Karma twin fin by Dave Farrow

This little stunner was shaped by Dave Farrow over in Cromer, Norfolk, an area with a small but dedicated surf scene since the late 60s. Dave was a local lad, who got his first board, a 2nd hand Bilbo, on a trip to Newquay in the late 60s. Soon after he tried his hand at shaping and supplied the local surfers. By the mid 70s Lowestoft surf club had over 100 members ,with their own mag Ripple written by Neil Watson.
Dave shaped around 200 boards in Norfolk, with Karmas made there from the mid 70s to 1983 when he moved to Newquay. This board was probably made around 1980, based on the classic Mark Richards twin fin with single flyer and swallow tail. Its a pretty board with a very cool spray and a nice pair of custom made fins. Dimensions are 6'3 x 20 1/2 x 2 1/2.
Theres a similar Karma in the surfing museum's collection, actually donated by Neil Watson, and Pete says this about Dave-
''In the late 1960s, Dave Farrow teamed up with East Runton fisherman Bob Brownsell to build surfboards under the ‘Cougar’ label on the Norfolk coast.
One of their first efforts was to strip, re-shape and glass a board acquired from Pete Bounds, a visiting surfer who brought know-how from his experience in Welsh waves to the early East coast surfing scene.
Soon after Dave set up his own ‘Karma’ label in Cromer and his improving skills found a ready market as surfing took off in East Anglia. He also bought ‘Many Returns‘ a company established by Brian Adams in North Devon, to supply leashes, boardbags and wetsuits.
In 1983 he moved to Newquay in Cornwall, initially building ‘Hott’ surfboards alongside his Karma & Many Returns brands. He’s still there today having applied his long experience to shape, glass, sand and polish boards for many leading manufacturers over the years.''

A nice pair of twins. The Karma with a Piran 6'0 shaped by Mac, probably a bit earlier mabye 1978. The Piran fins look quite early on in development.

1979/80 ,mentions Chris Jones joining Karma as guest shaper.

Classic Norfolk line up, photo by Neil Watson.

A taste of surfing in Norfolk