There was a time when a longboard was considered an old man’s surfboard. That is no longer the case in the surfing world, especially on Long Beach Island as the community prepares for the 12th Annual Alliance for a Living Ocean LBI Longboard Classic on Saturday at the 17th Street beach in Ship Bottom.

Surfers were riding 9- and 10-foot boards in the 1960s when surfing had its first “beach blanket bingo” heyday, a symbol of burgeoning American youth culture.