Bing Surfboards is one of the longest-running and most progressive labels in the surfing world and its boards are still exclusively handcrafted in California. Its founder, Bing Copeland, played a major role in making surfing and the surfboard industry what they are today.

At 13, he started helping out at pioneer surfboard maker Dale Velzy's workshop in Manhattan Beach. During the mid-1950s he surfed the big waves of Oahu's North Shore and Makaha in Hawaii. In 1958 he sailed across the Pacific and introduced modern surfboards to New Zealand. By 1959, back in Southern California, he began making surfboards commercially. This is the story of Bing Copeland, the business he built, the colorful cast of craftsmen he employed and the visionary surfboards they made and continue to make to this day.

Big Copeland and author Paul Holmes have put together a book that documents this rich and influential history of Bing Surfboards, presenting a fascinating array of stories and graphics of this landmark board house.

BOOK SIGNING: "Bing Surfboards -- Fifty Years of Craftsmanship and Innovation"
WHEN: Monday, August 25, 2008 4:00-6:00pm
WHERE: Bob’s Mission Surf Shop
4320 Mission Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92109

Link:

• see Bob Long photos of the event