surfresearch.com.au    surfers : george greenough

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George Greenough

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George Greenough, Angourie/Lennox Head (?), circa 1969.
Photograph by Tanya Binning
First published Surfing World Vol No 196??
This cropped version from Margan and Finney: Pictorial History (1970) page 310.

Introduction
 

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Home: Santa Barbara, California Beach : Rincon Competitive Record Nil, Surfing surfer, shaper, designer, writer, photographer, film maker, windsurfer, Shaping George Greenough never shaped boards for commercial sale to the general public and only produced a small number of craft for friends and associates. Some boards, based on his designs were produced by: Hayden Surfboards, Qld Wilderness Surfboards, California and Australia Sky  Surfboards, Byron Bay. 1970 George Greenough : The Innermost Limits of Pure Fun. Surf International Volume 2 Number 6, 1970, featuring The most outstanding surfing photograph ever shot.   Also see: Paul Gross: Surfmatters http://surfmatters.blogspot.com.au/2014/06/

George Greenough and Spoon, Caloundra, Queensland, 1966. Photo by Hayden Kenny. Eric Blum (as told to Al Lees):  Far Out Flexible Surfboard... the wave of the future" Popular Science, August 1969, page 92. In a phone call (2010?), George noted that his decal was based on a WW2 fighter plane, the Curtiss P-40 Warhawk. See below. Russell Hughes, Pt. Cartwright, 1967. Photo by George Greenough Surfer magazine mural: # 27. Greenough Tube

George displaying one of his flexible-hull spoons (without high-aspect fin). Threshold tinkering made made him the fastest man on water.   [Santa Barbara, 1976.]

. Grissim: Pure Stoke  New York, 1982, page 33. Tracks, January 1976, page 11. Photos: John Grissim

	1973  Jackson Spoon    5 ft 10"
	1973   Ron Wade Spoon  Knee Board       4 ft 8"
	1973   Farrelly Spoon  Knee Board       4 ft 8"

Snake's Surfing Page
-personal page by Bruce Gabrielson on surfboard template history, coaching, surfboard repair, links, and wave pools. US. Alternative version of the Shortboard Revolution/development.

www.flexspoon.com - page of Spoon enthusiasts with surfing and board photographs and design forums.

Film (Appearances) Endless Summer 1964-1966 Hot Generation 1968 The Fantastic Plastic Machine 1969 The Inner Limits of Pure Fun  1970 Crystal Voyager From  Thoms :Surf Movies George, camera and Converse-Hodgman Mat La Libertad El Salvador Filming for Big Wednesday in1977. The film was released May 26, 1978. www.facebook.com/realsurfingmagazine/videos/1894332887257646 Also see: George mat surfing in Maui, Winter 1967 from Paul Witzig's Hot Generation https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EL4QX-bOZAQ George Greenough discusses the 4th Gear Flyer surf mat, Santa Barbara, 1985. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igN3FqwC29E

George Greenough - Deep Tube Riding | Inner(lost) Limits of Pure Fun https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgOblhJHzP4 Crystal Voyager 1973 (Full Length) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ho0zoWQ53fw Pink Floyd - Echoes | Crystal Voyager version https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtyOisjwvD8

The Canberra Times 2 April 1971, page 12. the innermost Limits of Pure fun A SURFING EXPERIENCE! -a George Greenough-film... These arc sights you never expect to see on film —The Sun GRIFFIN CENTRE, CIVIC TONIGHT 8 p.m. Trove 1971 'Advertising', The Canberra Times (ACT : 1926 - 1995), 2 April, p. 12. , viewed 14 Sep 2016, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article110346401

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.the fins of george greenough

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1960 Greenough Number 2 Laminated fibreglass Dimensions? George Greenough's second fin circa 1960, on a balsa kneeboard built 1959...  "wood shop at school...the first flexible,  high aspect ratio fin I tried." Originally the board had a  conventional fin of the period.  Photograph & Quotes: : George Greenough : Moving Forward A Greenough Scrapbook : 1960 - 1970 The Australian Surfer's Journal Volume 2 No 2 Autumn 1999 pages 82-84.

1962 Greenough Twin Fin  Laminated fibreglass Dimensions?

1964 Greenough Laminated fibreglass Dimensions? Velo Balsa Spoon  Fin  circa 1964.  The board was built in 1962, originally as "a twin fin, but as time went on, I moved the fins closer together, and it kept working better and better. Eventually, it turned into a single fin!"  Photograph & Quotes:  George Greenough,  Moving Forward A Greenough Scrapbook : 1960 - 1970 The Australian Surfer's Journal Volume 2 No 2 Autumn 1999  pages 84, 86 and 87.

1965 Greenough Stage I  Laminated fibreglass 10 x 7 b @  2 inches (approximation) First  fin (left) by George Greenough fitted to a conventional surfboard, early 1965.  The board (approximately 9 ft, probably a Hayden) was shaped and/or ridden by Algie Grud. The fin on the right is common for the period. Photograph & Notes: George Greenough,  Moving Forward A Greenough Scrapbook : 1960 - 1970 The Australian Surfer's Journal Volume 2 No 2 Autumn 1999 page 105.

1966 Greenough Laminated fibreglass 10'' x 8" base Velo SS MKII fin 1966. 10'' x 8" base  Photograph? and Notes:Paul Gross:  "Far-out Flexible Surfboard - Wave of the Future ?"  The Australian Surfer's Journal Volume 1 No 4 Spring1998 page 18.

1967 Greenough Laminated fibreglass Dimensions? Surfboard flex fin 1967. Board shaped?/ridden by Danny Hazard.  Photographs : Al Lees, Notes : George Greenough. Moving Forward A Greenough Scrapbook : 1960 - 1970 The Australian Surfer's Journal Volume 2 No 2 Autumn 1999 page 73.

1967 Greenough Laminated fibreglass Dimensions? Surfboard flex fin 1967. Board shaped?/ridden by Danny Hazard. Flex of fin above illustrated, image right.  Photographs : Al Lees, Notes : George Greenough Moving Forward A Greenough Scrapbook : 1960 - 1970.  The Australian Surfer's Journal Volume 2 No 2 Autumn 1999 page 73.

1968 Greenough Laminated fibreglass Dimensions? Surfboard flex fin 1968.  Board shaped by George Greenough, ridden by Terry Keys.  Probably Wilderness Surfboards.  Photograph and Notes : George Greenough,  Moving Forward A Greenough Scrapbook : 1960 - 1970 The Australian Surfer's Journal Volume 2 No 2 Autumn 1999 page 72.

1969 Greenough  Stage III  - Wave Set  Laminated fibreglass Dimensions? Molded. Tapered wedge base, fixed by two screws, into nuts set in the molded box.  Greenough Stage IV by Wave Set Fins, circa 1970.  Photograph : George Greenough,  Notes : Paul Gross Moving Forward A Greenough Scrapbook : 1960 - 1970 The Australian Surfer's Journal Volume 2 No 2 Autumn 1999 page 73.

1970 Greenough  Stage IV  - Wave Set  Molded. Dimensions? Segmented base that slotted into a molded box and fixed by clips.  See Twin fin I 1971, below.. Greenough Stage IV by Wave Set Fins, circa 1970.  Photograph : George Greenough,  Notes : Paul Gross Moving Forward A Greenough Scrapbook : 1960 - 1970 The Australian Surfer's Journal Volume 2 No 2 Autumn 1999 page 73.

The magazine page has been cropped and split to give a better image. Image 1 , top... .  Illustrates : Stage I (white),  Stage III (red)  and  Stage IV (yellow tint). Image 2  below... The photograph is George Greenough  and a spoon built in 1967 at Hayden Kenny Surfboards, Queensland Re-printed in ...  Longboard Magazine  Volume 6 No 7 January/February  1999 page 96.

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2."The Stage III was a very large--11 1/4" deep - somewhat stocky fin, but with a cut out back area.
Not a whole lot of rake, either. Made for maneuverability and tube riding, not nose riding.
By this time Morey could mold bigger fins, so the Stage III was what the Stage II was meant to be."

("Morey" is Tom Morey, partner with Karl Pope in Wave Set fins and Morey-Pope Surfboards.)

Note the narrow base of the Stage IV, probably  for a adjustable box.

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George Greenough, Upper Drakes, circa 1962.
Photograph : Richard Vincent 
Stern and Cleary: Surfing Sth. California (1963) page 32.

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George Greenough, Honolua Bay, Maui, circa 1967. Photograph : John Witzig Surfing March 1984  Volume 20 Number 3 page 93. Originally published accompanying John Witzig's article The Australians in Hawaii, Part 2 - Maui. Surf International  Vol. 1. No. 5  May 1968  pages 23. George Greenough, 1967.  Still from The Fantastic Plastic Machine. Surf International Volume 1 Number 11. See.

Chis Brock, George Greenough, Dog, Garry Keyes and Bob McTavish. Wilderness factory,  Angourie - Byron Bay ?, 1969. Surfing World Magazine,  Volume 12, Number 5, 1969.

Noosa Points from the Air.                                                                                                                                   Bob McTavish

George Greenough

George Greenough and Nat Young Crystal Voyager Stills Tracks, September, 1973.

George Greenough, Rincon, circa 1978. Photograph : Henry Huglin Surfer Magazine, June 1981,  Volume 22 Number 6 page 42.

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George and Hayden Spoon (1967-1968), Byron Bay, circa 1990.

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George and Spoons, circa 1990.

In a phone call (2010?), George noted that his decal was based on a WW2 fighter plane, the Curtiss P-40 Warhawk. The First American Volunteer Group (AVG) of the Chinese Air Force in 1941–1942, nicknamed the Flying Tigers, was composed of pilots from the United States Army Air Corps, Navy, and Marine Corps, recruited under presidential authority and commanded by Claire Lee Chennault. The shark-faced nose art of the Flying Tigers remains among the most recognizable image of any individual combat aircraft or combat unit of World War II. ... AVG fighter aircraft were painted with a large shark face on the front of the aircraft. This was done after pilots saw a photograph of a P-40 of No. 112 Squadron RAF in North Africa, which in turn had adopted the shark face from German pilots of the Luftwaffe's ZG 76 heavy fighter wing, flying Messerschmitt Bf 110 fighters in Crete. (The AVG nose-art is variously credited to Charles Bond and Erik Shilling.) - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flying_Tigers George Greenough and Spoon Quiver, circa 2000. George Greenough and Nat Young Crystal Voyager Still Tracks, September, 1973.

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References

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1. Kelly: Surf and Sea  (1965) pages 120-124. 2. Uncredited: Malibu Fin Appendix, in SURFER Magazine, Vol 17 No 2. 1976 June/July 3. Uncredited: Time Machines, in SURFING Magazine, Vol 25  No 2. 1989 February 4. Paul Holmes: The fin - that which drives us, in LONGBOARD Magazine, Vol 4 No 5.  1996     November/December 5. Mark Fragale: The Morey-Pope Thought Factory, in     Longboard Magazine Volume 6 No 7 January/February  1999 pages 92 - 99. 6. Paul Gross: Moving Forward - A George Greenough Scrapbook: 1960-19670,             in The Australian Surfer's Journal  Volume 2 No 2 Autumn 1999 pages 68- 121. 7. Paul Gross: Inventions: Tom Morey, in The Australian Surfer's Journal  Volume 3 No 1 Summer 2000 pages 80 - 89. The Coming of the Dawn (1970) http://www.grindtv.com/action-sports/surf/post/george-greenough/

Surfer, Volume 11 Number 2 page 134  May 1970

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