MANASQUAN — Vintage surfboard lovers from around the world are invited to check out a slate of more than 60 boards, with histories spanning nearly 100 years, during this summer’s New Jersey Vintage Surfboard Auction.
The lots will be available for viewing beginning June 26 at noon, and bidding starts July 10 at 1 p.m. Lots begin closing on July 20 at 1 p.m.
On Wednesday, July 16, a special viewing event featuring more than 40 of these boards will be held from 1 to 6 p.m. at the Lobster Shanty, 83 Channel Drive, Point Pleasant Beach. The viewing event is free and open to the public.
Prospective bidders can register for free and view the lots at njvsa.com. This auction is online only.
“When I see surfboards, I see history,” said Manasquan’s Mike “Miggs” Migliorisi, president of Surf Legends USA, which runs the auction. “Most people, when they see a surfboard, they think ‘How is this going to ride?’ …When I see kids going to Costco and get a surfboard, I think that’s fine, and I get it — I had a 7-Eleven surfboard when I was in fifth grade. But I see history, preservation; and I think it’s important that you know where it came from in order for you to go forward.”
All of the lots in this auction include detailed provenance and historical background on the boards, he said. According to a Surf Legends USA press release, the July 16 event will be a “rare gathering of the tribe” — that is, a congregation of surfing enthusiasts, riders and collectors, all united by a love for the sport.
Bob Duerr, also of Manasquan, president of o2 Marketing Communications, said that Migliorisi has been running surfboard auctions for nearly 25 years.
“He’s been at this now for almost 25 years; the only other surfboard auction house that’s out there is in California,” he said. “We’re on the East Coast, which makes a little bit of a difference, but we have a caliber of boards in this particular auction that set us so far above. And to think that all these Hawaiians are actually flying in for it — the credibility factor is way up this year.”
Migliorisi added that he “can’t tell you how many trips to the airport” he’s made recently to pick up the surfboards which will be up for auction.
“In Manasquan itself, we’ve tried to instill the history of surfing by having the Manasquan Boardriders Club run the Manasquan Classic every year,” Duerr said. “You have to ride a pre-1967 surfboard in that particular event. I think everybody comes off that contest appreciating — if not black-and-blue — those boards and the technique involved in riding them.”
International “surf legends” like David Nuuhiwa and Randy Rarick will attend the July 16 event, and vintage surfboard appraisals will be performed by surf historians Migliorisi, Luis Real, Mark Fragale and Bill Simon, the press release said.
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