Sport

One of the key contributors to the development of surfing culture is Tom Blake. He started surfing when he was young and continued with that sport until old age. At the age of twenty, he set a world swimming record at the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) after winning the ten-mile contest. In 1922, Blake was working in the movies because he had water talents and thus built the first trail rest of surfing pack which he later capitalized on. Blake first surfed on a redwood plank he acquired when he was a life guard at Santa Monica Swimming Club but it was too heavy and cumbersome.

In 1926, Blake made his own surf board which he, together with Sam Reid, used to pioneer surfing at Malibu point. In the same year, he made hollow surf boards which marked an advancement from the Pakis boards. Tom Blake clinched the winning title in the 1928 Pacific Coast surfing championships with his board of olo replica. In that same year, he devised a hollow paddle board which he used as a turning tool.

Moreover, Tom Blake made a chambered sail board in 1929. It was a hollow board which was of chambered-type. The board was known as cigar board because it resembled a giant cigar. Due to his increasing innovation techniques of making surfboards and paddleboards, Tom Blake invented water-proof housings to be used by cameras in water photography

He manufactured and patented his initial production in 1931. He also invented the surfboard in 1935. Additionally, Tom Blake was the first to publish a book devoted solely to surfing - the Hawaiian Surfboard, in 1935. In 1937, he patented and produced the first rescue ring and torpedo buoy made of dua-aluminum. Blake thus contributed a lot to the surfing culture.