: Board Collector: August 2013

Local Knowledge Part 2

I am aware that there is no such thing as the perfect surfboard.
But this favorite of mine comes very close.

1982, Local Knowledge from Kirra, 6'2" triple fly, swallow tail, channel bottom, twin fin by Steve 'Zorro' Godard.
I suspect the reason this board performs so well for me, personally, is the following combination of elements, modern outline (for its time) coupled with an even distribution of extra foam through the nose, chest and tail.
I notice that compared to todays modern foils, throughout the 70's and 80's shapers put a fairly even amount of foam throughout the board, resulting in the 'beaked nose' and think tail that is rarley seen today.

Generally I'm pretty terrible at making up my mind on what board to ride from my collection and where to go to surf when it is on. My indecisiveness can lead me to take me up to half and hour umming and ahhing under the house trying to pick a board to ride on any given day depending on the conditions.

This time, I soon as I read the weather report I knew where I was going and who was coming with me!

Fast, loose and reliable.

It was cold and dark when I arrived and the south west wind seemed to be blowing directly off the icy slopes of the snowy mountains which felt strange for this place that generally works best in summer time swells.

The chilly conditions meant I was the first out and I had half an hour of solitude and my pick of the sets as I watched the sun rise over the head land.

In the early morning light I could see some waves wrapping around the headland from the sand dunes. When I saw the sets feathering in the off shore wind and I knew I'd made the right call.

I think this is my all time favorite surf photo that I've ever taken.

I had just pulled off the back of the wave after a nice long ride and was momentarily standing still on the surface of the water on waiting for my board to sink, as I watched the following 4 to 5 foot waves of the 3 wave set roll through unridden.

The sky was pink, the breeze was light off shore and I was still alone in the water.

Two guys jumped off the rocks soon after, but it still took them some time to work out their positioning allowing me my pick of the sets.

Fast down the line

By the time I climbed out I was alone again. The sun and the breeze had come up but the sets were still coming through the empty line up.

Hard edge rails in the tail.

Long walls

Fast and lose in the pocket

Soft rails in the front with an even distribution of foam from nose to tail

Lone surfer in the fun sized pocket

We were not completley alone out there.

There was a school of big bright orange jelly fish bobing around.

Another empty one for me to contemplate as I pull off the wave in front with tired arms and tired legs.

Like a hot knife through butter

This board loves a nice fast cut back section

Playful

The view of my new freind on a small one as I pull off the one in front

The crowd hit maximum capasity of 4 heads including me.

Sequence of a little cover up section

Abort!

One last look from the dunes as I left......

Rip Curls by Bob McTavish's & Bill Shoresbeee

Jason wrote-
"Attached are a couple of McTavish shaped Ripcurls that may interest you.
I've received conflicting reports regarding the story behind Bob shaping boards at Rip Curl. One source saying the boards would have been shaped when he was down at Rip Curl knocking out a few sailboards in the early 80's.
The other that he shaped a few boards when he was at Torquay for Bells over a couple of years.
As you can see, both boards have a McCoy Lazor Zap style outline.
The single fin is 5' 8" x 19.5", the thruster 5' 6" x 19".
He has even signed the single "Mc Zappa".
Haven't ridden either board yet as minor repairs are required but the thruster looks like a little rocket."

I was very pleased to receive these fascinating pics of Jason's Bob McTavish shaped Rip Curl label boards from the early 80's.

I was under the impression that Rip Curl had ceased selling boards under their label by that point in history in Australia.
On the other hand, I am very familiar with the beautiful work done by Bill Shoresbeee and Peter St Pierre from Moonlight Glassing in California at the time but I thought nice boards by Rip Curl were a US phenomenon.

I couldn't help notice that Bob name decal on the 'McZappa' is the same as the one used on my all time favorite twin fin telling me that they may have come out of the same Byron Bay factory around the same time.

"Mc Zappa"

This board is currently making its way up the coast the talented hands of mr Lee Stacey. We got chatting recently about board design and I was explaining that despite having a 7'2" and 6'8" in the racks this board actually became my go to big wave board in California (big wave in California means 6 to 8ft). She handled the biggest days of the year at Swami's and Cardiff reef with ease and even had a couple of runs out at solid Blacks. I said I was really keen for a professional to have a good look at its curves and tail and perhaps explain to me WHY it works so well in waves of consequence.

Then this tidy little restored Michael Anthony shaped Rip Curl surfboard turned up on ebay.

The boards dimensions are 6'2" x 19 1/2" x 2 5/8".

My friend, Jake from California, has found this late 70's Bill Shoresbeee twin fin for me.

Nice.

It seems there was more going on with Rip Curl boards than I thought.

Silver Flight

After reading the California Surf Museum's historical archive that listed Bob Hurley as one of the the founders of Silver Flight I posted a pic of me riding this board with the caption, Sliver Flight, Bob Hurley's first label.

I was stoked when Bob Hurley wrote back.

"Larry Jackson from Sunline started Star Flight for Lonnie Buhn, a great Huntington Beach surfer and board maker. I was lucky enough to help Lonnie by shaping a few boards. Really good times and great people.. P.S. Bill Dinnie was partners with Larry and they both were behind Sliver Flight."