9'4 Midget Farrelly longboard from 1967

Jeremy Oxenden sent me these photos of Eddie Luce and his `67 Farrelly board, after seeing THAT fin on it.
It`s exactly the same shape as the ones on Midget Farrelly`s first shortboards , indicating it was just about the last longboard he made before all-out production of 8` Vee-bottomed stubbys in  May 1967.
Eddies board has all the refinements of those last Malibu boards; it`s thin with sharpish rails, glassed with Volan cloth ( which gives a green tinge to the board ) and has wide rail overlaps.
The 225 on it is a Jersey board registration number, nothing to do with Midget!
The photos of Midget and his first stubby were taken at the November `67  Aus versus USA contest in Sydney. It was the first time the US guys had seen short boards. They arrived with concave noseriders and were overwhelmed to find surfing had moved on to a new level .
Also see Tony's article about the last of the malibus from 2014 here

Tony Cope,  26-3-15

The 3 photos say it all: Midget radical fin-out-of-the-sea forehand turn while an American kneel-paddles a mal. out in front of him; Midget being quizzed about the Oz stubby boards by one of the visitors, and lastly Midget`s fin ( and hand ) !

Below is footage of the Australian nationals earlier in 1967 .Although most riders were riding standard longboards, a few of the cutting edge 'power' or 'involvement' surfers were riding lightweight thin railed boards with modified fins , which turned tighter and had looser manouverability. Most notably Midget Farrelly and Nat Young. This was just before the 8ft stubbies  era kicked in.
Midget said after the contest -
''I felt quite inspired after watching some of the surfers at the Australian championships at Bells ....the kind of contest where people actually wanted to get out and get more out of a wave than before ... We have realised more and more that we are riding waves in our own way.''

Thanks to Tony, Jeremy and Eddie.

Expencive porno movie

This film was shown last night at the Lighthouse cinema Newquay as part of the Approachng Lines festival. The venue was great - lots of people, free beer, old boards etc and the film was cool too, a modern day 70s surf movie with slick moves, weirdness and good vibes, and a great soundtrack too.

Vitamin Sea singlefin

 This is Martin's beautiful Vitamin sea singlefin, shaped by Tad around 1980. The airbrush is by Andy Cranston - a simple concept of repetition which looks amazing. Andy did a few boards like this mainly in 1981, see Vit Sea ad below. The board looks to be in great condition too . Singlefins were still very popular over here in the late 70s and early 80s.

 

 Ad from Surf Scene 1981

Back row is Chris Jones, Andy Cranston, Tad Ciastula.

 Another Vit Sea from the same year, this time shaped by CJ , with some micro channels and big keely star fins. Spray again by Andy Cranston. A really cool little board.

Andy Cranston, photo by Alex Williams

 Another Vitamin Sea twinny, made a year or so later . Not sure on the shaper but artwork by Andy again. In the early 80s Vit Sea along with Ocean Magic were the big manufacturers in Newquay.

Approaching Lines festival of surf 19-22 March

 The Approaching Lines film festival starts tonight at the Lighthouse cinema in Newquay , with more films tomorrow night and Saturday night, and an invitational contest on sunday . There will be vintage Cornish boards on show at the cinema throughout the festival . For more details go to - http://approachinglines.com/festival-home/