'Old Faithful'- the famous MR Flame board.

So one day I'm walking home from having a surf at Bondi. I'm walking up the stairs out the front of the Pavilion and I hear 'CLUNK' 'CLUNK' 'CLUNK' and I look over and this kid is dragging this Mark Richards stinger down the concrete steps by the tail. 'CLUNK' 'CLUNK' 'CLUNK'. I do a double take cause it looks immediately to me like one of the most famous boards in the world. Mark Richards 'Old Faithful/Flame' 6 ft 8" Ben Apia shaped stinger that he rode at the-
1976 Rip Curl / Mordy Bells Beach Easter Classic (second to Jeff Hackman);
1976 2SM / Coke Surfabout, Sydney (1st);
1977 (the first) Stubbies Contest, Burleigh Heads (Second to Michael Peterson).
I freaked out and caught the nose before it hit the concrete again.
A long story short, the kid went home from the beach in a taxi with his mates and I saved an important piece of surf history.
This board is not the one Ben Apia shaped for MR of course but a March Richards design made in Newcastle in about 1977 or 78.
Its main difference in design is the addition of the second fly or stinger, down near the tail.
I actually took this board up to Newcastle and offered it to MR as a gift. But true to his reputation as kind hearted soul he insisted that I keep it. What a great man.