Champion surfer Reno Abellira was born in 1950 in Honolulu, Hawaii. The son of a middleweight boxer who was shot and killed in a barroom fight, Reno first started surfing at age four in Waikiki and got his first surfboard at age eleven. Abellira initially got noticed in the world of competitive surfing after he won the juniors division of the Makaha International contest in both 1966 and 1967. Moreover, Reno won two hundred dollars in prize money at the 1966 Hawaiian Noseriding Contest, which was the first professional surfing event held in Hawaii. In 1968 Abellira became Hawaii's junior division champion surfer and participated in the World Surfing Championships held in Puerto Rico.

Reno's winning streak continued into the 1970's: He won state titles in both 1970 and 1972, came in fourth in the 1970 World Championships, placed second in the 1973 Duke Kahanamoku Classic Invitational contest, made the finals in more than a dozen professional events held on the North Shore of Oahu, and on Thanksgiving Day in 1974 beat fellow champion surfer Jeff Hakman by a fraction of a point in the Smirnoff Pro-Am contest for which Aberilla received a check for five thousand dollars. One of the top Hawaiian pro surfers of his day, Reno world-ranked at #4 in 1977, #8 in 1978, and #13 in 1979.

Outside of surfing, Aberilla was also a highly skilled shaper of surfboards. He learned his craft working for noted surfboard shaper supreme Dick Brewer in the late 1960's and early 1970's as well as worked for the Lightning Bolt surfboard label. In addition, Reno has also written articles for various surfing publications.

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Reno Abellira

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