Surfboards are not mere tools for wave-riding. To those passionate and dedicated about surfing, a board can also be a trusted talisman in perilous waters, a collectible work of sculptural art, or even a milestone in surfing history. Surfers, even top professionals, often describe a favorite board as "magic" and because surfboards have been mostly hand made by master craftsmen, a truly magic board is an object that can be hard to replicate or replace. This comprehensive book - Surfboards - is about those magical objects that allow surfers to harness the natural power of an ocean wave to create a spectacular dance on water or to speed unscathed across a massive, life-threatening wall ten times overhead. Through the surfboards featured in these pages, the history and evolution of the sport itself is traced from ancient Hawaii, where solid wood surfboards were revered and given spirit names, to today's technological age in which tried and tested designs are accurately reproduced through computers and composite aerospace materials.