Naish History

How “Naish Hawaii” got started:

A profile on the Naish family ...

Rick and Carol Naish met in La Jolla, California in 1959. That same year Rick rode one of the biggest waves ever ridden (at that time) at Waimea Bay, and was featured in the first issue of "surfer" magazine. Their first two children, Randy and Robby, were born in La Jolla, and were introduced to the big waves of Hawaii's North Shore in 1966, when Rick took a break from Grad school at Berkeley, to spend another winter in Hawaii. rn Hawaii finally pulled the family back permanently after Christine was born in 1968. Their fourth child, Rolly was born in Hawaii in 1973. For those many fans who have written to ask . . . . Robby's full name is Robert Staunton Naish and he was born on April 23, 1963.

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“Surfing and Sailing”

Rick's teaching job at a Honolulu High School gave him plenty of "water time", and he added sailing to his list of hobbies. Living just two blocks from Kailua Beach, the family social life revolved around the beach. "Hobie cat" regatta's dominated weekends for years. Rick was state champion in both the Hobie 14 and 16 fleets for several years, and won the National championships in 1972. Randy and Robby started surfing small waves at Kailua's "shorebreak beach" and sailing as soon as their swimming skills "passed the flat island test". In 1974 they, as a team (racing against adults!) won the state championships on their Hobie 12.

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“Windsurfing”
About this time the first windsurfers appeared in Kailua Bay, and the boys lost all interest in their Hobie 12. All they wanted to do was windsurf! The Hobie was sold, and Robby (at 12 years) old took his share of the proceeds and bought his first windsurfing board and rig. A year later, in 1976, he won his first world championship. For the next six years he continued to dominate amateur events worldwide. As a professional windsurfer, Robby has maintained his reputation as one of the worlds best for over 15 years. He won the overall title on the PBA tour for six straight years, and now concentrates on wave and kiteboarding competitions.

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“Naish Hawaii”: The Business
As Robby was developing his skills and winning races, Rick was also developing his skills as a windsurfer and as a board designer. Using the family garage as a workshop, he built boards for himself, Randy, Robby and a few friends. Their performance was impressive and generated orders for more boards.
In 1978 the Naishs', and a group of friends from Kailua, organized the first "Hawaiian Windsurfing World Cup Regatta" which drew nearly 100 competitors to Kailua Bay for a series of course racing, marathon and surf slalom events. This amateur event later became the "Pan Am World Cup" which was the premier windsurfing event in the world until the professional world tour began in 1984.
Rick's boards performance at the "World cup" drew the attention of Mistral Windsurfing's marketing director, and he was offered a contract to develop several new designs for Mistral.
European and Japanese magazine articles with their beautiful pictures of Kailua, Diamond Head and the North Shore brought a steady stream of tourists to Kailua. Kailua's fame as a windsurfing destination grew, and by the early 1980's there were seven windsurfing shops in Kailua!
By 1979, the board business had outgrown the garage. A Kailua warehouse was converted into a workshop/design center. Rick gave up his teaching job and began working full time building custom boards. Carol began offering "Windsurfari" vacation packages, which were marketed through several European travel agencies. The first Naish Hawaii rental fleet consisted of 10 "KAILUA" boards - The first of Rick's designs to be mass produced for Mistral. Guest accommodations were arranged in Kailua in private homes, cottages, and B&B's.
To further supplement the business, European designed hardware and parts were imported for resale to local manufacturers and shops. Naish Hawaii T-shirts were produced and sold wholesale to surf shops in the U.S. and overseas, as well as to local shops.

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Naish Retail Shop
As the demand for Naish products grew, Carol searched for a retail location in Kailua. The Hamakua Drive shop opened in August of 1982. The old shop focused on production of custom boards for retail and wholesale sales. Rick's design center moved to the Hamakua Drive shop and continued to produce a steady stream of new models. In the history of the shop over 10,000 Naish custom boards have been sold worldwide. If you have a "Naish" this is where it was designed, along with most Mistral production boards built since 1980. Over the years the shop has changed and grown. The most recent remodel enlarged the design center so that repairs and custom boards can be built "in house". Early prototype Naish designs are on display, along with some of the early sails Robby used in competitions. Naish Hawaii has the most complete selection of windsurfing and kiteboarding equipment available on Oahu. The consignment shop has a wide range of used equipment available at great prices.

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Naish Hawaii’s Windsurfing School:
The Naish Windsurfing School began in 1985. Naish's professional instructors offer lessons in windsurfing and kiteboarding to all skill levels. First rate windsurfing gear is available for daily and long term rentals with a wide range of board and sail sizes available to fit the conditions of the day.

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What is the family doing now?

Rick has left his position with Mistral sports group to concentrate on developing new designs for NAISH. A new range of Naish Windsurfing Boards will be available summer of 2001. These will be distributed world wide along with the Naish Kiteboards, and Naish Surfboards. Rick still finds time for surfing, has a new motorcycle on order, and snowboarding. Last year he spent a week in Canada "snowcat" snowboarding, and has signed up the next five years!

Harold Ige, who has shaped Naish designs for many years is an important member of the team - and will continue to work with Rick, Robby and team sailors on new board designs. Harold lives on the north shore, and spends lots of time at "backyards" testing the new designs (and learning to kiteboard)

Randy is back in the shaping room . . . doing custom kiteboards and has shaped several of the prototypes for the new production kiteboards. . . including "the mutant".

Carol still manages the business and handles most of the email that pours in . . since Kailua is now known as one of the best kiteboarding areas in the world. . there are constant request for vacation accommodations as well as people just looking for info about new products. She still finds time for visits to the mainland and Europe every year.

Christine left Hawaii at 16 to be a ballerina. She is now a mom and lives in the Bay area with her Italian husband (executive chef with II Fornaio restaurants) and two young children.

Rolly, the youngest Naish kid, has become much more involved in the family business since kiteboarding was introduced. Although his picture was on the cover of the "Windsurfer News" magazine in 1976, he's never been interested in windsurfing--but Kiteboarding is a different story! He likes flying them, talking about them, and selling them! He still loves winter sports, and spends part of the spring snowboarding in Canada and Utah.

Robby maintains a hectic schedule, traveling extensively to promote Naish Sails and Kites, and making personal appearances on behalf of his various sponsors. He still competes in selected windsurfing world cup events. He placed second in the recent "KING OF THE AIR" Kiteboarding competition on Maui . . . see Naish Sails web site for all the details.

Robby and his wife Katie divide their time in Hawaii between Oahu and Maui. On Oahu they both enjoy Kiteboarding (and their dog 'AKA' enjoys kiteBITING!) Katie has recovered from a badly broken ankle last year and is out jumping her kites in Kailua Bay again. Robby loves Kiteboarding here in Kailua, but still pulls out the windsurfing gear when the wind is strong... which.... DOES happen on Oahu more often than people realize! Rob's NaishSails headquarters are on Maui, and much of his time there is devoted to working with his marketing and design staff.

Robby's daughter Nani, is in college now, and living in La Jolla, California surfing the waves at Windansea.... where Rick and Carol first met over 40 years ago!