surfresearch.com.au  the catalogue #235

FIN 8 1/2" x  4 1/4" base x 11 1/2''span @ 6 1/2''  Laminated fiberglass. Rear screw hole. Finbox (image below). 14'' @ 8''.

DECOR DECALS Deck GEORGE GREENOUGH DESIGN semi-circle in yellow and black at sweet spot. Bottom: Greenough's famous  Curtis P-40 Warhawk  fighter/bomber (May 1940) graphic - black at nose. http://www.warbirdalley.com/p40.htm MARKINGS Deck: Shape by Chris Brock Black pencil at pod. Bottom: 0111368 - pencil at the pod. COLOUR Deck: Light yellow spray Bottom: Light yellow spray, red pinlines around finbox.

The design was given exposure in the surf media as was George Greenough's surfing and surf photography.
Many manufacturers made copies of the design and the intensive glassing requirements required a premium price.
The most recognised models were produced by at Hayden Surfboards Caloundra Queensland, featuring Greenough's dramatic Fighter Plane decal, see below.

The design peaked in popularity around 1970 with the release of George Greenough's The Innermost Limits of Pure Fun  -  featuring some his surfing on Spoon and inflatable mat (see #66) but most famously included on-board footage of radical performance surfing and serious tube rides.
Because the high performance capabilities of the design were only achievable in quality waves and the low floatation meant that only the most fit riders were able to catch waves, in Australia by 1973 the design was largely supplanted by Peter Crawford's Slab design, circa 1969, see # 83.

Initially Peter Crawford simply filled in the spooned deck to greatly increase floatation and expand the wave range, but over a long life the Slab was adapted with a range of rail shapes and fin configerations, see # 58.
In the USA the Fish was a notable alternative in kneeboard design.

Greenough's extreme design was attempted to be recreated in stand up boards, most infamously by Nat Young at Gordon Woods Surfboards in 1965, see The Nautilas.
Although this board was a failure, George Greenough's fin design was to have a huge impact on Australian surfboards and by 1968 almost every fin bore some relationship to Greenough's high apsect template.

In 1967 Midget Farrelly, Bob McTavish and other shapers in Sydney developed a short deep vee bottomed board that had strong elements of George Greenough's influence, see # 26.

George Greenough/North coast freefall, circa 1966. Photograph by Tanya Binning. First published Surfing World Vol No 1968? This cropped version from Margan and Finney , page 310. The most outstanding photograph of committed high performance  surfing up to this date, this level of performance was probably  not achieved by stand up surfers for another ten years.	George Greenough and Spoon. Photograph  by ? Caloundra, Queensland 1966. "Far Out Flexible Surfboard...  the wave of the future" by Eric Blum as told to Al Lees. Popular Science magazine  August 1969, page 92.

1973 Jackson, Greenough Spoon 5 ft 10"

1973  Ron Wade Spoon 4ft 8''

1975? Backyard,  Spoon deck Kneeboard 5ft 6"

1975 Ron Wade Molded Spoon,  4ft 10''

1975 Belly Bogger 3ft 7''

1978  Sky Kneeboard 5 ft 8 1/2"  George Greenough Design  Shaped by Chris Brock

See Paipo Catalogue for other Kneeboards. Other Sky Surfboards #23  Sky Mini Mal Magazines Popular Science magazine "Far Out Flexible Surfboard... the wave of the future" by Eric Blum as told to Al Lees August 1969 pages 92 to 95. Bob McTavish : 'Bout a Spoonful. Bob McTavish's eight easy steps to (Greenough) Spoon building. Surfing World Magazine  Volume 24 Number 4 January-February ?  1977,  pages   64 - 65. The Australian Surfer's Journal ''Moving Forward - A Greenough Scrapbook 1960 - 1970'' Vol.2  No.2 1999 Pages 76-77, 84, 86-87.

---

---

surfresearch.com.au

---