Regrets, I have a few.......

I found this Mc Coy single fin on a surf trip up the north coast a few years ago. It was a nice board, it had a great spray. I tried to surf it a few times but it was too small for me, so I sold it.
I didn't pay any attention to the 'Mc Coy for PAM' in the stringer, nor did i think much about the size or who it could have been shaped for.
Till my friend gave me on old copy of World Champion surfer Pam Burridge's biography. I flicked through the photos and my heart sank. The provenance of the board was clear. The board was right through the book, Pam rode it right through her career. It was probably one of the most historically important boards I had ever come across and I let it slip through my fingers.
C'est la vie.

You win some, you lose some......

You win some and you lose some and I lost this one.
A 6'2" Hot Buttered single fly, rounded pin, tail single fin.
Don't know where, don't know when...........

Huge reward offered for its safe return.

(joe dirt, this means you)

OP Pro 1985- Competitors tent.

Tom Curren feeling the pressure before the final of the OP Pro at Huntington Pier in 1985. Tom lost to Mark Occhilupo thus sending Mark into a 10 year party frenzy. That all ended happily, as we know, but what I would like to know is who do those boards belong to, who shaped them, and where are they now?

We can see Occy's Rusty Preisendorfer and Tom's Al Merrick.
but who was riding the red jet fins?

also competing in the finals that day were.....
Tom Carroll on his Byrne.
Mike Parsons.......?
Micheal Ho..........?
'Ces' Wilson on his Rex Marsel?

The McCoy brothers

Erik from San Diego wrote- I've been wanting to do an "Innovation Period" inspired shape and thought I'd pick your brain on some of the dimensions on those shapes. I'm particularly interested in some of the shorter/wider/fuller tailed shapes like some of the McCoy's I've seen pictures of. Do you think something like 14.5" nose x 19.5" wide point x 16" tail is in sort of the rough ball park for that type of shape in the 5'7" to 5'9" length range? Thanks for any insight you can share.

There is nothing shorter, wider and fuller than the Geoff McCoy designed 'Lazer Zap' and to a lesser extent 'Tri Zap'.
I got out the ruler and set square and did wide point measurements every 5" up from the tail.
I can't get over the uniqueness of these boards. Their in shape, style and sprays. To me they still look futuristic 26 years on.
Geoff describes how he developed the design on his web site
"After returning from Hawaii in 1971 I started the twin fin revolution. Short wide and thick in the beginning and then later I re-designed a longer, narrower thinner version similar to the twin fins in use today. I was continually experimenting with varying rails, plan shapes, thickness and rockers. I moved on to the wide tail single fin design known as the 'Lazor Zap'. These designs were short, wide and thick. I took most of the area out of the nose and added more width to the tail area. The 'Lazor Zap' is the forerunner to the modern short board."










Ben Lexan and Cheyne Horan.
photo: Waves Magazine No:12 1985.

M.R.U.S.A

James Arroyo sent me these pics of his lovely 6'3" U.S made Mark Richard's twin fin.
The entire board is pigmented white with the geo spray on the deck.
I believe MR licensed his design to Gordon and Smith in the states but I don't know who did the shaping. And didn't they do a damm good job on this one!.
This looks like it was made with the cursed Star Fin system that has become so hard to find these days.
In Australia the twin fin design was licensed by Mad Dog in Byron and was shaped by Mark Platter, Bob Margettes and Tony Cerff.
I visited the show room late one night recently and left drool all over the glass as I was left pinning for one of the new twin fins on the racks.


Ad from 'Surfer' November 1979.

Echo Beach pt. 2

In the 1980's Newport Beach spawned a new era of high performance surfing and entrepreneurship, establishing Orange County as the focal point of the surf industry and a worldwide influencer of youth culture.

This group of surfers came from different backgrounds and interests, bonded in their surfing and exploded on the scene, creating a unique look and revolutionary style that paralleled changes in music, culture and the innovation of young surf companies such as Quiksilver, Stüssy, Schroff, Rip Curl, McCoy and Wave Tools.

Flashy wetsuits, colorful surfboards, and a new wave attitude created a surfing Mecca that was to impact the surfing community around the world and give rise to a global industry.

Photographers, surfers, surfboard shapers, magazines and clothing companies all came together to create this movement, which was focused on a one hundred yard stretch of sand between 52nd and 56th Street known as ECHO BEACH all of which is captured in the new film called ECHO BEACH.

Growing up on the northern beaches of Sydney wearing polka dot board shorts with a hot pink muscle top and flouro braces (yes, braces with board shorts) all I could do was draw Schroff style graphics on my board with marker pen and pretend I knew what was going on.

Once again Mark has supplied the pics from Cali from the launch party of the film. Lucky I wasn't there cause I don't think those boards would have survived the night.

Ace Cool. Part 1

When ever anyone asks me what name I would give my son my answer is immediate.

I would give him the name that I would have liked to be introduced as in the play ground on my first day at a new school.

'Ace Cool'

Ace Cool, also as known as Alec Cooke, was credited with riding the biggest wave ever when I was growing up in the early 80's.

A time before 'tow in' and when big hairy water men were few and far between.

Not universally respected, Ace holds place close to my heart as I remember reading stories if him being spotted drying off after solo 50ft sessions at Kenaea Point and being pulled by helicopter from closing out Wieama Bay.

Imagine my stoke when my good mate Mark sent me these pics of an original 'Ace Cool' custom board at a swap meet in California.

He didn't buy it, but I'm just glad to know quirky classics like that are still floating round out there.