surfresearch.com.au  the catalogue #334

CONSTRUCTION Hollow paddle board design of cedar planks (deck) and plywood panels (bottom) fixed over a timber frame. Stained, varnished or painted. Solid nose and tail blocks with approximately eight internal cross sections, about 16'' apart,  fixed through each rail by three screws. Nails and screws. Nose ring for waist-belt or paddle leash. Metal bung at the tail fitted with a large cork plug, image right. Residual markings on the board indicate previous timber splash guard. There are two metal rings in the nose and the tail, possibly used to previously mount the board for display.

The ski is currently held by the Manly Art Gallery and Museum:

"Surf Ski 1933 -This is a cedar surf ski of hollow construction with a planking top and sides screwed to an internal frame and a veneered ply bottom.
There is a solid cedar fin, a canvas 'seat', a brass bung and top rear mooring rings fore and aft.
The ski has the inscription 'H. CRAKANTHORP, PORT MACQUARIE'.
Made by Harry McLaren of Port Macquarie. MO526."

Shirley Neil: Manly Art Gallery and Museum Catalogue Notes, November 2007.
Many thanks to Shirley Neil and Catherine Roberts.

Nose: pin, 5'' solid timber nose block. Tail: round, 3'' solid timber nose block, see below. Deck Three 8'' wide cedar longtitudinal panels with a white canvas seat-area panel nailed to the timber. Nose ring for waist-belt or paddle leash, image right.. Tail bung with large cork plug. Residual markings on the board indicate previous timber splash guard. Bottom: .Two plywood panels. Rails:  chine. Rocker:  distinct

DECOR DECAL: MARKINGS Deck COLOUR Deck   Multi panelled cedar deck, white canvas seat-area, image right. Bottom Plywood sections.

FIN 3 1/2'' x 34'' base @ 2''. 3/4'' thick. Timber long base keel.

Roundtail with bung with large cork plug.

Roundtail with 3'' solid timber block.

ACCESSORIES An early photograph includes a belt attached to the nose leash, an accessory perhaps only used by Harry and pre-dating the general adoption of the leg rope by surboard riders (circa 1975) by forty-five years. The Manly Art Gallery and Museum inventory incudes the following items: "Surf Ski Belt 1930 -This belt was made to complement the surf ski and was tied by a rope to the front of the board. MO2203  Gifts of Chris Crakanthorp, son of Hereward Crakanthorp. 2005." and "Surf Ski Paddle c 1935 -This paddle is double ended of solid timber.  A single length of timber forms the shaft and centre of blade ends.  One blade is tipped with copper sheet. MO527 Gift of Mrs A Crakanthorpe 1985."

Image above: Rail detail.

Shirley Neil: Manly Art Gallery and Museum Catalogue Notes, November 2007.
Many thanks to Shirley Neil and Catherine Roberts.

See
State Library NSW "At Work and Play - 05010
Surf ski built June 1930.
One made in July 1930 and was sold to Mr Crackenthorpe for 3 pounds and is now in Manly museum - Port Macquarie, NSW."

The surf ski is held by the Manly Art Gallery and Museum, catalogue number ??
The dimensions are 350 cm x 64 cm x 15.5 cm.
Imperial: 11 foot 6'' x 25'' x 6''
Specificaions: Timber frame, cedar planking, plywood bottom, timber keel, canvas seat.
Accredition: Made by Harry McLaren, Port Macquarie, 1933.
Providence: Donated by Mrs. A. Crakanthorp, 1985.

- Noted by Catherine Roberts, Manly Art Gallery and Museum, in conversation, November 2007.

Significantly, the providence confirms the photographic evidence.

Note that the photograph includes a belt attached to the nose leash, an accessory perhaps only used by Harry and pre-dating the general adoption of the leg rope by surboard riders (circa 1975) by forty-five years.
Bill Beale writes:

DESIGN HISTORY
From: A History of the Surf Ski.
Port Macquarie S.L.S.C. historian, Charles Uptin appears to consider the claims for the design of the surf ski of Harry McLean and "Saxon' Crackanthrop of Manly as concurrent:

"There is a local claim that the McLaren brothers, Harry and Jack ("Tacko") were the first to ride surf skis.
They built the somewhat monstrous, hollow skis, for use around their oyster leases and surfed with them for pleasure.

That was in the 1920's, before the Port Macquarie Surf Club was formed, and a Harry Crakanthorp, who was town clerk here in that period, surfed with them on their skis.

Manly Surf Club's 50 year history (Harris: Manly SLSC (1961) page 56) says the surf ski was designed and introduced by Dr. J. S. Crakanthorp in the 1920's.
Whichever way it goes, fact remains that Port Macquarie has had surf skis for as long as they have been about."

Uptin: Port Macquarie SLSC (1979) page 33.

Image right: "This 1919 picture establishes  Harry McLaren as the first  maker of surf skis. Harry is second from the left,  with Ray Dick, Herb Reckless  and Bert McLaren, left to right." Uptin: Port Macquarie SLSC (1979) page 34.

Further significant photograhic evidence of Harry McLaren's design, detailed below, is online at the State Library NSW (PICMAN):
http://libapp.sl.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/spydus/TRN/PM/SUHDG/211/49664

The earliest photographs show the board (the description surf ski is questionable at this early stage) was propelled in a sitting position with two small hand blades, which was probably not a highly efficient method to negotiate the surf zone.
The deck is flat with a bung plug at the rear and a nose ring with a leash, possibly originally required for mooring.
The rails are square and there is pronounced rocker.
The boards' obvious bouyancy undoubtedly indicate hollow construction (confirmed by Uptin, above); probably thin boards of cedar fixed longtitudinally down the board.

Also see:
State Library NSW   "At Work and Play - 05005
Three men on surf skis.
The skis were built by Harry McLaren, one in 1912 (Spring) and the other Xmas 1913, to his own design - Port Macquarie, NSW."

Note that this photograph is not dated as 1913, and is probably  taken sometime after the craft's construction.
It is comtemporary with the other image, dated 1919, noted above.
Kay Browne, Port Macquarie-Hastings  Local Studies Librarian, noted that the images of the McLaren's were probably taken by a member of the Dick family, who were relatives with a interest in photography.
Thomas Dick would be renown for his images of Australian aborigines taken in the Port Macquarie area in the 1920s, some of which are held by the Australian Museum.

See http://timbertown.com.au/pages.asp?code=104

- Noted by Kay Browne, Port Macquarie-Hastings Local Studies Librarian, in conversation, October 2007.

Citing documents held by the Manly SLSC and identified by club historian Ray Moran, Bill Beale, reported:

"Harry McLaren was only 15 when he came up with the original design in 1912.
Prior to that, Harry had used his Uncle Ern's duck hunting canoe to 'shoot the breakers' near Pelican Island.
But the canoe would 'bury its head' when coming down the face.
' … I got a brainwave then if I built something that was on the style of a porpoise and made the front of it fairly round and tapered off at the stern and gave it a spring up in the front it would shoot the waves fairly good.
That was when I was a kid 15.
Round the latter part of 1912 I made one out of New Zealand Kauri and nailed it all together … after Christmas in 1913 I made another one for my brother … then I went off to the War.
I still have photos of the two skis'."

Beale, Bill: History of the Surf Ski
http://www.manlypaddlers.com/extdoc/history_of_surf_ski.htm

Note that McLaren saw the craft from inception as a wave riding vechicle, and makes no reference to it's use on oyster leases.
Pelican Island is an inland sand island adjacent to the mouth of the Hastings River and with extreme tides and/or swells it had recognisable surfriding conditions, although substantantial land reclaimation and the construction of a breakwater (circa 1938) have since dramatically reduced the wave action inside the river.
Similar surfriding breaks are found along the NSW coast, for example Port Hacking south of Sydney.

With their craft stored at a boat shed on the banks of the Hasting River, the McLaren brothers had direct access to both Pelican Island and were able to paddle to Town Beach (see below), the first beach seaward and south of the river mouth.
"Without Doubt" (Port Macquarie News, 8th September, 2000) repeats the claim that the original board was built in 1912 and notes that the family holds a copy of "original plans", dated 12th July 1919.

- Noted by Kay Browne, Port Macquarie-Hastings Local Studies Librarian, in conversation, October 2007.

Harry McLaren enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force on the 26th July 1915, in company with four other Port Macquarie residents.
He embarked from Sydney on HMAT Euripides on 2nd November 1915, achieved the rank of Temporary Captain in the Royal Engineers and was recommended for the Military Cross.
He was stood down/demobbed in 1919?

Australian War Memorial Service Records, Canberra.

It exact design of "Uncle Ern's duck hunting canoe" is unclear as these craft are largely undocumented.

In its most simple form, a duck hunting canoe was a flat bottomed punt with low gunnels, sometimes a mere four inches deep.
It was widely used on NSW coastal waters and the standard method of propulsion was with small hand blades, as adopted by Harry McLaren.

- Noted by Ray Moran, Manly SLSC, in conversation, October 2007.

Shoalhaven Heads antique enthusiast, Tony Broomfield, in a phone conversation noted that duck punts (duck canoes) were originally an English design.

"DUCK PUNT
Used for the once fashionable sport of punt-gunning or wildfowling, the duck punt or gun punt was a type of shallow flat-bottomed craft pointed at each end and covered over at bow and stern.
It was used in the marshes, estuaries and rivers of the fens and the Wash, and was usually propelled by a paddle but could also step a mast for sailing.
The fore part of the gun punt, shaped something like an Eskimo kayak, supported the long barrel of a muzzle-loading cannon used for shooting waterfowl including geese, teal and shellduck.
The single occupant was the gunner who fired at flocks of game birds, a single shot in a day might kill as many as fifty birds.
The craft, however, was difficult to control and easy to capsize, its navigation fraught with dangers and discomforts.
A good example of the use of a Gun Punt can be seen in the Royal Armouries Museum at Leeds."

Jim Shead: Rowing and Sculling Boats
http://easyweb.easynet.co.uk/jim.shead/Boats4.html

In Australia, Tony Broomfield indicated these were not recreational sporting craft but a commercial hunting boat, fitted with a large bore "duck gun" primed with "grape-shot"  (nails, sinkers, metal off-cuts) to bring down a maximun number of birds with a single blast.
One shot in the Shoalhaven district was said to have yielded 76 birds, usually sold at Greenwell Point for transport by ship to the Sydney market.
Tony provided the photographs of one example from the Shoalhaven area, see below, and noted that a second example he observed included the original hand paddles, as reportedly used by McLaren on his board.
These were made of a lightweight timber with thumb holes that were comfortable to grip.

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Image above: Duck punt, Shoalhaven River, circa 1920. (Dimensions unrecorded.)   Image left: Duck punt stern.   Image right: Duck punt bow with duck gun mounting.   Image below: Duck punt bow with gun mounting  and illustrating flat panelled bottom  and metal nose guard.   All photographs circa December 1995. Courtesy of Tony Broomfield, Shoalhaven Heads. Many thanks to Tony for his contribution.

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In the USA, similar craft were known as "sneakbox" and were substantially more sophisticated - a shallow draft boat with a panelled deck, usually propelled with oars and occassionally sail.

- Noted by David Payne, Australian National Maritime Museum, in conversation October 2007.
See:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sneakbox

The fixing of thin timber sheets over a timber frame (carvel construction) was an established method of small boat contruction before the turn of the century.
It was used in racing scull or racing shell building in England since the mid 1800s.

"Eight-oared shell (modern rowing boat)
Dating back to 1855 when this keelless eight-oared racing boat made its appearance at Henley on
Thames.
Designed by Matthew Taylor, for the Royal Rowing Club, it was built, with an outer skin of bent or
moulded cedar wood, bottom side upwards on the moulds.
Ribs were fitted inside the skin after the boat had been reversed.
Oxford University launched a similar craft of their own, at Putney in 1857, 63 feet in length and 25
inches in beam.
...
Hulls were made of cedar wood imported from Central America which although only three sixteenths of an inch thick could withstand pressures of 8,000 pounds below the waterline."

Jim Shead: Rowing and Sculling Boats
http://easyweb.easynet.co.uk/jim.shead/Boats4.html

In Australia the sport of sculling enjoyed great popularity, the first national championship was held in 1892, and it was considered that Australian craft were lighter and faster than some English models:

"Practice boats, of course, differ in different localities, but the light racing craft in Australia are all of the usual "best and best" type - carvel built.
...
Without doubt the Australian-built boat will bear comparison with any in the world.
Some few years ago a prominent New South Wales sportsman presented an English-built eight-oared boat to the Rowing Association, so that, if possible, the New South Wales crew should be better boated than their rivals.
Out of compliment to the donor the boat was used in one race; but it was generally recognized that the crew was in reality handicapped by the sturdy craft, and after the race she was housed - and forgotten."

Inglis(1912) page 207.

In the image below, note that McLaren's design esentially joins the enclosed nose and tail sections of the illustrated craft and any experienced boat builder of the period would be able to replicate McLaren's design.
Also note the splash guard at the prow, a feature on surf skis of the1940s.

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"The New South Wales "Eight" of 1911."
Inglis(1912) facing page 210.

Image right: "The 'original' surf skis,  and ' Tacko' McLaren's  transport for them." Uptin: Port Macquarie SLSClub (1979) page 33.

Around this time, a stalwart of the Manly surfing scene, Dr. J. S. 'Saxon' Crakanthorp (various spellings) apparently encounted the McLaren brothers in the Port Macquarie area and was sufficiently impressed with their craft's surfriding potential to arrange the purchase a board.

Apart from the attractraction as a holiday resort, Crakanthorp probably had family connections with the area before 1930 - his brother Hereward Harvey "Harry" Crakanthorp, also a member of the Manly SLSC, served as Port Macquarie's Town Clerk from 1938 (?) to his death in 1974 (?).
As an official of the surf life saving movement, Crackanthorp's visit coincided with the development of the Port Macquarie Surf Life Saving Club, formally established in 1929 with the assistance of members of the Manly and Bondi clubs.

- Noted by Kay Browne, Port Macquarie-Hastings Local Studies Librarian, in conversation, October 2007.

Certainly Harry Crakanthorp (Crakanthrope) was an active participant, Charles Uptin notes:

''The present Port Macquarie Surf Life Saving Club was formed at a meeting held in the Town Hall, on 24th October, 1929.
Officers elected were: Patron, Mr. A. A. Cumming; President, Mr. H. J. Blair; Vice-presidents, Messrs. Cyril Lewis, H. Crakanthorpe, A. Lonsdale, W. McMillan, G. Prentice, A. C. Elliot; Treasurer, Mr. L. Atkinson; Secretary, Mr. A. Henderson.''

Uptin: Port Macquarie SLSC (1979) page 6.

Manly was a centre for surfcraft with a significant number of boardriders and the first surf life saving club to adopt the surfboat.

Specifically, J.S. Crakanthrop may have been influenced by  Russell Henry 'Busty' Walker, who during the 1920's used a canoe to act as a judge at the buoys at Manly Surf Carnivals. .Harris: Manly SLSC (1961) page 90. Manly was not the only beach were a variety of craft were in evidence, as shown by the late 1920s photgraphic montage, right. Probably taken on the eastern beaches of Sydney (possibly Coogee), they include a surfing canoe, an inflatable canoe and a novelty inflatable toy, perhaps a crocodile. Image right: Phillips: Beaches of Sydney (1930) page 20.

See
State Library NSW "At Work and Play - 05010
Surf ski built June 1930.
One made in July 1930 and was sold to Mr Crackenthorpe for 3 pounds and is now in Manly museum - Port Macquarie, NSW."

The surf ski is held by the Manly Art Gallery and Museum, catalogue number ??
The dimensions are 350 cm x 64 cm x 15.5 cm.
Imperial: 11 foot 6'' x 25'' x 6''
Specificaions: Timber frame, cedar planking, plywood bottom, timber keel, canvas seat.
Accredition: Made by Harry McLaren, Port Macquarie, 1933.
Providence: Donated by Mrs. A. Crakanthorp, 1985.

- Noted by Catherine Roberts, Manly Art Gallery and Museum, in conversation, November 2007.

Significantly, the providence confirms the photographic evidence.

Note that the photograph includes a belt attached to the nose leash, an accessory perhaps only used by Harry and pre-dating the general adoption of the leg rope by surboard riders (circa 1975) by forty-five years.
Bill Beale writes:
.
"Of particular interest, when using his ski, Harry McLaren did not use the now conventional double-bladed paddle.
He used two square butter-bats (like square table tennis bats, 15 cm wide by 35 cm long) strapped to each hand.
He used these while kneeling on his surf ski.
"They work a damn lot better than today's paddles … if knocked off, a ski paddler would not be separated from the paddles.'
The rider also had a rope tied to the waist and the ski.
Harry also proffered that the kneeling position offered less wave resistance than the present seated method."

Beale, Bill: History of the Surf Ski
http://www.manlypaddlers.com/extdoc/history_of_surf_ski.htm

Indeed, if others followed Harry McLaren's advice and used the separate hand blades and rode and paddled in a kneeling position, then the craft would be a surfboard.

Importantly, Crakanthrop significantly improved propulsion, and surf suitability, by introducing a two bladded canoe paddle instead of McLaren's two small hand blades.
Also note the short stub keels at the tail, noted above, are illustrated in this image.
See
"At Work and Play - 05011
Three surf skis on the back of a 1928 Chevrolet utility in the backyard at 23 Gore Street.
The paddle on the side belonged to Mr Crackenthorpe from Sydney - Port Macquarie, NSW
January 1931."

Certainly these developments in northern NSW occurred independently of the hollow board experiments carried out, most famously, by Tom Blake in Hawaii from 1926 to 1931, and others elsewhere.
By 1932, the "boards" were ridden in a sitting position and  propelled with a double bladed paddle, convieniently attached to the nose leash, and  fitted with foot straps, thus definitely identifiable as surf skis.
McLaren also sold other surf skis, in some cases less than the premium paid by Dr. Crackanthorp.

See
State Library NSW "At Work and Play - 05008
Surf skiing off Town Beach.
All skis built and designed by Harry McLaren.
Sold one ski to his cousin for 10 shillings - Port Macquarie, NSW c 1932."

For other photographs of Surf skis in surf circa 1932, see 05006, 05007 and 05009.
05020 notes:
"Three men with surf skis at Town Beach.
Ray Dick bought his ski from Harry McLaren for 10 shillings and a carburettor - Port Macquarie, NSW c 1932."

From the earliest days of surfbathing, Town Beach was the easiest accessed location for most residents.
It was  prefered to Flynns Beach, which was later to be developed and became the site for the Port Macquarie Surf Life Saving Clubhouse in 1956.
From the late 1930's, surfriding conditions at Town Beach were substantially modified with the construction and extension of breakwaters at the mouth of the Hastings River to maintain a navigatable entrance.

"Before the southern breakwall was extended sightly, before the original north wall was completed (it was also extended) favourable surfing conditions prevailed at Town Beach towards the southern wall, and the beach being handier to town it was more infavour than Flynn's Beach."

Uptin: Port Macquarie SLSC (1979) page 7.

The image of Town Beach below is circa 1935, before the construction of the northern breakwater between 1935 and 1939.
- Noted by Kay Browne, Port Macquarie-Hastings Local Studies Librarian, in correspondence, November 2007.
It illustrates the extensive banks in the river mouth to the north of Town Beach and lines of swell running upriver towards Pelican Island.

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Town Beach, Port Macquarie, circa 1935.
Uptin: Port Macquarie SLSC (1979) page 7.

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"J S Crakanthorp's brother, Harry Crakanthorp, was the Town Clerk of Port Macquarie from 1938 till his death in the early 1970s.
According to a mutual friend of the Town Clerk, Mr R Lindsay of Wamberal, Harry Crakanthorp always attributed the building of the first surf skis to Harry McLaren of Port Macquarie.
Harry Crakanthorp's brother , Sacka, had visited him at Port Macquarie, had used McLaren's ski, and took its measurements and the idea back to Sydney."

Beale, Bill: History of the Surf Ski
http://www.manlypaddlers.com/extdoc/history_of_surf_ski.htm

The surf ski purchased from McLaren is likely the craft Crakanthrop brought back to Manly, accredited as his design by C. Bede Maxwell in 1949:

"Maroubra, too, has become tlle favoured home of that purely Australian invention, the surf ski.
This contrivance represents what is more or less a logical development of the hollow surf-board, and it made its first appearance under the hands of Dr G. A. ("Saxon") Crackanthorp (sic), an enthusiast who couldn't acquire the trick of managing a standard surfboard as well as he wished to.
He fashioned a something that was wider in the beam, with a turned-up nose, the centre of gravity set low, and presently found he could negotiate even the biggest breakers without capsizing. Hollow-decked, buoyant, steered and driven with a paddle, the surf ski sets the rider above water, and possesses all the advantages of a canoe, plus stability.
It also lacks the disadvantage of likely filling up, and is easier to control; the rider sitting with his feet in straps can lean inboard or outboard in any direction that the requirements of balance dictate.

The first skis were built of cedar planking, so heavy that it took a man all his time to carry one.
Later, laminated plywood bonded with resin was substituted.
The earliest models were about 8ft. by 28in., with a 6-inch depth and a l2-inch spring in the keel. Competition drew these out longer, often narrower.
Big modern "double" skis are almost as long as a standard surf- boat."

Maxwell (1949) page 245.

While the length is probably under-estimated by Maxwell (the photographs indicate a length of approximately ten feet), the other dimensions appear consistent with the Port Macquarie photographs.
Note that she does not specify a date for the introduction of the surf ski and considers it as "a logical development of the hollow surf- board" as designed by Tom Blake and first built in Australia by Frank Adler at Maroubra in 1934.
Maxwell (1949) pages 240-241.

Critically, the development of the hollow surf ski by Harry McLaren at Port Macquarie would appear to pre-date or, at least, coincide with Blake's experiments in Hawaii.
Specifically the report that "the first skis were built of cedar planking" would appear to describe McLaren's design based on the duck punt and a construction method familar to Sydney boat buiders, and not derived from Blake's hollow surfboard.
The earliest publication of Blake's design in1933 indicated the use of plywood or (the structually questionable) "Masonite Tempered Presdwood" over a spruce frame.
 Paul W. Gartner: Hawaiian Water Sled, page 86.

Dr Crakanthrop is subsequently credited with the design of the surf ski by John Bloomfield (1959) and Reg S. Harris (1961), probably based on the Maxwell's report.
Note that Bloomfield dates the introduction of the surf ski as "about 1933", consistent with the claim of Crakanthorp and Toyer's patent and before Maxwell's (and his own, page 61) report of the first hollow surfboard,  circa 1934:

"The surf ski is a cross between a surf board and a canoe.
It can now be seen on most Australian surf beaches, and is also popular in South Africa, New Zealand, Ceylon and England.

The ski is purely an Australian innovation, having been invented by Dr G. A. Crackenthorp (sic) of Manly Surf Life Saving Club about 1933.
The early model was heavy and short compared to those we see today, being only 8 feet long and 28 inches wide, 6 inches in depth and with a 12-inch spring in the keel."

Bloomfield: Know How in the Surf (1959) page 69.

Harris' account notes Saxon Crakanthorp's surfing and athletic abilities, consistent with his interest in the surf ski, but does not record a relevant date for the introduction of the surf ski at Manly.

"The surf-ski was designed and introduced by Dr. J. S. Crakanthorp, who was one ot our outstanding members in the club's golden era of success- the 1920's.
In addition to being one of the club's strongest swimmers, with a long string of wins in the belt and in Cecil Healy Memorial Shield events, Saxon Crakanthorp toured New Zealand with the N.S.W. Rugby Union team of 1923."

Harris: Manly SLSC (1961) page 56.

Uptin's  claim in The History of Port Macquarie SLSC (1979) that:

By the early 1930s, Bronte, Bondi, Maroubra and Freshwater SLS Clubs had tested a variety of canoes in the surf and a canoe race was listed in the program of the 1930 Australian Championships at Manly, an event noted for its large surf.
No results were recorded but canoe races were popular at carnivals between 1931 and 1935.
Maxwell (1949) page 237, Galton (1984) page 43, Myers (1983) page 85.

In 1933 Jack Toyer of Cronulla and Dr. J. S. Crakanthrop (the later possibly looking to recoup his initial investment of 3 pounds) registered a patent for the surf ski.
Wells:Sunny Memories (1982) page 155.

Harry McLaren's recollections appear to confirm these developments:

"He (Crakanthorp) was entrepreneurial and took out a patent on it.
Harry said that during the winter of 1933 he read in the Evening News ' …that there was to be a new surf boat of some description to be introduced to the beaches in the spring of 1933.
Then Dr Crakanthorp got the credit of inventing the surf ski … But he didn't make them.
He had a friend called Jack Toyer who was a boat builder … I met him and he said they'd made a lot of money …'."

Beale, Bill: History of the Surf Ski
http://www.manlypaddlers.com/extdoc/history_of_surf_ski.htm

Note that E. J. Thomas, writing of surf skis at the Dee Why SLSC, adjusts the players and the locations but the dates correspond roughly with the McLaren-Crakanthorp account and also parrallel the dates of Blake's Hawaiian experiments.

Thomas (1962) page 31.

As introduced to Manly by Dr. Crakanthrop, the surf ski proved popular (detailed in C. Bede Maxwell's assessment, above), probably due to the the ease of paddling as a result of the high bouyancy in comparison with the solid timber surfboards of the period.
Compared to canoes, the enclosed deck completely avoided the possibility of the craft being swamped by a wave.
Critically, the high floatation, the stability of the rider while sitting and the ability to adjust the craft speed by paddling meant that the rider could avoid the breaking curl and safely take a straight line towards the beach, similar to surf boats.
While the skis could (and did) tranverse the wave face, this feature encouraged their use at many beaches that generally did not have suitable conditions for quality (that is, transverse) surfboard riding.

Construction would be further improved in with the replacement of cedar planking with plywood (replicating Blake's hollow board specifications) and the design made more surf friendly with the addition of footstraps.

Interestingly, the nose leash, now affixed to the paddle, continued to be used into the 1940s before disappearing with the construction of longer and narrower skis more suitable for SLSC competition. Initially paddled and ridden sitting on the board, in the hands of skilled riders the skis enjoyed a short period of popularity ridden standing up, possibly at the time rivalling surfboards in populatity. Image right: Standing surf ski rider, circa 1937. Margan and Finney (1970) page 131.

The riding of surf skis while standing probably faded as skis established a rescue and a racing role for the SLSC and as surfboard builders moved over to a similar hollow construction that was vastly more bouyant than the solid timber surfboard designs.

It is impossible at this point to assess to what extent McLaren's hollow surf ski design impacted on the development of the hollow surfboard in Australia.
While Harry McLaren's relative isolation in Port Macquarie certainly implies he was unaware of Tom Blake's experimental boards, it is possible that Crakanthrop became aware of Blake's patent of 1931.
He may have seen a copy of Blake's plans (including mention of the patent) published in Modern Mechanix magazine in 1933 and recgonised an opportunity, with possible financial advantage, to apply for an Australian patent.

An analysis of the claims for the first successful hollow surfboard in Australia is outside the scope of this paper, suffice it to say a current favoured candidate is Frank Adler at Maroubra, circa 1929-1934.

REFERENCES
Books
Maxwell, C. Bede   Surf : Australians Against the Sea
Angus and Robertson, Sydney 1949.

Harris, Reg. S. The History of Manly Life Saving Club 1911-1961
Published by Manly Life Saving Club, NSW Printed by Publicity Press Ltd. 1961

Margan, Frank and Finney, Ben R.:  A Pictorial History of Surfing
Paul Hamlyn Pty Ltd, 176 South Creek Road,  Dee Why West, NSW 2099.1970.

Galton, Barry  Gladiators of the Surf
AH & AW Read Pty Ltd, 2 Aquatic Drive Frenchs Forest NSW 2086 1984

Thoms, Albie: Surfmovies The Blue Group  PO Box 321 Noosa Heads Queensland 4567.  2000.

CONDITION: 8

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