Joyce Hoffman's Fin

This fin, signed by Joyce Hoffman and Terry Martin, came along with a Joyce Hoffman model surfboard that was Joyce's own rider, shaped by Terry. Donated by Don Granata, in 2011, it will be one of the boards featured in our upcoming "Trailblazers in Women's Surfing" exhibit, opening on April 25, 2015. Joyce is certainly a "trailblazer" and has been a longtime supporter of Surfing Heritage.

By 1963 Hoffman was among the best women surfers in the state; from 1964 to 1967 she was nearly invincible in competition, placing first in the United States Surfing Association's year-end ratings four years in a row, and posting multiple victories in the United States Surfing Championships (1965, 1966, and 1967), the Makaha International (1964, 1966), and the Laguna Masters (1965, 1967). Hoffman's 1965 World Championships win in Lima, Peru, went virtually unnoticed by the surf press (Surfer magazine dispatched with the women's portion of the event in a single sentence), but earned her the first of dozens of general-interest magazine feature articles, including a Sports Illustrated profile titled "An Odd Sport, and an Unusual Champion," in which Hoffman is quoted as saying, "If I didn't think I was considered the best I'd quit." (excerpt from Matt Warshaw's Encyclopedia of Surfing)