1966 Hansen 50-50 Yard Sale Tale

The Hansen 50-50 was one of the best riding boards from the 60's. It was a popular board on the east coast in the 1960's during the surf craze, and you can find some hidden gems at yard sales, so act quick. Well, here's my yard sale tale.

The way the guy described it made it sound like a total wreck. "It's in the garage if you want to see it, it says Hansen-Cardiff on the top and it's in pretty tough shape". Uh oh, a Hansen, I freakin' love Hansens. Going into the garage I was thinking to myself "Please don't let it be a 50-50, please, let it be a mahogany brown d-fin waterlogged dog, 3 boards in 5 months - are you out of your **cking mind?". I am.

Nope, no wreck, damn it, it was a clean-ish 9'6" 50-50 tied up against the wall behind some ladders and motorcyles in various stages of assembly. I was powerless. It came home, I wiped it down and it shined up nice! OK, it's not trophy condition, but no delamination, bright enough foam for a 43 year-old board, and any dings are from kicking around a tight garage for decades. No water stains. Yay.

A comparison to the Tyler 777 (largley influenced by the 50-50) yielded some interesting facts. The fin placement, narrower nose and lower rocker were the most notable differences. It's good to see Tyler's no copy artist, and a 777 today is different than the one he made for me 2 years ago. But that's another story.

I've seen surfers around here kill it on old 50-50's. My thinking is with $150- $200 worth of TLC, it will be good to go. I think I did OK, or did I?