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australian women's weekly : surfing,
1960
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LETTERS
"DOWN THE MINE" ON SURFBOARDS
By KERRY
YATES
"Who are
these handsome surfboard champions?
Where are
these beaches?
Can I REALLY
learn to ride a board from the instructions in the book?"
These were
just a few of the questions I fired at 19-year-old Sydney
boy Lee Cross.
Lee, a
suntanned blond from Bronte Beach, had just shown me a copy
of the ''Australian Surfer," a book which he had written and
published himself.
'"Grab your
swimsuit next , Sunday morning," he offered. ' "and we'll be
off with my surfboard to find out."
So at 8
o'clock that Sunday morning Lee and some of his surfing
mates called in a car, with surfboards tied on the roof to
take me along on their usual weekend wave hunt.
The forecast
was that the best surf would be rolling on Sydney's northern
beaches, M
decided to
start at Fairy Bower, near Manly.
Travelling
north to Palm Beach, we would have 16 surf beaches to choose
from
The boys
said they would looking for "hot-dogging'' waves (long,
tapering swells) on which they could "go down the mine"
(ride their boards, sometimes hundreds of yards).
We beeped
our car horn to a passing truck with surfboard piled on top.
I buttoned a
heavy coat over a chunky sweater and began to feel excited
about surfing on a sunny winter's day.
As we
crossed Sydney Harbour ...
(Photographs)
Page 85
(Photograph)
... Bridge
to the north side ( I was strictly a south-sider, coming
from Bondi!), Lee Cross told me a little about himself and
why he wrote his book on surfing.
Lee has been
a keen surfboard rider for four years and spends most of his
weekends and holidays riding the waves.
Since he
left high school two years ago he has worked with a North
Sydney advertising company.
He believes
that surfing should be given more encouragement as a
world-wide sport.
So Lee set
out to produce a book about the Australian surfer, the best
surfing spots, how to ride a surfboard, about the new South
Pacific Surf Riders' Club (the first successful attempt to
form a club to cater for the needs of the surfboard rider),
with pictures and news about the local champions.
And he did
just that, with the help of some of his teenage surfing
mates.
The dramatic
cover shot of a surfboard rider was taken by 17-year-old
Terry Flemming, of Bronte, a trainee photographer with the
Sydney Water Board.
Illustrations
and
jokes were drawn by an 18-year-old East Sydney Tech, art
student, David Letts, of Newport.
Lee was
telling me of his plans to bring out a second edition of the
book before the end of the year when we arrived at Fairy
Bower.
One of the
"Bower Boys" filed that the "waves were on"and the surf was
"too much" (his term for fabulous).
We raced to
the top of a cliff overlooking the spot where the boards
were starting their journey "down the mine," about a mile
off Manly Beach.
The surf
looked wild and rough, but the boys had it mastered, and the
champs of this area, like "Nipper" Williams, Bob Pike, and
Glen Richie (all pictured in the book), dared to ride with
no fear of hitting the craggy stone bottom.
We were off
again, giving Manly a miss, and were heading for a closer
view of the Queenscliff bombora.
The great
bombora, where the sea surges over seven layers of rock,
nearly two miles out from North Steyne Beach, thunders in a
big sea.
lt has been
conquered by only a handful of boys, including 21-year-old
Dave Jackman, of Freshwater.
Three months
ago "Jacko" successfully cracked four of the mighty bombora
waves.
(See picture
above.)
Northwards
again, we passed Freshwater, Curl Curl, Deewhy, and Long
Reef without stopping.
The surf was
too big and there was danger of losing surfboards, which
would go crashing against the rocks and so "ding" (a bang
which splits the fibreglass on a surfboard) badly.
The boys
told me that Long Reef usually supplies the works-
everything from 3ft. to 30ft. waves.
The top man
among some mighty locals of this area is Peter Clare, the
senior surfboard champion for 1961.
The Collaroy
boys were really "hot-dogging" on "Pitt Street" shoots
(waves with five or six riders catching them), but we were
orí to find where the surfboard riders from the south side
had "camped" for the day.
We didn't
have to go far.
As we
reached the sands of North Narrabeen we could see cars,
surfboards, and riders, and we knew that this was THE beach
for the best surf.
Shark scare
(Photographs)
This popular sport is a mystery to many - so, here's . . .
WHY don't
you, too, join in the fun?
Don't say,
"I couldn't do it."
You could,
quite easily.
Here are the
FOUR main steps for the beginner.
I've just
tried and found them successful.
Follow the
lessons and with plenty of practice you'll be "hot-dogging"
(riding confidently, expertly) something like champion style
in a few months.
(Photograph)
STEP ONE: Kneel or lie (whichever you prefer) on your
surfboard so that it floats level in the water.
Paddle out,
swinging both arms together, beyond the breaking waves.
(Photograph)
STEP TWO: To "crack" your first wave, lie flat.
Let the
first wave go by.
When the
second is about 20ft. behind start paddling until you feel
the swell lifting you along.
(Photograph) STEP THREE: Making sure that your surfboard is moving with the wave, slowly rise to your feet (about three-quarter way back from the nose of the board) in one movement.
(Photograph) STEP FOUR: Bend your knees -slightly, one foot in front of the other, and lift your arms to the sides. Try to lean a little forward and let the board make its own way to shore.
TIPS FOR
BEGINNERS
Paste these
handy hints in your beach hat:
- New
surfboards can be bought from specialised board
manufacturers or sporting stores, but for the beginner a
second-hand surfboard will do fine.
For a
''bargain" board, ask a dealer, or scout around a surf club.
- Before
taking your surfboard into the water, rub the top with
paraffin wax, which is available at chemists.
This stops
you from slipping off the glass-like finished surface.
- The fashionable "zip-tweeds," those long cotton shorts that so many surfers prefer (they are comfortable) to ride in, can be made by cutting down an old pair of slacks or jeans.
- Look
after your board.
Don't drag
thc fin through the sand; carry it to the water's edge.
Repair a
split in the fibre-glass covering immediately.
Keep clear
of the experts, but close enough to note their movements.
Don't,
however, try cutting across another rider - it can mean
trouble.
- If you take a tumble, try to fall clear of your surfboard and dive deep to avoid being struck by it.
- Most
surfing beaches have special areas marked off for
board-riders.
If the beach
where you're surfing has no such restricted area, keep clear
of the water "between the flags," don't go near any large
group of surfers "on foot."
- Practise
on land, rising to a standing positiftn in one movement.
Lie flat and
try to get to your feet by pushing up with your arms.
This will
soon become an automatic movement.
Surfboard team to race in Hawaii.
By Kerry
Yates
REPRESENTING
AUSTRALIA
for the first time at the International Surfing
Championships in Hawaii, these boys are members of the
20-strong team.
From left:
Owen
Pilon, David Jackman, Mick McMahon, Bob Evans, lan Wallis,
Ken Bate, Graeme Treloar, Jim Geddes, and Graham Henry.
This week 20 Australian surfboard riders, eight of them teenagers, will meet in Hawaii to form a team to compete in the International Surfing Championships at Makaha Beach in December and January.
It will be
the first time Australia has been represented by an
organised team at the championships, which bring competitors
and spectators from all over the world every year.
All members
of the team paid their own fares to realise this dream of
most surfboard experts.
Some used
the savings of two or three years to travel by ship.
Others took
advantage of an airline company's "fly now, pay later" plan.
Unlike most
overseas travellers, the boys didn't take much luggage.
Swimsuits,
"zip tweeds" (long pants worn on surfboards), and a few
casual clothes were all they thought they'd need - so that's
all they took.
And, of
course, their boards!
Each of them
took two boards - a special malibu-type, the light and
easy-to-handle board used on most Australian beaches, and a
big, solid "elephant-gun" board, used in heavy surf.
Bob Evans,
of Narrabeen (one of Sydney's northern beaches), organised
the team and arranged for it to compete in the
championships.
The boys
will contest junior and senior surfboard championships and
body-surfing events.
The South
Pacific Surf Riders' Club supplied the team with T-shirts in
the Australian national colors - gold and green.
This newly
formed club, which has a modern clubhouse at Narrabeen,
hopes to sponsor
an
Australian team to Hawaii for the surfing titles each year.
The members
of the Australian team are:
Bob Evans,
at 32, is the oldest member of the team.
He believes
that some of the Sydney surf-riders will be a real challenge
to the established champions from California.
David
Jackman, 21, of Harbord, is a surfboard builder by trade and
well known to Sydney board-riders as "Jacko," the boy who
rode four big waves over the Queenscliff bombora earlier
this year.
John
Williams, 21, of Queenscliff, is another surfboard builder.
Owen Pilon,
18, of North Narrabeen, is a process worker in a city
electrical firm and has saved for this trip since he started
work several years ago.
Graham
Henry, 20, of Harbord, is known as "Buz."
He works
hard at various jobs during the winter so that he can spend
the whole of summer riding the waves.
Mike Hickey,
24, of Bilgola, gave up his job as an insurance clerk to
become a member of the Australian team.
Jim Geddes,
17, of Narrabeen, sat for the last exam for his Leaving
Certificate at his school, Waverley College, a few days
before leaving Sydney for Hawaii.
Ian Wallis,
21, of Collaroy, is a city storeman and describes Hawaii as
"the surfboard rider's paradise."
Bernard
Farrelly, 16, of Narrabeen, is known as "The Midget."
A surfboard
builder by trade, Bernard was the junior champion of
Sydney's surfboard riders this year.
Bob Pike,
21, of Manly is a woolclasser and says his main interest in
going to Hawaii is to see if the waves are really as big as
everyone says.
Mick
McMahon, 25, of Harbord, is a butcher.
Before
leaving he said, "I'm keen to have a go at the big waves and
look at the Hawaiian girls."
Graeme
Treloar, of Manly, is a commercial traveller and Sydney's
senior surfboard champion.
Gordon
Simpson, 21, Harbord, is a former surf champion.
Ron Grant,
22, of Wollongong, is the only non-Sydney member of the team
and the only one who has previously competed in surf races
over-seas - in California.
Ken Bate,
18, of Manly, works in a city stockbrokers and has been
saving for this trip since he started work three years ago.
John Bill,
20, of Manly, gave up his job as an accountant to join the
team.
Ben Acton,
25, of Harbord, a member of the Police Force, got leave of
absence to make the trip.
The other
three members of the team are Reg Shortland, 19, Laurie
Short, 18, and Roy Sloan, 18, all of Maroubra.
1961
'Surfboard team to race in Hawaii', The Australian Women's
Weekly (1933 - 1982), 6 December, p. 4. (Teenagers' Weekly),
viewed 01 Sep 2014,
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article51392771
HIS FILMS ARE ALL SPLASH HITS
By KERRY YATES
Young American film producer and camera- man Bruce Brown, of California, really gets himself into deep water.
Bruce makes films (the action pictures on this page are "stills" from them) on surf-board-riding, and while he some times shoots film from tops of cars, helicopters, and boats, the main location set is in the water.
Bruce, blond and tanned, recently toured the east coast of Australia showing his surfing films to local enthusiasts in hired halls and theatres.
"I find the best angle to film surf-board-riders is right in front of them," said Bruce, "and that's why I'm usually in the water."
His 16mm. color movie camera has
a specially designed waterproof case.
Bruce treads water, sometimes
hundreds of yards from shore.
He films surf- board-riders as
they speed toward him and then ducks to let the boards go over
his head.
"I've picked up a few stitches (though no serious injuries) learning when to duck," said Bruce, "but it seems the only way to capture the height of mighty waves."
He also attaches a camera by
suction-caps to the front of his surf- board and paddles out
to join the riders.
Moving on his board beside the
riders, he films them as they speed past.
Bruce brought his three
full-length surfing movies to Australia.
Titled "Slippery When Wet,"
"Barefoot Adventure," and "Surf Crazy," they were filmed in
the surfs of California, Mexico, and Hawaii.
Each movie runs for an hour and a half and shows the thrills and skills of surfboard-riding.
Bruce commentates from the stage during the color films, telling who's riding the waves and all about the beaches on the screen. "This gives it a personal touch," he said, "'and I can adapt different styles for different audiences."
The background music to the
films, which seems to capture the sound of the sea, was
composed and played by Bud Shank, a popular American jazz
musician.
A big band backs Shank.
Bruce, 24, from Dana Point,
California, has been interested in photography for eight
years.
At 18, as a member of the American
Submarine Service, he was stationed at Hawaii.
While he was there Bruce produced
his first short color film of board riding.
An American surfboard building
company decided to sponsor the showing of the film at seaside
towns in America.
Since then Bruce has produced his
three full-length movies and "about half a dozen short surfing
films for television."
With his films he has toured the
islands of Hawaii, most of California, and eastern U.S.A.
During his tour of eastern
Australia (the tour, in January, was his first visit here),
Bruce was thrilled with the enthusiasm of the
surfboard-riders, mostly teenagers.
He filmed most of his new
full-length movie, to be released some time this year, at
surfing beaches along the coast of N.S.W.
Although the films show many local riders from the different beaches, Bruce usually takes a couple of champion surfboard-riders with him to appear in the films.
A top surfboard-riding star, Phil
Edwards, of Oceanside, California, toured Australia with
Bruce.
Phil, 23, nil and rugged, is a
surfboard and sailing-boat builder by trade and has his own
company in the U.S.
FOOTNOTE: Bruce got into "hot
water" one day when he was filming board-riders at a quiet
Californian beach.
Military police arrested him for
"spying."
Bruce had to develop Iiis film to prove to the police that he had not been using his telescopic-lens camera to photograph a nearby "hush-hush" Army installation.
(Photographs) Bruce Brown-producer, Phil Edwards-star."Just had a
call from John Knobel, Bondi local in the 50s and 60s.
That’s him
standing second from the left in front of the red balsa
malibu, wearing his home-made blue board shorts with a snazzy
rope belt.
John surfed on
a Norm Casey hollow 16 foot toothpick before the malibus
arrived in Sydney in 1956 although he was never part of the
lifesaving scene.
As a youngster
he wheeled his board the few blocks to the beach on a hand
cart made from a packing case.
The switch to
light-weight balsa in the late 50s was an amazing break
through because “they could be thrown about from the tail” and
unlike the old longboards were thrilling to ride.
It was also
pretty clear that shorter boards meant more fun in the surf,
so his early boards were under 9 foot.
John also
recalled hopping over the back wall into the lifesavers’
change rooms at Bondi to rescue surfboards impounded by the
likes of Aub Laidlaw.
Peter Bowes added in some names..
Top row left –
Denis Lindsay
Top row right,
Hawaiian shirt – Mick Dooley
Middle row
right with spikey hair – Dave Standen
Black suit –
Midget
Next but one –
Bob Fell
Front row right
– Puppy Dog Paton."
(Photographs)
BOB PIKE riding one of the great Hawaiian waves during
last summer's international championships.
Below,
holding the bronze seagull trophy he won in the Peruvian
Championship while John Severson is presented with his cup
for second place.
Wherever the surf is running best - anywhere on
the coast between Surfers' Paradise, Queensland, and
Torquay, Victoria - there you'll find Bob Pike.
Enjoying the sun, sand, and salty spray, he's
also training hard, for in a few months he plans to be off
again to South America to defend his title of Surfboard
Riding Champion of Peru.
BOB, now 22, won the championship last March in competition with the best from Hawaii, California, France, and Peru, and he made such a hit with the people of Lima that they asked him to come back next March - all expenses paid.
An old boy of The King's School, Sydney, Bob's home is at Manly, just north of Sydney Heads.
The first Australian to win a surf championship overseas, he was a member of the 20 strong Australian team which competed in the International Surfing Championships at Makaha Beach, Hawaii, last summer.
Because he
injured a leg he had to drop out before the finals.
Several
members of the team qualified, but had to return home before
the finals, delayed by lack of a suitable surf, were held.
Bob, however, got a lucky break soon after the Hawaiian championships were over.
John Severson, a champion Californian rider who was visiting Hawaii for the surfing titles, offered Bob a trip to Peru.
The editor of the American magazine "The Surfer," John won all the board-riding events in last year's Peruvian championships and, before he left, the organisers asked him to arrange for Australian, Hawaiian, and Californian riders to compete in their 1962 championships.
John chose Bob and a Sydney friend, Mike Hickey, of Bilgola (another northern Sydney beach), to represent Australia.
It was all
a great surprise to Bob.
"I didn't
even know they surfed in Peru, but what a way to find out!"
he said.
So off he went to California, where he joined two other boys heading for Peru, and they all drove down to Mexico with their surfboards tied to the roof of the car.
Taking a couple of weeks for the trip, the boys stopped to surf at all the famous beaches along America's west coast.
From Mexico they took a plane to Lima, capital of Peru, where they were put up at the best hotel, as guests of the city's Waikiki Surf Club.
During their month's stay the visiting surfers went to a party as guests of the President of Peru and were lavishly entertained by the city's citizens.
"There are several beautiful beaches near Lima," Bob said, "but the surf is small.
"The biggest waves are about 10ft. high, and a permanent off-shore wind makes the water too choppy for really good surfing.
"But Peru itself, and the people! They're terrific."
For winning the international exhibition board-riding event, Bob was awarded a bronze carving of two seagulls mounted on a marble base.
The trophy weighs 361b. and is valued at £150.
Bob said that all the visiting surfers received "royal" treatment.
(Photograph) Below, holding the bronze seagull trophy he won in the Peruvian Championship while John Severson is presented with his cup for second place.
Servants employed by the Waikiki Surf Club took charge of their surfboards, rubbed them down with paraffin wax. carried them to the water's edge, and even waited to carry them back after Bob and the other boys had finishing riding.
The servants handed them towels after they showered in the surf club, and even rubbed suntan lotion on their noses before they went out in the sun again.
After
leaving school at 15, Bob did a two-year course at Sydney
Technical College to become a qualified woolclasser.
He worked in
shearing sheds in N.S.W. and Queensland to save the £600 for
the trip to Hawaii.
During that time he visited every surf beach in the eastern States.
"Fairy Bower, about a mile off Manly Beach, is THE spot in Australia when the waves are on," he says.
"The surf
in Hawaii, however, is even better-j ust like I'd always
imagined.
But it is
very different from ours.
"Waikiki Beach is similar to many Australian beaches- and not so good.
''But for
the keen surfboard rider other Hawaiian beaches have the
perfect waves.
These
beaches - Makaha, Sunset, Alamoana, and the Banzai Pipeline
- have the best surf in the world.
"'The waves, building up to heights of 15 to 25ft. and then dumping on the shore, are very exciting to ride.
"And the greatest thrill of all is the Banzai Pipeline.
"This is an area where the waves, often reaching 25ft., curl over at the top to form a 'pipe' before dumping on a rocky shelf of jagged coral.
"And this was the place that put me out of the Hawaiian championships.
"I lost my
board going down the Pipeline, but got out of it with a few
scratches and an injured leg.
My board,
however, was wrecked.
All the
front was bashed in and the fin was snapped off."
Notes
1962
Peruvian International Contest, Lima Peru
Inaugural
contest at Kon Tiki Surf.
Large wave,
small wave and paddling races.
The Big Wave
contest was won by Felipe Pomar.
The same week a speciality Big Wave contest was held at Villa Beach, won by Australian surfer, Bob Pike.
Correcting the
previous entry, Felipe Pomar emailed in January 2010:
I was
enjoying your site when I came across a mistake .
You site
shows Bob Pike from Au. as the winner of the Peruvian
International 1962 Big Wave event.
Bob was my
friend,and a great big wave surfer.
And he did
win that event that year at Villa beach.
That event
however was a specialty event.
The Peru
International Big wave event was held that same week at the
Kon Tiki Surf spot.
The winner
of the Peru International Big Wave Contest in the year 1962
was Felipe Pomar.
Sorry to
point out a mistake in your site.
Hopefully
you can correct that .
Many thanks to
Felipe for this contribution.
This summer thousands of
Australian teenagers will be going surfboard-riding.
With the sport growing enormously
in popularity, special sections of most beaches are now
reserved for board-riders, and the riders have developed a
language all their own.
So if you're a sandie who dreams of riding an elephant gun out the hack, waiting to beach a boomer without going down the mine, you'd better study this . . .
ANGLE: Direction a surfboard
travels across a wave, for example, left angle.
BAGGIES: Baggy pants worn over
swimsuits when riding a surfboard.
BEACH BUM: A boy who doesn't work
or go to school, just hangs around the beach all day and
surfs.
BEACH A WAVE: To ride the same
wave all the way to the beach.
BIG SETS: Groups of extra big
waves, breaking and rolling in one after the other.
BIG W: Dramatic fall off a
surfboard.
BLASTER: A big wave.
BLEACHIE: Surboard-rider who
bleaches his hair.
BOARD SHORTS: Pants worn for
riding surfboards. .
BOARD WAGGON: Car used for
transporting surfboards from beach to beach.
BOATIES: Members of a surf club
boat crew.
BODGIES: Lumps on knees and feet
caused by constant surfboard-riding.
BODY SHOOTING: Riding a wave
without a board.
BOMBIE: Short for bombora, where
waves break over a reef of rocks just below the surface.
BOOMER: Big wave.
"BOWER" BOYS: Name given to expert
riders at Fairy Bower, a surfing spot about one mile off Manly
Beach, Sydney, famous for its big and sometimes dangerous
surf.
CORNER: Changing direction while
riding a wave. For example, left corner is to turn to the
left.
CUT: Another method of turning
across a wave. To right cut is to move sharply to the right
when riding a wave.
DEEP-SEA FIN: Special type of
surfboard fin, made from fibreglass or balsa, with a solid
square shape.
DING: Split or hole in a
surfboard.
DOWN THE MINE: When nose board
goes under the surface an heads for the bottom, throwing tk
DUMP: A big wave which breaks
suddenly and steeply, with most of the water hitting the
bottom hard.
Can be very dangerous.
ELEPHANT GUN: A type of surfboard,
long, tapered, and heavy, used in big surfs.
Used to shoot the big ones, hence
the name.
EL SPONTANEO: Method of trick
riding-right at the front of ihe board, feet apart and
crouching over.
FLICK-OFF: Method of getting off a
wave as it nears the shore. Moving to the back of the board,
the rider flicks the board backwards over the wáve.
GAS: Anything which is very good.
GIDGET: A girl surfboard-rider.
GOOFY FOOT: A very good rider
whoreverses the usual way of standing by putting right foot in
front of left.
GRAB THE RAIL: To grab the side of
the board to avoid losing it on a wave.
GREENIE: A big wave before it
breaks into white foam.
GREMLIN: A mythical figure who
tips up boards, or a young surfrider with bleached hair.
HANGING TEN: A trick method of
riding with toes tucked over the front of the surfboard.
HAWAIIAN PULL-OUT: Grabbing nose
of board and pulling it through a wave.
HEAD DIP: Trick riding - putting
head in and out of a wave while riding it.
HEAVY: A big wave.
HO-DAD: Anyone who annoys board
riders while they surf.
HUEY: The surfboard-riders' god of
the waves.
They often call, "Come on, Huey,
send the waves up," as they wait for a big one beyond the line
of breakers.
HUMP: A wave.
KAHUNA: Similar to "Huey" - the
god of the Californian and Hawaiian board-riders.
KING: The best rider at any beach.
LAYBACK: A supreme test of skill
in trick riding.
The rider lies flat on his back,
with feet facing the way board is going.
LEPRECHAUN: Surfboard-rider under
13 years old.
LOCAL: Usually a good rider who
lives and surfs most of the time at a particular beach.
MALIBU: Type of surfboard made
from foam, balsa, or fibreglass and under 10ft. long.
MUNCHIE: Any type of food.
NOAH: Shark, from rhyming slang
"Noah's Ark."
NOSE-RIDING: Standing right at
front of the board while riding a wave.
OKINOUIE: Type of board similar to
the malibu.
OKS: Bermuda shorts worn for
surfboard-riding.
OUTSIDE or OUT THE BACK: A long
way out at sea, beyond the first line of breakers.
PIRATE: A board-rider who crashes
into other riders and makes a nuisance of himself.
PLANK: Any type of surfboard.
PIG: Type of surfboard with back
and front ends shaped to a point.
PITT STREET SHOOT: A wave with
four or more riders on it at the same time.
POLY: Type of board made of foam
and fibreglass.
POPE: The best rider of a group of
locals or, more usually, the best of a number of neighboring
groups.
Better than a "king."
QUASIMODO: Trick riding, with body
bent nearly double, with one hand stretched out in front and
the other behind.
RUBBISHED: To be thrown off wave
and dumped on shore.
SANDIES: People who sit on the
beach and don't usually surf; and learners.
SHORE DUMP: A wave which breaks
heavily on the sand.
SLIDE: Moving smoothly on a
wave-front the crest to the trough.
SLICE: To travel across a wave
with sharp cut to the right or left.
STRINGER: Strip of hardwood set
into a foam board to strengthen it.
SURFTE: A fond term for a good and
keen surfer. ,
SURF KING: A good rider in an
area, sometimes conceited.
SURF SAFARI: A trip around
different beaches to find a good surf.
TANDEM: Two people riding on one
surfboard.
TEARDROP: Type of surfboard with
wide back and pointed front.
TIKI: Lucky charm worn by some
riders.
TOES-ON-NOSE: Trick riding,
standing at front of board with toes curled over the edge.
TOURIST: A board-rider who travels
from his usual beach to another for the day.
Sometimes refers to a beginner who
becomes a pest to other riders.
TUBE: The area of a dumping wave
between the breaking crest and the trough.
UTOPIA: Makaha Beach in Hawaii,
considered by board-riders as the best surfing spot in the
world.
WALL: A steep wave.
WAX: Paraffin wax, rubbed on a
board to prevent slipping.
WHITE WATER: Area of surf where
the waves are breaking.
WIDOWS: Girls left sitting on the
beach all day while their boy-friends ride their surfboards.
WIPEOUT: A dramatic fall off a
board when a rider is trying to catch a wave.
WIPEOUT WAGGON: Car used for
transporting boards and riders from beach to beach.
ZIP TWEEDS: Long shorts worn for
board-riding.
Trove
1962 'SURF- RIDERS'
DICTIONARY', The Australian Women's Weekly (1933 - 1982), 24
October, p. 3. (Teenagers Weekly), viewed 01 Sep 2014,
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article44027354
Seeing the world on surfboards
By KERRY
YATES
Three young Sydney men have formed a successful partnership with the inviting slogan "See the world on a surfboard."
THE partners are Paul Witzig, Peter Clifton, and Paul Quiney, all 21 and all expert surfboard riders.
The firm, Surfing Promotions, was formed about nine months ago as the Australian agency for an American film producer, Bruce Brown, of Dana Point, California.
"Bruce has
a large studio in Hollywood," said Peter, "and travels the
world shooting scenes for his surfing movies.
"He has
already had three outstanding successes with 'Slippery When
Wet,' 'Surf Crazy,' and 'Barefoot Adventure.' "
Paul Witzig
met Bruce Brown in Hawaii two tyears ago.
Paul was on
his way to join his parents for a holiday in Europe, and
Bruce was filming "Slippery When Wet."
Paul, who owned his first surfboard when he was eight, said he couldn't pass through Hawaii without trying its famous surf, so he stopped off for two weeks.
"I stayed with some Californian surfboard riders in a beach house at Sunset Beach," he said, "and Bruce was living next door.
"I got to know many of the local Hawaiian and Californian riders and they wanted to know all about Australia.
"Bruce was very interested in our surfing and I offered to sponsor him on a trip to Australia to show some of his movies."
Bruce accepted the offer and this was the beginning of Surfing Promotions.
Last tour big success
After Paul had arranged showings and publicity, Bruce toured the east coast of Australia last summer with "Bare- foot Adventure* and "Slippery When Wet."
The tour
was a great success.
Paul made
enough money to cover Bruce's air fare to Australia and all
touring expenses, a reasonable profit, and still had
something over as working captial for new ventures.
While he
was in Australia Bruce filmed part of his latest film,
"Surfing Hollow Days."
A
full-color, feature-length movie, it stars surfing champions
of Australia, New Zealand, Hawaii, California, Mexico, and
Florida.
To a surfer, a "hollow day" is a day when the waves curve up and curl completely over before crashing on the shore - thus forming a hollow tunnel of water.
The film mostly features board-riding, but there are also exciting scenes of body-surfing, sailing, and water-skiing.
Surfers play with shark
One dramatic sequence shows surfers at Santa Barbara playing "Nip and Tuck" with a 15ft. shark.
Paul Witzig appears a few times in the film, riding huge waves at beaches on the north coast of N.S.W.
Peter Clifton stars in the water-skiing scenes, and is also shown "free-planing" - which is skiing behind a motor-boat using a surfboard (waxed heavily to stop the skier from slipping) instead of skis.
Paul Witzig asked Peter Clifton and Paul Quiney to join him in Surfing Promotions to bring this film to Australia.
"Surfing Hollow Days" opened in Sydney a few weeks ago and the firm has arranged 60 showings in Queensland, N.S.W., Victoria, and South Australia during the next few months.
Peter and Paul Quiney have been riding surfboards at Sydney beaches for about five years and met Paul Witzig while surfing.
Although Surfing Promotions means only part-time work so far, the boys signed contracts with Bruce Brown, registered their partnership, and set up a modern office at Newport (a beach suburb on Sydney's north side), where they employ a secretary to do typing and answer inquiries.
(Photograph) EXAMINING a sequence in the film "Surfing Hollow Days" are, from left. Peter Clifton, Paul Witzig, and Paul Quiney.
Paul Witzig has just completed fourth year Architecture at Sydney University.
As head man and organiser of the firm, he flew to the States a few months ago to make official arrangements with Bruce Brown to bring "Surfing Hollow Days" to Australia.
When the film arrived in Sydney he had to arrange for it to be cleared through Customs and the Censorship Board.
(Photograph)
PHIL EDWARDS, of California, riding a huge wave at Sunset
Beach, Hawaii.
Phil, who
is recognised as the best surfboard-rider in the world,
stars in the film which is now being shown in Australia.
Peter, a copywriter for a Sydney advertising agency, is the Press agent and publicity officer for Surfing Promotions.
He has organised an extensive advertising campaign in local newspapers and national surfing magazines, designed posters and pamphlets, and has arranged radio and television interviews to promote the film.
Paul Quiney
is studying accountancy and works as a junior accountant in
a city office.
He handles
the legal side of the firm, the financial worries, and the
theatre bookings.
Surf safari with film
The firm owns its own film projection unit and employs Peter Hamill, 20, a surfboard builder, to run the projector at every showing.
Paul
Witzig, on university holidays, will tour with the film for
the whole run.
And Peter
and Paul Quiney will take their annual holidays to help him.
The boys are making the tour in an old car, with four surfboards tied on the roof and posters for the film plastered all over the body.
"On all our
trips we keep a lookout, and Stop whenever we find a good
surf running," said Paul Witzig.
"Our
business trip is a surf safari, too."
The boys are not drawing weekly wages from their firm, but plan to divide the profit at the end of the tour, leaving enough in "kitty" to finance their next enterprise.
In this way
they hope to develop Surfing Promotions into a profitable
full-time business.
Trove
1963 'Seeing the world on surfboards', The
Australian Women's Weekly (1933 - 1982), 2 January, p. 3.
(Teenagers' Weekly), viewed 01 Sep 2014,
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article51603206
The "Midget" does Hawaiian ... and wins world
title.
By Kerry Yates
Bernard Farrelley, the 18-year-old Sydney boy who recently won the International Surfboard Riding Championship in Hawaii, became a film star at the same time.
The film,
being produced by another Sydney surfer, Bob Evans, is due
for release in Australia within the next few weeks,
Benard, a
lanky, blue-eyed lad, is known to his friends as "Midge,"
and his nickname inspired the title of the film: "Midget
Goes Hawaiian."
Evans, who
edits a surfing magazine and has aleady produced two other
feature-length surfing movies and several shorts for
television, chose Midge as the star after he had won several
local surfboard championships.
Work on the
film began last March.
Bob, Midge,
and other expert board-riders visited the best surfing
beaches on Australia's east coast to record sequences for
the first half of the film.
Bob then
organised a team to represent Australia at the international
Surfing Championships held annually at Makaha Beach, Hawaii.
Three other
Sydney boys, David Jackman Mick McMahon, and Barry Cardiff,
joined Bob and Midge to form the team, and they flew to
Hawaii just before Christmas.
The surfing
championships are not held on any set day, only on days when
a good surf is running at Makaha.
Race Delayed.
When the
plane on which the boys and their surfboards were travelling
set down in Hawaii, they heard that the semi-finals were in
progress that day at the beach 30 miles away,
An urgent
phone call to contest officials delayed the last semi-final
so that the Australians could compete.
The boys
hailed a taxi, the driver loaded their surfboards on the
roof and they made a dash for it.
At Makaha,
traffic police escorted them through the crowds and thev
were cheere by competitors and spectators as they hurried to
the dressing-sheds to change.
The waves
were really big, and the Australians were competeting
against riders from California, Peru, and Hawaii in front of
spectators from all over the world.
The contest
is judged by experts standing on a tower high above the
sand.
Points are
given for length of ride, ability to manoeuvre, and good
sports-manship.
As leader
of the team, Bob said all the Australians surfed the 15ft.
waves like veterans.
"Midge was
outstanding," he said, "'and we were not surprised when he
was selected for the finals.
"These were
held a few days later.
Unfortunately,
the
waves were much smaller, breaking at three or four feet.
"Most riders
paddled a long way out in the hope of picking up a few big
ones, but they were out of luck.
"Midge
adopted a now or never attitude, and moved to within 200
yards of the beach.
"'He cracked
every wave that came along, large or small, and proved his
skill so well that he was crowned champion of the year.
"We expected
him to put on a good show, but winning the grand event was
just wonderful."
The trophy
Midge won was a statue of a surf rider and his board, carved
from wood.
The
presentation of this prize is a highlight of Bob's movie,
which also shows Midge riding in the final.
This was the
first time a competitor from a foreign nation had won the
title - the highest honor in the surfing world.
Midge, who
is a surfboard builder by trade, designed and made the two
surfboards he took to Hawaii.
One is a
light "hot-dog" board used for fast turning and trick
riding.
The other is
a heavier board for big seas.
The
Australians shared a house on Sunset Beach, 40 miles from
Honolulu.
They spent
the next four or five weeks on a surf safari - travelling
round the surfing beaches of Hawaii.
Bob was
always on location, filming the adventures of the Sydney
surfers as they rode big waves alongside the champions from
Hawaii and California.
The boys are
now back in Sydney, already saving for another trip.
Most of them
hope to compete again next time, but Midge is determined
that he will.
"I just must
get back to Hawaii to defend my title," he said.
MIDGE
FARRELLEY, with the trophy he won in Hawaii.
(Photograph
Ron Church)
NO SURFIES, By REOUEST
Visiting
international surfboard experts say that although they
spend all their spare time riding the waves they aren't
"surfies."
By KERRY
YATES
(Photograph)
LINDA
BENSON, U.S. women's champion.
This is
her fifteenth board.
"Of course,
we have a few 'ho-dads' (young larrikins), too, who bleach
their hair and hang around the beaches all day," said Joey
Cabell, the American who won the last international
surfboard championships at Hawaii.
"But nearly
all the surfers in California and Hawaii go to work or
college, and surfboard riding is only a sport, not their
life.
They devote
many hours to it and take their sport seriously, but so do
most tennis and football
players."
Joey and the
national champions from the United States, Peru, New
Zealand. France, Britain and South Africa came to Sydney to
compete in the world surfboard championships held at Manly
last weekend.
Although
most of the overseas stars have to return to work next week,
they stayed on after the championships to ride as much
Australian surf as possible before flying home.
"Weather
doesn't bother the true surf fanatic," said Gordon Burgis,
surfboard champion of Great Britain.
"In Jersey
last winter we were riding when the water was only 36
degrees."
Gordon, 20,
lives with his parents in Jersey, one of the Channel
Islands.
"Board-riding
is
just becoming popular with teenagers there," he said.
"I've been
riding for about two and a half years now - until then it
was mostly visiting Australians who surfed there."
The British
championships, the first, were held at Jersey recently with
competitors from Australia, France, South Africa, and
England.
"Most people
are surprised to hear of surf in England, but there are some
good waves in Cornwall," he pointed out.
Keen Parisian
Gordon
sometimes surfs at France's famous surf spot, Biarritz, near
the Spanish border, with the French national champion, Joel
de Rosnay.
Joel, 26, a
research chemist at the Louis Pasteur Institute in Paris,
drives 500 miles to Biarritz whenever he has a free weekend.
President of
the Surf Club de France, he was taught to ride a surfboard
by Peter Viertel, the American writer who is married to film
star Deborah Kerr.
"'Peter's a
champion surf rider and snow-skier, too, and brought one of
the first surfboards to France about 1956," said Joel.
"Now there
are two or three hundred riders on the coast."
Joel, who's
married to an English journalist and has two babies, thinks
the teenagers who ride the boards in Sydney are similar to
those in France.
"In France
they wear the same types of T-shirts and board-shorts, and
have lots of fun riding the waves," he said.
"We haven't
got any 'bleachies,' as you call them, but everyone's doing
the Stomp there.
"We call it
'Le Surf,' but it's the same as your Stomp."
On the way
to Australia, Joel surfed in California and Hawaii with Joey
Cabell.
Born in
Hawaii, Joey, 25, learnt to ride a board when he was seven,
and became one of the island's top riders before moving to
California four years ago.
He's a
restaurant-owner, but had time to win the famous
international surf- board championships at Makaha Beach,
Hawaii, last December.
Joey likes
the Sydney surf.
"We've
struck some good waves here," he said, '"and the shore break
(when the waves break almost on the beach) is unique.
I don't
recall having surfed anything like it before."
Four other
champions from California, John Richards, Mike Doyle, Phil
Edwards, and top American girl surfer Linda Benson, also
came to Sydney.
''Little
John" Richards (as he is known) holds the American west
coast championship.
A salesman
for a surfboard manufacturer, he's 24 and married.
Mike Doyle,
23, of Long Beach, has been surfing for 10 years, and for
the last two has won every tandem (two riding on the same
board) event in California.
Mike and his
partner, Linda Merrill, 19, won the international tandem
event in Hawaii last year.
"Tandem
riding is something quite new, but is becoming a big sport -
it has great spectator interest," he said.
"Linda and I
have made up dozens of tricks, starting from the simple
hand-stands or her standing on my shoulders.
"We usually
practise for hours on sand before trying them out."
Mike, who is
studying to be a science teacher, surfs Hawaii every summer
and has starred in many surfing movies, riding by himself.
"But I like
tandem riding best in competitions" be said.
"Most of the
single riders' tricks have been discovered, but there are
still a thousand more for tandem teams."
Phil
Edwards, 25, another top rider, was chosen as the
international judge for the world titles in Sydney.
A surfboard
and sailing boat builder at Oceanside, California, he first
came out here two years ago to star in American film
producer Bruce Brown's surfing movie "Waterlogged," which
featured him riding at many Australian beaches.
Linda
Benson, 20, is the present United States invitational
women's surf- board champion.
"I've been
riding for nine years now," she said, "but it's only over
the past few summers, since the movie 'Gidget' was released,
that girls have really taken to board-riding in California."
Linda, who
lives in Encinitas, California, is a secretary for one of
America's biggest surfboard shops and goes surfing whenever
the "waves are on" at nearby beaches.
She always
goes to Hawaii on her annual holidays, and recently
"surfed-in" for the American film star Annette Funicello in
the board-riding scenes in two films, "Muscle Beach Party"
and "Bikini
Beach."
Not "Muscly"
Durban craze.
Max, 25, is
a professional lifeguard at Durban Beach and has been riding
a board for nine years.
He thinks
that a visiting Australian surf team took the first board to
South Africa about 1954, but says it's only over the past
two years that board-riding has caught on over there, and
the teenagers are "stoked" (the surfer's term for crazy)
about it.
"But we
don't have any beachcombers," Max said.
"The Twist
is still big there, but I've promised to take back the Stomp
with me."
Max plans to
stay a few weeks longer in Australia to surf the N.S.W.
coastline.
"From all
reports, it sounds as though most Australian surfs are very
similar to ours," he said, "but I'd like to find out for
myself."
(Portrait
Photographs)
HECTOR
VELANDE, Champion of Peru.
MIKE
DOYLE, Tandem co-champion.
JOEL de
ROSNAY, Champion of France.
MAXY
WETTLAND, S. Africa champion.
JOEY
CABELL, Hawaii champion.
PHIL
EDWARDS, international judge.
"LITTLE
JOHN" RICHARDS (Calif.)
GORDON
BURGIS, British champion.
WONDER BOY OF THE WAVES
Australian
teenager who won the world surfboard crown
By KERRY
YATES
Whenever
friends come looking for Nat Young, his mother tells them,
"Wherever the surf's on - that's where you'll find
him."
Nat, the
Sydney teenager who recently won the World Surfboard
Championship in California, spends most of his life at the
beach.
"It's been
the same for the past eight years," Mrs. Young said.
"Every day-
morning and afternoon- he goes off surfing.
"At least I
know where he is- and it's really paid off now."
At Ocean
Beach, near San Diego, California, more than 80,00
spectators watched Nat take the world title.
He was
riding his favorite surfboard which he calls "Sam" and took
with him from Sydney.
In the
Women's Championships, Australian girls Gail Couper, of
Victoria, and Phylis O'Donnell, of Queensland, came fourth
and sixth respectively.
Nat, 18,
scored 293 points to win by 63 points from Jock Sutherland,
of Hawaii, and 70 points from Corky Carroll, also of the
United States.
"The 8ft.(?)
waves were similar to ones we get at Manly Beach- and just
what I'd hoped for," said Nat
after the
contest.
Australia's
wonder surfer has a long list of titles.
As well as
being Australian champion, Nat currently holds he N.S.W.,
Newcastle Hunter Valley, and Bell's Beach, Victoria, titles
and has won a string of local and interstate surfboard
rallies.
He has 25
impressive trophies in a cabinet in his Warriewood home, and
has won tb i ee overseas trips.
As
Australian champion he won a trip to the World Titles in
Hawaii in 1964, and another to the recent ones in
California.
Last year he
won a trip to Peru for the international contest in a
seven-mile paddle race on Sydney Harbor.
In Peru he
won the World Paddle race and took second place to Peruvian
surfer Pillipe Pomar, in the World Surfboard Championship.
"Peru as a
good lesson to him- he lost the big title by one point,"
Mrs. Young said.
"Nat knew he
could never count on winning.
He never
even mentioned the possibility of pulling it off in
California."
But that
didn't stop him putting in weeks of practice.
He surfed
every day and spent most weekends on surfaris up and down
the eastern coastline.
"My favorite
haunt is Noosa Heads, about 80 miles north of Brisbane," Nat
always says.
"But if I
can't make it that far, I settle for the good long rides at
Crescent Heads and Byron Bay."
After they
heard the good news (the Australian team manager, Bob Evans,
rang from California), Mr. and Mrs. Young, their two married
daughters, and younger son, Chris, couldn't even walk down
the street without someone offering congratulations.
"And for
days the phone didn't stop ringing," Mrs. Young said. "We're
all so proud."
Just before
he left Australia, Nat joined an interna tional sports wear
company.
He will
visit their main office in Portland, U.S.A., before
returning to Australia via Hawaii.
In Hawaii
he'll star in a movie by Australian surfer film-maker Bob
Evans.
It will be
released Australia wide in January.
Then, after
six weeks away, Nat will be back to catch up with all his
commitments in Sydney.
As a top
surfer, Nat has a weekly column in The Sunday Telegraph,
demonstrates and promotes his own custom surfboards, and
makes personal appearances at Sydney stores.
Quiet and
unassuming, Nat has definite ideas for the future.
He has made
quite a lot of money from "surfing side-lines."
He saves
every penny and has bought a block of land at Whale Beach in
Sydney.
He hopes to
become a professional surboard rider and build a house with
a beach on his doorstep.
(Photograph)
WORLD
SURFBOARD CHAMPION Nat Young, 18, of Warriewood, N.S.W.,
with some of his trophies.
He won the
world title this month in California, U.S.A.
It could be her age- after all, she only recently turned 15.
Unfortunately she has come good in a bad year, because the financial support usually given to sport by companies has been directed to the Olympic appeal.
Then again, she's a female board rider.
Judy is what one would call a typical Australian girl -long, gently sun-bleached blond hair, large hazel eyes, and a scattering of freckles on her rather babyish face.
She
has a golden year
round tan.
She's
very shy.
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