Paul Strauch, Jr.

Hawaiian surf ambassador and hall of famer

Born in Honolulu, he first surfed at Waikiki in 1947 on his father’s 10’ redwood surfboard. His first surfboard was an 8-foot wooden hollow board in 1953 and his first balsa board was an 8’6” custom-shaped, swallow tail shaped in the family garage by Tom Blake in 1953. Paul was mentored by his father, Paul Sr. and George Downing, and also shaped many of his own boards and was a co-owner and shaper at Ali’i Surfboards in Honolulu. Following Punahou High School and the University of Hawaii, he spent 20 years as a 3rd-generation real estate broker in Hawaii, member of the Liliuokalani Trust Child Welfare Department advisory board, Hawaii Governor John Burns’ Advisory Committee to Waikiki Beach Improvement, and Honolulu Mayor’s Water Safety Advisory Committee. Past president of the Hawaii Amateur Surfing Association, he is a founding member of the Duke Kahanamoku Surf Club, often traveling with Duke. His event titles include among others, the ’63 & ‘68 Peruvian International Championships, Hawaii State Surfing Champion ‘66, ‘69 Makaha International Senior Men’s Champion, ‘82 Hawaii Modern Longboard Men’s Champion, and ‘84 Hawaii Nose-riding Men’s Champion. For 14 years Paul held the office of president of the Hawaiian Surf Club of San Onofre, CA and has model surfboards named after him with Ernie Tanaka Surfboards, Robert August Surfboards, and currently has a noserider model called The Ghost with Irvin Surfboards. Paul is the only person to have a surfing maneuver, the “Paul Strauch Cheater Five” named after him.