surfresearch.com.au  corky carroll : the curl line, 1967

Importantly Carroll does emphasise the blending of a series of manoeuvres in to a "continuous flow," and as such the article could be viewed as a a mid-point between Bob McTavish's ground breaking articles of January 1967 and 1968.

The curl line and how the high performer relates his surfing to it, is illustrated here in a ride by Jock Sutherland.
Sutherland moves up and down and surfs both sides of the curl line, in contrast to the "old timers" who
positioned themselves in the curl (on the curl line) and rode away from the break.

Page  57

The top performers of surfing these days are developing a stylish technique that uses the curl every second they are with the wave.
I call this technique "riding the curl line" because the surfer bases every move on the speed and direction of the curl as it moves toward the beach.
Of course, surfers always have used the breaking portion of the wave as a reference point for maneuvers.
However, in the traditional style of yesterday, the surfer criss-crossed back and forth across the wave's face moving away from the curl and occasionally cutting back toward it.
Usually, the surfer's direction was parallel to the beach while the wave was breaking at a diagonal angle toward the shore.
Today's surfer has evolved a technique so he moves in the direction of the curl- on both sides of it- and becomes part of the wave itself.
This technique has a great deal in common with skiing.
The "fall line" is a skiing term meaning the steepest, most direct route down the mountain.
A skier bases his moves around the fall line by maneuvering around it according to the speed at which he wishes to travel.
Surfing has a fall line, too- straight down the

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wave.
But because in surfing the "mountain" is moving, surfing has a different line of riding reference- the curl line.
Surfers have adapted a technique of surfing around the curl line in order to control the tempo of their riding.
Much as a skier uses a series of short turns to slow himself down, a surfer adjusts and readjusts his trim so as to stay as close to the curl as possible.

In surfing the curl line is based on the speed of the breaking curl and the direction which the wave is moving toward the beach.
By determining the point at which the curl will last break on the beach and the best possible take-off spot (where the curl will first break), a surfer can determine direction of the curl and its speed.
Using this as a guideline, he is able to base his maneuvers on this direction, work-

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ing on both sides of the curl line and getting much more out of the wave.
This differs from the "old" style of riding where the surfer constantly tried to position himself on the curl line and ride away from it. This technique allows a surfer to use all of the power the wave has to offer.

There is much more to it than just getting on a slight angle and turning back and forth around the curl.
First of all, there is the wave constantly moving and changing, speeding up its curl or slowing it down, getting steeper or flatter. This is where continuous flow becomes a necessity, and only through being able to react to the wave, with the wave, can a surfer really use this technique fully.
By putting combinations of maneuvers together with the movement of the wave, the surfer, his board
 

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 Jock Sutherland hangs high ready to "roller coaster" with the breaking wave.
[Similar to page 56.]

and the wave become one motion.
It is stylish and beautiful, and the rider never insults the wave; he brings out the symmetric beauty of it and makes himself part of it.

Once a rider adjusts his riding to the wave, he becomes rhythmical and combines his moves instead of making them separately. By using the curl line, he can maneuver into it and then follow through, setting himself right into the motion of flowing back into it.

There are many different maneuvers and combinations.
The turn, the side-slip, the nose ride, the stall, the climb, the drop, the ins, the outs, the ups, the downs are all maneuvers to control tempo.

But the one most important factor is trim, setting trim, breaking trim, adjusting, read-

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David Nuuhiwa assaults the curl line with a whip cut-back at Oceanside.

Bob Lonardo drives into a section at Virginia Beach, but will reverse his direction as he takes the drop.

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Surfer  Volume 8 Number 5 November 1967. Cover: Copy courtesy of Graham Sorensen Collection.

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