Malibu Surfing Association Celebrates 61 years of stoke

By Barbara Burke · Thu Aug 20 2026

Fundraiser/screening of 'The Shape of Things: The Dick Brewer Story' honors the legendary surfboard innovator

There’s no better venue for the Malibu Surfing Association to gather than at Duke’s Restaurant. On Aug. 9, a group of dedicated watermen and waterwomen attended the organization’s annual fundraiser and thoroughly enjoyed viewing "The Shape of Things, The Dick Brewer Story," a biographical documentary by Emmy Award-winning director Bob Campi and written by Jim Kempton. 

The film uses archival footage and interviews to celebrate “the legend who shaped the soul of surfing.” Brewer is universally credited for creating the short surfing board and transforming the sport over a series of decades. Many in the surfing world consider him to be the most influential big-wave shaper in the history of surfing and he is colloquially referred to as surfing’s “Da Vinci of design.” 

“Brewer was the greatest innovator in surfboard shaping and he envisioned the future of surfing,” said Allen Sarlo, who helped to produce the biopic. “If you want to be a great surfer at Sunset Beach on the north Oahu shore, you have to get a Brewer.” Sarlo referred to Brewer’s designing revolutionary “guns” specifically to handle Sunset’s unique power as it receives the full force of North Pacific winter storms, creating rideable waves during winter swells that often are between 15 to 25 feet. Sunset’s uneven coral reef formation causes the wave to break at different points depending on the swell’s direction, adding another challenging layer to the complexity of surfing there. 

The film also highlights Laird Hamilton, Buzzy Kerbox, Kai Lenny, Gerry Lopez, Garrett McNamara, Jack Sutherland, Darrick Doerner, and many more of the big names from the early days of surfing when longboards ruled the waves until the short-board revolution. All of the multitude of interviewed big names in surfing weighed in on Brewer’s impact on the sport and a series of short-board surfers discussed how Brewer was the catalyst for the genesis and evolution of that form of surfing. 

Brewer had an impact on the development of the sport from his opening of Surfboards Hawaii in Haleiwa Town, the first retail surf shop on the North Shore of Oahu that quickly became a communal hub for elite heavy-water surfing. The film noted that he shared his workshop there with other renowned shapers such as Donald Takayama and that Brewer mentored many master shapers such as Gerry Lopez, Reno Abellira and Owl Chapman, who pioneered board riding with Brewer’s minigun. The film recounts the history of the sport as Brewer contributed to the shortboard revolution and as heintroduced the mini-gun pocket rocket featuring downturned rails and aggressive rocker profiles that allowed surfers to ride deeper inside the tube.

Attendees were rapt with attention as the screen discussed Brewer’s key role in collaborating with big-wave pioneers like Hamilton to develop the modern tow-in boards that enabled surfers to begin successfully riding and maneuvering big waves in the early 1990s. The biopic also details how Brewer applied his engineering background and utilizedhydrodynamics and concepts he first conceived of during his early participation in designing model airplanes to depart from traditional plank designs and reshape surfboard designs. 

Throughout the film, Brewer’s own personal journey is interwoven with his role in the history of the sport, with discussion about his working for surfing industry powerhouses such as Hobie Surfboards and Bing Surfboards before he launched his own eponymous label, Dick Brewer Surfboards, which featured the iconic hibiscus lei logo. Lana and Lisa Brewer, Dick Brewer’s daughters, are also interviewed with regard to key moments in his life.  

After the movie, Campi was joined by Jericho Poppler, who is often called the First Lady of Professional Surfing because she dominated the competitive surfing scene throughout the 1970s; Myles Padaca, three-time world champion surfer and back to back Pipe Invitational champion; Allen Sarlo, a well-known surfer in Malibu who is most prominently known as one of the original members of the Z-Boys surf and skateboarding team;  and others involved in the making of the film, all whom made comments and entertained questions from the enthralled audience.  

Sixty-one years of stoke in MSA parallel Brewer’s long history in surfing

As attendees thoroughly enjoyed viewing the history of Brewer’s contributions as a pivotal surfboard shaper, it was not lost on many that the Malibu Surfing Association itself is now 61 years old, and several attendees discussed how the club has endured throughout the many changes in the sport. 

“Our Surfing Association belongs to a long history of surf clubs in Southern California that started in the 1940s, and our organization is very well respected amidst all the clubs,” John Acevedo, an association member, stated. 

“My son Ryder and I really enjoyed the Dick Brewer movie because it documented and honored such an influential and important person in surf history and innovation,” Andy Lyon commented. “It brought back many memories watching all that great who were featured in the film and made me feel extremely lucky to have had the experience of spending an afternoon with Dick Brewer in Hawaii 16 years ago, getting two custom boards made by him — those are very special boards!” 

Club Co-Presidents Karon Purdue and Mini Lent went all out to ensure that attendees thoroughly enjoyed the event. The evening also included both live and silent auctions, with proceeds benefiting the MSA Classic Invitational 2026 scheduled for Sept. 12-13 at First Point, Malibu, a competition that is one of the premier longboard events of the year. This year, 18 women and 18 men will be selected to compete in the NoseMaster Invitational on Sept. 12.

In addition to MSA, competitors who are invited representatives of selected international and regional surf clubs will participate in the Classic, including surfers from the Australia Longboard Surf Club, the Japan Rise Surfing Association, and the Hope Ranch Surf Club. “A total of 423 competitors will compete at First Point in our Invitational," Perdue noted. “All competitions will be at First Point.” 

Readers can follow MSA on social media and can email the organization at msa@malibusurfingassociation.org.