A Tiki Nomad sent in by Alex, made in around 1973 with slim outline and diamond tail. It also has one of the early leash attachments - a circle of rubber with a loop glued to the deck of the board. Before this the fin would have been drilled to take the leash loop. Leashes started to appear in the UK around 1971-2 (although Nigel Oxenden used a type of leash in Jersey decades before on his large bellyboards).
I've seen a few of these Nomads and wondered what the story was with them, so luckily Alex got this info from Dave Aldrich-Smith of Tiki. -
''These were made after 100s of requests for a cheaper custom board. They were not sanded and glossed, just carefully glassed and thick flo coated. We told all the customers that it could have the extra stages done but few did in the end. I hate to think of how many we made, it must have been well into the 100s as they were done all winter to keep the staff busy outside custom orders.
I think Cosmic started around that time with slightly more sophisticated leash attachments and improvements on the 'chicken cords' with twine inside flexy orange rubber tube. ''
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