Tigger Newling Galactic egg !

Thanks to Simon for sending in photos of his lovely 'Galactic egg' by Tigger Newling ,made when he returned from the world championships in 1970 - the one off logo on the deck done by tigger was influenced by mathematical methods - using links /chains and the shape was elliptical - hence the galactic egg !! 

Side on you can see the mild s deck and down rails, and the Aussie influenced slim fin. Finding an early Tig in good condition is quite hard as there weren't many made and most were surfed hard by him or Constantine locals he sold the boards to.

Below- Tig surfboards ad, 1969,

 Tigger at Guethary , 1968 with a couple of early Tigs

and surfing La Barre , again 1968

Phase 1 Tig Surfboards

Proud to be a backyarder

I started making boards under the label TIG Surfboards, in 1968. It was a real 'backyard' operation.

The short board revolution had just hit, and I was itching to try the new shapes I had seen in Australian surf magazines and films like Paul Witzig's 'Evolution'. Because established local board builders were slow to produce short boards - 'its just a fad that won't last'… and I couldn't afford to buy a new board every other week anyway, I decided to do it myself in my back yard at Treyarnon Bay. My father let me use the greenhouse. So I pulled out his prized tomatoes, and started shaping.

On my own track

The first boards I shaped were 8 foot long,  then as the short board revolution gathered momentum, every board I shaped got shorter than the previous one eventually they ended up around six foot long. At first I copied Bob McTavish's Australian designs: tear drop shaped 'trackers', with deep vee bottoms and big Greenough fins. The boards that Wayne Lynch and Nat Young were then riding. But as soon as I surfed these crude copies I had shaped, I needed to get back in the shaping room and make modifications and refinements to improve them. Soon I was embarked on my own unique design track that was driven by how my designs performed in the water.  Surfboard building was turning out to be my dream job - combining rocket scientist and test pilot!

Recycled prototypes

At first, Tig Surfboards was not a proper job - just a creative hobby. I was just happy to be making new boards for myself and my family. However, thanks to all the keen young local surfers, I kept selling my discarded prototypes at prices that easily covered my costs. Pretty soon I seemed to be surfing with a flotilla of not just family but also a crew of local grommets all happily ripping on my cast-off shapes. Next I was being asked to make boards for older locals and holiday makers, so Tig Surfboards started showing a profit. I bought myself a VW Kombi and headed to Morocco on the proceeds.

The next summer I was busy enough to employ staff: Shaper Roger Land and Laminator Terry Lysaght were both very experienced kiwi board builders who somehow put up with a very green 18 year old boss. One afternoon we posed for our first publicity shot. It was inspired by Pink Floyd's Ummagumma album cover (designed by Hypgnosis). The one where all the band's gear is laid out on a runway. We emptied the greenhouse and laid all the tools and templates out on the lawn along with some boards and a pair of trousers which were so encrusted with resin that they stood up by themselves . The three of us standing there covered in dust - a true start-up cottage industry.

 

1969 publicity shot