Shaun scored some good 70s boards last week , including this rare Outer Limits single flyer pintail , shaped by Martin Geary . Very sleek design with a wooden fin which looks nice but is usually quite thick. Martin was a good and powerful surfer and there are photos in 70s mags of him rocketing down Moroccan point breaks - this would have been a good board for that. These Outer Limits, with logo by Fuzz Bleakley , were from an individual and small production factory, and are prized today. 7'6 x 19 x 2 1/2 ish.
Outer Limits ad 1972
Nice pair. Both by Tris Cokes. The swallow tail with the small logo and deep purple tint is the earlier one, probably 1973 or 74, and the yellow one would have been made just after and looks more of an all rounder. See how the fins changed in those years too. The swallow is 6'5 x 19 1/2 and the roundtail 6'4 x 20 1/2.
Thanks to Shaun for the photos.
Tris 1973
Tris on a surf trip to Aberdeen 1968, photo Graham Sorensen
Tris boards with Neil Wernham artwork, from the museum's collection.
I spoke with Neil last week ( he lives in NZ) and he said he did quite a lot of sprays in between sanding ; the first ones were done with spray cans and cut outs, and then he got an airbrush which was much better and allowed him to do much more spontaneous designs. He still has the same airbrush and came back in 2000 to work on a few more Tris boards.
It sounds like life in the Tris factory in the 70s wasnt very regimented and work could stop at any time if there was something better to do like a clean swell at Porthtowan !
OMG that is pure sex in fibre glass and foam
ReplyDeletehey this isn't a porn site !
ReplyDeletedating the tris boards wrong round tail 69 and swallow 72. I was there but got it wrong did I .
ReplyDeletehi Rod that tris logo only came out in around 72 or 73 . Before that they were called In Natural Flow , so the round tail cant be '69 i dont think ? Al
ReplyDelete1 - the photos do neither the swallow tail or the Outer Limits justice, in the flesh they are amazing
ReplyDelete2 - I put the swallow tail at earlier than you Al at circa 72' and the outer limits at circa 75'- the round tail mid 70's as suggested
Yes Pete you are probably right , although if you look in UK surf mags in 1972 there are no swallow tails to be seen , whereas by 1973 theres quite a few manufacturers starting to try them.
ReplyDeleteDating the boards is quite hard, but looking at the mags definitely helps.
Would be nice to see these boards in the flesh.
email tris hecan tell you or is that to eesy, you wernt there
ReplyDeleteyou're right Rod I wasn't there
ReplyDeleteI used to own that Tris board with the eyeball surfing- was saved from hanging on a bar wall in Melbourne Florida- Came to New Hampshire and now back where it needs to be.Awesome and nice museum guys!
ReplyDelete