SURFERMAG.COM ONLINE EXCLUSIVES
Remembering Carl Hayward
It’s something a lot of people talk about but few are able to accomplish: to die while doing something they love. On Friday, January 21, 2005, Carl Hayward, renowned Huntington Beach surfboard shaper, surfer, husband and father of three, did just that at the untimely age of 48. He was found floating in the water near the south side of the Huntington Pier, where he had spent so much of his time surfing. On Sunday, Jan. 30, hundreds of friends and family gathered together there for one last goodbye and a paddle-out fit for surf royalty.
Hayward was known for embracing the Rocket-Fish design, and as a shaper, for specializing in the production of them. He owned and operated a surf shop—Carl Hayward Surfboards—in Huntington Beach for approximately 10 years with friend and partner Dwight Dunn. Hayward then worked with Bob Hurley at Hurley International in Costa Mesa, California.
At 11 a.m. on Sunday, a steady stream of wetsuit-clad surfers carrying flowers paddled their way along the south side of the pier while throngs of onlookers observed from above. Once in a circle, surfers threw flowers and splashed around in the water to announce to King Neptune that Carl was coming. They then chanted, “Hayward! Hayward!” Hundreds of people watched from the south railing. The circle then disbanded and most rode waves to shore to fraternize and talk about their friend.
“I basically attribute my whole surfing thing to him. He was like, ‘Hey, this guy is good, he should ride on our boards,’” said Scott Farnsworth, who won the 1984 Amateur Championship in Huntington on a Hayward board. “He never asked me for anything other than feedback and made me hundreds of boards over about 10 years.”
About Sunday’s paddle-out, Farnsworth said, “It was really cool, it was just an unbelievable turnout. It was mind-boggling how many people came and gave support. It was a huge tribute to how many people liked him and what a cool guy he was. I just hope half the amount of people show up at my funeral as showed up at his.”
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READER COMMENTS
Wed Aug13, 2008, 3:53 PM
It's been a long time since I've seen Carl. We were kids growing up in a small town in Dighton Massachusetts. Carl was my first friend when we moved there from Rhode Island. Carl and family were very friendly family. It was back in 1964. Carl was wirey kid. He loved throwing a football or baseball. We would throw apples from his apple tree from there front yard at fruit bats in the early evening. If a sport program was on T.V and there were five of us kids in the house Carl would have us stand up and put our hand over our heart during the opening ceremonies.We had a lot of good times as youths. It"s funny sometimes as we get older we stop to remember people of our youth and the times we had. It's been 40 years now and I still remember it as it yesterday. The Monkeys and the Paul Revere and the Raiders shows were a gathering every afternoon a Carl's house growing up.In time Carl and his family Moved to California. And the last I heard Carl was surfing. From country boy to a surfer. What a
Tue Dec 9, 2008, 11:05 PM
Carl Hayward shaped my favorite boards. they all were majic