KENNY TILTON

Wooden Surfboard inquiries


Kenny Tilton with one his wooden board shapes


Kenny with one of his foam shapes

Kenny Tilton grew up in Honolulu, Hawaii and first started surfing Waikiki on a redwood surfboard in the early 1950'S and move on to balsa. He began shaping in the mid-1950 after buying a board that Allen Gomes had made. Kenny reshaped and reglassed it and to this day he still remembers the itch that he got from that surfboard which had an exposed fiberglass layer that his leg rubbed against. As the days of youth made way for more serious learning of surfboard building.

Kenny would seek to learn the skills to improve his craftsmanship. He was mentored by notable shapers of Abel Gomes, Wally Froiseth and George Downing and developed an eye for shaping. He and his friend Donald Takayama started shaping about the same time. Donald, Boogie Kalama, and Raymond Patterson lived close by to Kenny, so they would surf and do things together.

Surfing the newly developed surf spot Ala Moana of which Allen Gomes is credited to being the first to surf there. Kenny, Donald Takayama, Raymond Patterson, Joe Kuala, Boogie Kalama, Joey Cabell, and many other locals could be found out in the water. Taking pictures of the spot would be Clarence Maki on his board and his camera in a water housing he designed and constructed himself.

Waikiki during the 1950’s was changing and it was fun to be a surfer, back then local Beach Boys would watch over them whenever they went out in the water and show them the ropes on how to surf as the south swells of summer rolled in. During the summer Kenny and his best friends Bobby and Leroy Achoy would work for Barry Napolean and Bobby Crewson on the beach at Waikiki.

There were Aloha Week in the Islands and the first "Aloha Week"  took place in 1946 after the war and included a parade, pageants, hula shows and services at Kawaiahao Church in Honolulu. The Aloha Festivals kicks off in Oahu in mid-September. Each island chooses a king, queen, prince, princess and attendants, all of whom are of Hawaiian descent and is a colorful affair, accompanied by conch shell blowers and costumes of ancient times.

During this time there was night surfing , where Kenny and a group of his friends  would take shorten Kukui torches out into the lineup and light up the area where they would be taking off at. After catching the wave only the white water and silhouette of their friends could be seen in the twilight of the shore line of hotels and restaurants as they surfed towards the shore. They would do the same at Makaha and on the beach there would be a big bonfire where the flames would trail out 10 to 15 feet into the night sky.Good friends like Mokealii and Zulu jamming away on their slack guitars as  Don Stroud would be pounding on his bongo’s or Chubby Mitchell playing a sweet jazz tune on his ukulele and putting himself to sleep, while Himo Hollinger would be singing a Ray Charles  song. At Waikiki or Makaha’s  gatherings you would also have Joey Cabell, Rabbit, Dingo, Steamboat, Jesse Crawford and the names go on and on,  classic times and good memories.

His skills as a shaper were becoming known in Waikiki and Dale Velzy would hear about it and had Kenny start working for him at his Hawaii Surf Shop at 253 Cooke St. in Honolulu. There he would meet Richard Dees who was sent over by Velzy to show the new glassers at the shop how to glass surfboards the way the guys on the mainland were doing it. One of those new glassers at the shop was Raymond Patterson. The orders for surfboards started to happen at the shop and this was the beginning of Kenny Tilton’s shaping career.

Like many in the islands Kenny was drawn by emerging surfboard industry in California. Knowing a few guys from the mainland that were heading home, Kenny bought a plane ticket for $75.00 from his friend Freddy Noa. The airline he traveled on was called Pink Cloud Airline and the flight over lasted 15 hours. They landed in Burbank and his new friends and Kenny were picked up in a pickup truck. It was winter in Southern California and the truck ride from Burbank to Santa Monica was a cold one for Kenny. He was in the back of the truck with just the clothing he brought over.

His stay in Santa Monica was just 2 weeks, before moving in with friends that he knew from Hawaii at Hermosa Beach. There Kenny got acclimated to the surf scene and the waves. Making the drive down to San Clemente took some time. There were no freeways and the only way was Pacific Coast Highway. But once there Kenny made friends with the crew at Velzy Jacobs Surfboards and became one of them. There he got to know Al Nelson, Carl Ekstrom, Rennie Yater, Sandy Banks, Harold Igge, Del Cannon, Bill Cooper, Bob Cooper, Danny Brawner and already knowing George Kapu, Bobby Patternson and Donald Takayama besides the others, which included Bruce Brown, John Severson, Bud Browne and Grant Roloff.

After the breakup of Velzy Jacobs Surfboards, Kenny moved back up north to Hermosa Beach and started working for Hap Jacobs at Jacobs Surfboards.


Kenny shaping at the 442 PCH Jacobs Shop 60's

At the Jacobs Surfboard Shop besides Kenny there were many other well known shapers and surfers of the South Bay that shaped and rode Jacobs Surfboards. It was the whose who in surfing to all the young surfer's growing up in Hermosa Beach, Manhatten Beach, Torrance, Santa Monica and the surrounding areas. The Beach Boys of Hawthrone were influenced by what was happening and began writing their songs about it and the rest became History.

At the shop were guys like Rick Hatch, Donald Takayama, Lance Carson, Robert August, Mickey Dora, Paul Strauch, Henry Ford, Rick Irons, Kemp Aberg, Chuck Linnen, Chubby Mitchell, Freddy Phaler, Kimo Hollinger, Mike Doyle, Johnny Fain, Mike Haley, Bill Fury, Rusty Miller, Chick Edmundson, Mike O'Neill, and a cast of up and coming surfers like Alfred Laws, Mike Stevenson and Mike Purpos to name a few. Kenny was at the epicenter of Surfboard manufacturing back in the early 1960's.



Kenny Tilton hanging ten at Malibu 1962

Bottom turns be it frontside or backside were being stylized and Surfer Magazine was capturing the moments out in the surf. This was the era of noseriding and the boards were being made to plane across the wave with someone on the nose. Some shapers were making 50-50 edgy rails  which caused tracking. Kenny was into softer flowing rails that blended with the contours. Back then most of  the surfer were into manufacturer's name and didn't know about the shaper. What they know now but didn't back then would had made a world a difference in their surfing. 

After working for Hap, Kenny shaped at Bing Surfboards and Rick Surfboards where he was doing the Barry Kaianapuni and Dru Harrison Models. In 1964 he moved up to Santa Barbara and worked for Rennie Yater of Yater Surfboards for a couple of years before moving up to Santa Cruz and working for Doug Haut for a short time before starting Tilton Sultzer Surfboards. After that he was doing Soul Fish. Into the early 1970’s and Kenny was back in the islands and working for Country Surfboards and Brewer Surfboard. 

After Kenny moved to the Big Island on the Kona side during the latter part of the 1970’s, He made surfboards there. In the 1980’s Kenny lived on Maui making windsurfers and surfboards for Jimmy Lewis. His shaping skills took him to Japan, Germany and to Spain. But would return Home to Hawaii and start doing the first SUP (Stand Up Paddleboard) with Jeff Timpone on Maui 1990’s.

 
Today Kenny Tilton is making mostly Koa and Mango wooden surfboards. His shaping skill over the years goes into each one of his custom wall hangers.