Introduction
Finalist Mike Doyle's good natured account of the first World Contest held at Manly Beach, Australia in 1964.Despite being in the country for only a week he reports favourably on the enthusiasm of the local media, the generous facilities, and the professional contest organisation;  judged fairly, definitely the best ever and certainly the largest.
He also looks favourably on the lower drinking age (21 in USA but 18 in Australia, and ID's aren't checked), compliments the hospitality of the locals, and observes the girls are beautiful.
 is eighteen .
The young peo­ple drink and dance in hotels to Beetle Bands.
9 February 1964



Other features include an interview with 16 year old Corky Carroll (page 9) and an article by him, Surfside - Then and Now on page 32.
The Special Equipment Features have The Business by Bob Cooper with Reyolds Yater (page 23), Rebirth of the "Concave" (page 27), and The First Annual Buyer's Guide on page 33.

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Page 33

AUSTRALIAN WORLD SURFING CHAMPIONSHIPS Recently, in late May, the Australian World Surfing Championships were held in Sydney, Australia - the first contest in the history of surfing that was truly an international event. There were international judges and representatives from every surfing country in the world - America, Great Britain, France, South Africa, New Zealand, and Australia. These surfers were flown from their respective countries to Australia by AMPOL, the Australian sponsor of the event. But the outstanding fact was that for the first time the contestants were treated in a manner befitting their status as National champions; they were shown respect and courtesy by their Australian hosts, their food, lodging and transportation were taken care of, and in short - they were celebrities. All in all the Australian contest can be looked upon as a tremendous step forward- a step that we in America might very well emulate. Mike Doyle was one of the representatives from this country, and he placed second in the Men's Finals. The following is Mike's story.

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cameras and press people. All this confusion, bright lights and questions were just to much to cope with after so many hours in the air. I realized I couldn't understand everything that was happening and I found my­self retreating into one of those trav­eller's dazes, designed for such con­fusion and unfamiliar surroundings. However, through it all I did begin to understand how much large scale planning had led up to all this. I was introduced to Gordon Burges of Great Britain, who won the Channel Island Championships this year. Next I met Hector Velarde and Edwardo Arena who were represent­ing Peru. Soon we were driven by chauffeur to the Hotel Pacific- right across the street from the contest site. Here we met Maxy Wettheland of South Africa and John McDermott from New Zealand. We were given a good room, and the manager left us several autographed bottles of beer. Television and radios were wheeled in for our convenience. For once we were being treated as ath­letes should be. It was amazing to see the warmth and hospitality shown toward these surfers; food and lodg­ing had all been taken care of. From our windows we could see the surf; it was small but the wind was off­shore so we went out immediately. The air was cold but the water was enjoyable warm and we had a good time in our first waves Down Under. The next day- Wednesday- we were invited to Farmer's Department Store, the largest of its kind in Sydney. Taxis picked us up promptly at 10:15 A.M. When we arrived we were agreeably surprised to find that the six State Girls Surfing Champions had also been invited. We were en­tertained to lunch and interviewed by Bob Evans the Australian Surfing Association's Executive office holder. We were then driven to Miranda for more interviews, photos, autographs and food.

Contestants: L.J. Richards (USA), Mike Dooley (Australia), Midget Farrelly (Australia), Mike Doyle (USA), and Bobby Brown (Australia). Not shown: Joey Cabell Seventy thousand spectators, radio, television, and photographers galore. As large as Makaha and Huntington Beach rolled into one.

On Thursday the sky was clear and the waves were good.
The swell was running between five and six feet—beautiful small beach-break type waves that offered both lefts and rights.
At 10:00 we were picked up by our chauffeur and were taken to a civic reception put on by Lord (Mayor of Sydney, Alderman C. No­ble.)
(continued)

"Buzzy Tank" Henrey - Judge.

Hector Velarde from Peru, enjoys a break from the contest with one of the local girls.

Mike Dooley arches on the nose as Mike Doyle stalls back in the soup.

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(a civic reception put on by Lord) Mayor of Sydney, Alderman C. No­ble. He had invited all overseas and interstate contestants to the Sydney Town Hall. That evening found us again being wined and dined - this time by the Mayor of Manly at the Hotel Manly. Midget Farrelly greeted us and explained the rules and contest reg­ulations. We learned that during the past few months those states having surfers had held interstate competi­tions- a total of more than 2,000 surfers. The Interstate boy and girl champions and overseas champions were seeded into the quarter finals. Of the 2,000 Australian competitors only the top 100 were allowed to compete. These were selected in pro­portion to the total number of surf­ers in each state. The qualifying heats were held on Saturday so we went surfing at a place called the Gardens about five miles north of our hotel. Here we found excellent beach-break surf comparable to a cross between Pupukea and Banzai Pipeline. Later Joey Cabell, L. J. and our Australian surfing friends Tony and Peter Rae went to North Narabean and found a totally different type of surf: Six and seven foot peaks that threw out from the top similar to the Wedge.

Photographs a. Linda Benson leans over onto one rail and tries an all-out cutback ... but she doesn't quite make it. Linda placed second to Australia's Phyllis O'Donnell in the Finals. b. Unknown c. Midget Farrelly shows the style that won him the championship.

Sunday was the day that everyone had been waiting for- the day that some of us had travelled half way 'round the world for.
Crowds of seventy thousand spectators were pre­dicted by radio and television.
The surf was a perfect four and five feet and excellent waves peeled off a sandbank, providing long right slides.
By noon the crowd had reached the predicted level.
In the quarter finals L. J. Richards really impressed the crowd with his feet together soup-sliding.
The semi-finals were run off and finally the finals.
Three Americans: Joey Cabell, L. J. Richards and I -  and three Austral­ians: Midget Farrelly, Mick Dooley and Bobby Brown were the finalists.
After the finals and before the an­nouncement of the winners, Linda Benson and I put on a tandem exhi­bition in front of seventy thousand people.
Luckily we did three perfect tricks and then quit while we were ahead.
This was the first tandem ever seen in Australia.
Finally the winners were an­nounced. Midget was first, I was second and Joey Cabell was third.
In the Juniors, and competing for the Australian Championship, were Bob Connelly (1st), Nat Young (2nd), and Wayne Cowper (3rd).
The Women's winners were Phyllis O'Donnell (1st), Linda Benson (2nd), and Hether Nickelson (3rd).
The contest was definitely the best ever and certainly the largest.
It was judged fairly and there were no com­plaints about who should have won.

Life in Australia is quite different: the drinking age is eighteen and ID's aren't checked.
The young peo­ple drink and dance in hotels to Beetle Bands.
The people are more friendly and hospitable to strangers and go out of their way to help you.
The girls are beautiful, wearing little or no makeup, and let their hair hang straight.
Almost everyone swims and surfs.
The girls wear bikinis while surfing and sunning, and the whole atmosphere is one of casualness.
What surf I did see in the short time I was there suggested that Aus­tralia most certainly does have good clean waves - not just the choppy wind surf so often associated.
I just wish I could have stayed longer; I made many friends who were hard to leave behind.
That's the trouble with a short trip: you meet someone who really interests you . . . and you have to leave her.