing's most underrated individuals.
Morey's ingenious character, combining engineering, creativity, art, and spirituality, led to several timeless creations and surf-related equipment, from pioneering wave pool designs to the modern bodyboard.
The man who, in March 1999, announced that "for numerous reasons, I am discarding the name Morey and will hereafter go by just plain 'Y;' that is, no first, middle or last monikers, just the single capital letter, 'Y,'" really applied his experience at Douglas Aircraft as a process engineer in composites in developing out-of-the-box solutions for the surfing world.
His disruptive attitude toward surfboards, for instance, gave birth to many innovative inventions and experiments.
One of them was the concept of air-lubricated surfboards.
What Is Air Lubrication?
Air Lubrication is a technology designed to reduce the frictional resistance between a ship's hull and seawater.
It uses air bubbles to create a layer of air beneath the hull, thereby reducing the drag experienced by the ship.
Frictional resistance accounts for a significant portion of the total resistance a ship faces while moving through water.
So, by reducing this resistance, air lubrication helps save fuel and reduce carbon emissions.
The concept also applies to planes.
It's basically a drag optimization feature, even though it comes with a few manageable downsides.
Regarding ships, it is most effective only on ships with flat bottoms.
The hull design must also be modified to include features such as protruding ridges or special stern designs, and the air cavities used to trap bubbles can potentially affect the ship's handling and stability, especially in rough seas.
Space Boards: The Air-Lubricated Designs
Morey knew all this and thought of applying his experience and knowledge from the aerospace industry to his lifetime passion, surfing.
In the 1970s, he shaped at least three groundbreaking surfboard designs: the air-lubricated AL#1 and AL#3 and the experimental nine-step air induction 6'10'' surfboard.
They were all part of Tom's "Space Boards" series, a collection of futurist wave-riding equipment with plenty of innovative features that he presented to the world in the form of written words.
"Hello. I am a spaceman," Morey wrote in a six-page essay article in Surfer magazine's March 1971 issue.
"I am the spirits of Einstein, Thomas Edison, Alexander Graham Bell, and Bob Simmons, taken possession, temporarily, of the innocent body known here on earth as Tom Morey."
"I (we, really) am looking at your surfboards of today and thinking they are junk."
In the winter of 1970, Y built the AL#1, a one-step, air-vented surfboard featuring a concave-shaped bottom.
The mid-step, which divides two planing areas, is vented, i.e., it has an air-lubricated area intended to reduce drag while riding across the water.
The seven-foot prototype created in Oahu, Hawaii, was the only of its kind ever shaped and allowed only part of the board to touch the water.
Although it was the most maneuverable board ever made, it was super fast in a straight line, proving the concept's validity.
Due to its sharp edges that made surfing uncomfortable and potentially harmful, a new version was developed.
The original is part of the John Mazza Collection of Historic Surfboards.
The AL#3 resembled a regular surfboard, even though it was equipped with two steps and three planes.
"Once I knew for a fact that a wide board given freedom from drag would really fly, I was mentally free to think in terms of wide flat stone-skipping proportions, which in a way led to the development of the first boogie boards, which, in fact, given decent size waves, really scream along," Morey noted.
The Nine-Step, Air Induction 6'10''
Then, there's the experimental nine-step air induction 6'10'' surfboard, which was put to auction in the 2005 Hawaiian Islands Vintage Surf Auction.
It was one of Morey's bold steps toward air-lubricated designs.
Alongside the nine steps with fiberglass Filon sheet and hard edge planning areas, there was a removable fin and a double pinline with a progressive round tail design.
As Tom said, "The faster you started to go, the faster it went!"
At the time, the auctioneers asked, "Can you imagine using this nowadays with a jet ski-assist tow-in?"
Dreaming is free. And that's one of the best lessons we all learned from Tom Morey.
More recently, Dane Gudauskas unveiled a Morey-inspired air-lubricated surfboard shaped by himself.
Y's legacy is alive.
Words by Luís MP | Founder of SurferToday.com
https://www.surfertoday.com/surfing/the-air-lubricated-surfboard
