Makaha

Before the name AIPA was known worldwide, Ben was already changing the shape of things. The MAKAHA was shaped in 1965, just one year into his shaping journey, under the Surfboards Makaha label. Most boards of the era were bloated and bland. This one was sleek, refined, and decades ahead of its time.

This wasn't a new shape. It was a disruption. The outline was elegant and aggressive, a forward-minded masterpiece. Everyone else was softening rails for safety and ease. Ben was adding edges. He introduced tucked-under bottom rail lines with bite toward the tail at a time when nobody else was thinking that way, because he wanted to push his surfing harder.

The MAKAHA was a performance nose rider before that even had a name. It laid the foundation for Ben's groundbreaking MLB, the Modern Longboard, in the early '80s, where he fused shortboard response with the aging soul of the longboard and changed the game for good.

This is the essence of a young Aipa who had no interest in blending in. The MAKAHA is pure instinct, raw edge, and the first sign of a legend in the making.