HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. (July 28, 2014) - It has been quite a year for a small start-up that manufactures surfboard-inspired skateboards in this iconic beach town.
First, Hamboards was featured on the hit ABC-TV show Shark Tank,” and won a $300,000 investment deal with “shark” Robert Herjavec. Then on July 18 to 20 it secured a coveted spot in Anaheim at the Southern California Lifestyle pavilion at the wildly popular Downtown Disney, where the father-son team of Pete and Gus Hamborg (hence the brand’s name) demonstrated their (almost) namesake Huntington Hop surf-inspired skateboard to hundreds of visitors.
At 46 inches, the Hop can comfortably fit inside the average school locker. It is made of a Baltic birch core and maple veneer and was designed by the Hamborgs, a southern California surfing and lifeguarding family, to capture the feel and essence of wave riding on pavement. It is the perfect blend of flex and stability to allow street surfers to carve and maneuver on top of a sturdy canvas for classic surf-style foot work.
At Downtown Disney, visitors watched Hamboards in action as they were ridden by various Hamborg bothers including Jachin Hamborg, 2013 National Scholastic Surfing Association Champion - Longboard Division. Disney guests crowded around the Hamboard kiosk to see the newly released models and to take an occasional test ride.
"This brand captures the Southern California surfing lifestyle, puts it on wheels and brings it to everyone," said Don Sandusky, East Coast Cousin and Hamboards General Manager. “We’re STOKED on back-to-school this year since the Huntington Hop is our first Hamboard model to be ‘locker size.’”
Style, function, classic surf aesthetics and color tone choices all scream "classic surf" while the Huntington Hop’s performance is interlaced with old school feel and smooth maneuverability. Huntington Hop is named after an embarrassing surf move where a rider basically hops up and down on their board trying to get speed from a terrible wave, in order to make it into the barrel at the shore break. It is available in Key Lime, Mint Chocolate, Seaweed Cream, Sky Cream, and Seafoam Cream for a suggested retail price of $220.
Hamboards was founded in 2003 and is operated by the Hamborg’s extended family in Huntington Beach. Pete, 53, the patriarch of this surfing family, is helped by his five lifeguard son: Gus, Anders, Chapman, Jachin and Moses. The brand has been sold on-line to surfers and stand-up-paddle nuts living in 200 countries, and is available in the U.S. at surf shops from California’s Huntington Surf and Sport to Delaware’s East of Maui.
Next stop for the brand is the 2014 Surf Expo trade show in Orlando on Sept. 4-6 (booth no. 1064). Learn more at www.hamboards.com.