Paddle Board History Surprisingly enough the paddle board has been around for a long time - since the early nineteen hundreds. eyebrow tweezer Thomas Edward Blake is credited as the pioneer in its construction. In 1926, Blake built a replica of the previously ignored olo surfboard (traditionally made from wiliwili wood) ridden by ancient Hawaiian kings. pocket mirror He lightened his redwood replica by drilling it full of holes and then covering them, creating the first ever hollow board. sharpener Thus the the first modern paddle board was created. Two years later,in 1928 using this same 16 ft (4.9 m), 120 lb (54 kg) board, Blake won the first ever Mainland surf contest, the Pacific Coast Surf riding Championships, Strainer an event integrating both surfing and paddling. Blake's love for the paddle board was shown back in Hawaii where he would go on to break virtually every established paddling record available. He set half-mile and 100-yard records that stood until 1955. Yz