Auction boards

Ebay is always a good place to see vintage boards and quite a few have been coming through recently, here are some of them.. in order of appearance, a 6 ft 6 Circle One by Jeff Townsley, a very rare 7 ft Space Gypsy which has been converted to fcs -why ??, a 6ft x 23 Tiki pig, early 70s and a 6 ft 6 Island Style singlefin.

1967 Bilbo Chris Jones model

This board is a Chris Jones signature model and at 7'10 x 23 x 2 3/4 marks a transition down from the 9 ft plus longboards which Bilbo had been making. It charts the beginning of the shortboard revolution in the UK which saw boards hitting 6 ft by 1970 ! Chris was inspired to shape this model after meeting Wayne Lynch and Nat Young ( who were being filmed for Witzig's film Evolution) and seeing them surf similar boards while on a surf trip to France; and also seeing a visiting US surfer using one at Newquay.

Its a fun and manouverable shape, which had a huge 12 +inch fin originally, mine has broken off a bit. The resin tint with red pin line would have been more expensive at the time so it was probably a custom board rather than a plain stock board. The bilbo logo has faded a lot, I think it was originally red. The board has a nice refined simpicity, the deck shows almost no rocker and there are two knee dents from where it has been knee paddled. The board was offered to me by a guy in Newquay who saw an article I did in a local paper; it needed a couple of repairs so it seemed right that CJ should fix it up 40 years after he originally shaped it !

Bilbo ad from the London Boat Show magazine, 1970.

Chris Jones at Newquay in 1967.

Rare early surfing clips 1960s Newquay

Here's a couple of rare short films of surfing at Fistral beach in the 60s; the first one is a great little film of a British championships circa 65 or 66 with some classic footage of Rod Sumpter, very stylish and the eventual winner of the comp, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONuXXCii2co&feature=related .
The second film is early 60s and shows Chris Jones ,Roger Mansfield and their mates as groms surfing at Fistral, and apparently the first surfing comp there, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRgjIe-qc20

vintage Creamed Honey singlefin by Kevin Cross

Heres a rare Creamed Honey shaped by Kevin Cross in the early 70s in North Devon; Creamed Honey's are beautifully made boards and are well sought after today .This one belongs to Chris Jones and I saw it the other day on his rack of relics and just had to take a few shots. Cross was a visiting Australian lifeguard who settled here from the late 60s and shaped at Watergate bay and then up in North Devon, making refined and well finished boards. Didnt get the dimensions but its about 6'7. Thanks to Chris .

Bilbo surfboards single fin circa 1969

Here's a well preserved single fin from one of Britain's best known early board makers, Bilbo of Newquay. This board was found at a car boot sale and is in great condition with a vibrant orange tint and red and black pinlines. Its an unusual transitional shape with down rails and a rounded tail ,made during a time when board designs varied widely and were quite experimental. The dimensions are 6'10 x 19 1/4 x 2 1/2 and there's no shapers name. The B logo was inspired by the 60s cult fashion brand Biba.

Bilbo started in 1965, the name was a mix of the founders names ,Newquay lifeguard Bill Bailey and visiting Australian lifeguard Bob Head. Bilbo quickly became perhaps the finest surfboard maker in Europe ,supplying to Wales, Ireland and France. Bilbo had produced 12,000 boards by 1970 , employing 40 people and making 70 boards a week in the high season ! Talented shapers like Chris Jones , Alan MacBride and Peter McAllum ( ocean magic ) honed their skills at Bilbo.

Bilbo shapers circa 1970 including Brian Schofield ,Chris Jones and Dai Jones.

Bill Bailey in the mid 60s.

1980s Town and Country thruster

Here's a lovely late 80s thruster made by T&C Hawaii ,one of the classic brands of the era. These 80s boards are gradually getting vintage status , the more radical and colourful the graphics the better. They're so different from a thruster of today and since they were built light not many have survived in great condition.

This is a T&C pro series board , made with clark foam and it has a nice gloss coat finish. Its in great condition considering these boards were not made to last like 60s/70s boards were. It obviously wasn't surfed much and was thrown out by its owner ! The dimensions are 6'2 x 19 1/4 x 2 1/4. T&C boards were made famous in the 80s by surfers like Sunny Garcia, Johnny Boy Gomes and more importantly for us , British born world champion Martin Potter.

UK born Martin Potter was a big star in the 80s , these scans are from a 1984 issue of Surfing.

Heres some footage of Pottz ripping at lower Trestles in the late 80s ; nice gloves ! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFTEb_LM-hI

Freedom surfboards vintage single fin

Bobby Male in a Freedom ad from 1981 , Tube News.

Old but proud Freedom singlefin from Toby's collection, shaped by the great Bobby Male in the mid 70s. Male was a British and European champion at the time ,surfing and shaping in Jersey. There will be more classic freedoms coming onto the site in the next few weeks. This board is 6'1 but may have been trimmed down, it was probably originally a swallow tail like most freedoms.

The British Surfing Museum

Congrats to the British Surfing museum for getting charity status, and we hope all goes well for a permamnent museum site in Braunton Devon ( at least its almost in Cornwall ) opening hopefully in 2010. Can't wait to see it !! Here's founder of the museum Peter Robinson talking about the collection http://youtube.com/watch?v=drG6EFMFez0

1980s Vitamin Sea Mark Richards twin fin

Simon Tucker surfing this board in circa 1982, photo by Alex Williams. The board is a Vit Sea team board made for Simon and he did the stars artwork himself.

Vitamin Sea ad from Tube News oct 1982.

Here's a rare board which turned up on ebay as a kids beginner board. Its 5'7 x 19 3/4, made by Vitamin Sea in cornwall under licence from Mark Richards in the early 80s. Although not shaped by the man himself it excited a few bidders. Its got classic star graphics and seems to be a team board. Probably shaped by CJ or Tad. For some classic footage of Mark Richards click on the link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEboHDtRqRs

Vintage Jolly Good Surfboards single fin by Tigger Newling

Tigger Newling at the English Nationals 1969.

Lovely singlefin made by the great team of shaper Tigger Newling and glasser Tris Cokes for tig's Jolly Good surfboards label at St Merryn Cornwall in the mid 70s. Dimensions are 6'8 x 19 x 2 1/2.

Tigger won the 1973 British champs in hefty 6-8 ft Freshwater west in Wales, and was no stranger to big waves in Australia and Hawaii through the 70s. Tigger set up Jolly Good in 1976 after coming back from Hawaii where he worked for Lightening Bolt finishing Gerry Lopez's boards - a good place to hone your shaping skills. He now lives in New South Wales.