Hot Buttered International

My very first winger was a 6’10” round-tail flyer, launched at Northy the summer of 1972/73. That board was the beginning of a series of adaptations and the basis for one of my favorites, the round swallow wing.

I added wings to my rounded-square-tail mini-gun outline with a new rounded tail, my wings were not ‘cut-out’ to make the tail narrower. Because the new-age mini-guns were so tight in the tail, l ‘added’, giving more planning area under the back foot (for skating flat spots). The pinched wings bit into the face (helping to run higher lines) and by creating a break-point in the rail-line, short arc turns were back. By pinching and foiling, and with the balance point pushed forward rail drive is maintained. With extra projection, came extra speed.

By converting my round tail into a swallow, weight on the back foot allowed better direction changes on the face, increasing maneouvrability. To climb even higher on the face my nose-v into concave with spiraled tail-v (double concave) and the winged plan shape created boards all about speed, but, keeping the truest of single fin feel. Weight forward on the front foot – weight / unweight - accelerate, weight onto the back foot – turn, break-tracks. Design and development reached peak performance at Uluwatu, Honolua Bay, and then Jeffreys Bay, in late ‘74 and the winter of ’75.

Martyn Worthington’s original HB Rainbow Murals and Fades were created using resin and styrene mixed by Martyn himself. Marty’s airbrush designs individualized custom surfboards. The foundations of Hot Buttered Surfboards : art and function.

This Round Swallow Wing is based on my 6’9” surfed out on the Channel Islands and at J’Bay in ‘75

The bloke on the left is Steve Zoeller.
Steve contributed a lifetime to the surfing industry, in so many ways, a true master craftsman, a real gentleman. Most will remember Steve as Energy Surfboards (with ). Over the last 10, 15 years, Steve laminated and sanded our Rainbow Originals. Martyn, Brad and I will miss you mate. It was a pleasure.... thank you

Captain Goodvibes reflected surfing's rebel roots by leering through a counter culture lens laced with social commentary and humour. The iconic Pig of Steel was always a fave for surfboard signatures. Good to see him back - hope the copyright's cool. Model: Round Swallow Wing - a personal fave from Bells, J'Bay and Honolua

2026 HB Black Bodyboard Collection
Featuring HB's ESP Models

There goes 2025 - Top 1, 2, 3 for the road:
With Mike Hynson early '70s, salute!
With thanks
About to unweight off the flat - out of the vault - photo unknown.
Thanksgiving at the Bay, with thanks

Summer in the city - out of the vault: and out of fashion, the roundhouse. Speed sets it up. Rail in, hold that line, real buckets, KF, Drifta single + side bites.

The boys loved doing this one, TLC through production, then off to Vicco.
The cut-back shot back of my wetsuit is dry after managing to sneak out behind Boneyards without getting caught, and then a set right through. Sometimes it all goes so easy, other times, try a half-hour in the keyhole.

A mate sent this through this morning... and yes Gerry, those were the days, out in front of a nasty cliff with a board eating cave.

Lopez and I were paddling out in a close-out NW Swell at Waimea, for a Smirnoff heat. Lopez shouts "if Hackman yells Mother, we paddle in"! We lost. Couple of hours later we were on our way to Maui, thankfully!

Driving out of Kahului, we hear on the radio Reno has saved a couple of swabbies swimming in the Waimea shorebreak while heading out in the Final, which he won. We had to settle for H'Bay with not too many out (everybody was over on the North Shore).

Many thanks to
for his pic, a reminder of another time.
Shout-out to you Erik, your images of that swell are way close to my heart. Smiling!

Out of the Vault - 1980: outside Ulu, doing the 'traveller' thing. Surfed out there a bit, with only the local dugong for company. Long waits between sets, sitting on the spot, she came up next to me, looked me in the eye and burped in my face. Just about burned my eyebrows off, and stained my boardies!

A 'New Age' surfboard flower.
Combining some old and new single and multi-fin wave feelers. With thanks

SW advert incoming.
The cover with Mark Warren was my first. My twinnie was made in an all-nighter with Greg Hodges at Shane's. Surfed at dawn, at the Butterbox. They were in plague proportions by Christmas, 1970. It took a decade for the new age twinnie to emerge..... Bertleman, Liddel, DH, MR

Searching an old file, this image stood out : 'less is really more'. The wave.... the lone surfer. Where? Calm, threatening. Inside, or, caught?