Italian paipo lover

[paolomorgia]

Hello everybody!
This is Paolo, from Rome, Italy.
I suppose to be the only one to ride a paipo in Mediterranean Sea,
so I feel a little bit alone.
I would just have a warm hug from your big paipo family...p

[rodndtube]

Send photos of your surf breaks, your board, you riding... and some of that Italian love of the paipo

[bgreen]

Hello P,

Not much is known about paipo riding and its history in Italy. See this link for a glimpse:

http://home.brisnet.com.au/~bgreen/Europe/italy.shtml

In 2009 I had the pleasure of a few days surfing north of you. Rome was also great.

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Regards

Bob

[paolomorgia]

Wood paipo

Thanx Rod & Bob.

This is my paipo, shaped by my friend Oliver (Officina Mediterranea).

[paolomorgia]

More lovely pics coming soon...

Ciao!

[paolomorgia]

Neptune Bag

[krusher74]

Awesome!

Great board,great board cover and great sewing machine!

Hello from wales!

How thick is your board ,any concave etc?

[paolomorgia]

Hi Kru'

Sorry for my VERY late answer, I didn't read your post (???!!!),
I will ask to the shaper all the informations you wanna know and write them down asap.
I am happy you like the bag. It is a personal idea and a very cheap solution (10 euro!!!)

Ciao from Italy!

[Poobah]

I thought Mr. Mike would chime in on this, because the spelling is the same as an old plywood bellyboard he got a while back. I remember thinking it was a possibly a Spanish board. But maybe it's from an Italian resort?

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[paolomorgia]

Officina Mediterranea is a new brand of hand made alaia, paipo and handplane wave riding toys.

The translation in English sounds like: Mediterranean Workshop.

You can find the word MediterraneA or MediterraneO in Spanish or Italian names and yes sometimes it's referred to hotels or resorts just because they are on the med seashore.

My paipo measures: 46x19x5\8
Concave on last 1\3 of the board

Ciao!

[paolomorgia]

Alaia and alaia bag

[bgreen]

Poobah,

Did you see the Brazilian paipo interviews (Andraus and Pereira)? The Brazilians surfed a style of board like this, but narrower. I'm none the wiser whether Mike's board is a US board or from elsewhere.

Bob

[paolomorgia]

Well, this is an alaia, shaped to surf the face of the wave, the brazilian one is more like a UK topical belly board, used to ride in the white water.
We used that kind of board also in Italy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XexzMTk2as

[bgreen]

Hello,

I'm familiar with the link you posted (I mentioned it in an earlier post on this same thread). Regarding the footage I have tried to find out where it was taken and more details about these boards.

A friend of Antonio Muglia suggested it was a lido in Lazio, possibly "Gambrinus" in Ostia. I contacted the Ostia surf club but didn't hear back.

Some other options I've tried to find out about early Italian surfing have been: Filippo from SurfTotal , the Is Benas Surf Club, Lorenzo Surfer Joe, Claudio and Olas surfboards. It was suggested Marco Fracas from Bogliasco, Genova might know but I didn't have any success contacting him when I tried a couple of years ago.

Peter Troy in his story of surfing round the world in the 50s suggested a link between Italy and Brazil, through a common interest in spearfishing. Early Spanish surfers were also spearfishermen.

Besides the boards (which don't seem to have hand holds) the other interesting feature is the use of flippers, something which Italy was a pioneer in.

If you know of any information about this early surfing history I'm interested to know more or follow up leads.

BOb

[paolomorgia]

I have asked around.
According to different opinions the surf/paipo activity started in Liguria (NW county, border with France).
I'm the 50'-60' some young guys used to surf the frequent SW swell using woody door, plank and finally pieces of foam.
They also used to wear fins and they were strictly related with the fishermen local community.
The beach in the movie looks to me absolutely like a Ligurian beach.
In the new movie "Peninsula" should be part of this story.
I have not seen it yet.

Ciao!

[bgreen]

Thanks Paolomorgia,

Many thanks. The proximity to France could have been influential given France had a surfing history from around the 1930s. However, the boards in the photos are not the same as French boards I've seen. Do you know of any photos of these early Italian boards or people surfing them? Also which towns in Liguria? Narrowing th efield will assist in further enquiry.

Is there anyone willing to provide more information?

Regards

Bob

[paolomorgia]

Sorry for my late answer. I completely forgot to check the forum.
The place could be everywhere around Genova,. Can't say it accurately.
Ciao!

[paolomorgia]

http://vimeo.com/ondemand/20400/86772529