Alex's photos late 70s early 80s

Another batch of Alex Williams beautiful photos recording UK surfing in the late 70s and early 80s. Check those wetsuits and boards; will suits ever be that colourful again ? Thanks to Alex.

Chops Lascalles, 1981

Thurso, early 80s

Freedom van, mid 80s

Fosters '83, Cheyne and Tom Carroll on the podium.

Nick Lloyd

Checking the equipment, Thurso comp

Thurso

Bantham. This shot always looks a crazy perspective, with the land behind the wave and the rocks looming.

Simon Tucker, fistral. He's riding that Vit Sea MR board by Chris Jones that was on ebay last year.

Cheyne at Fistral

Here's a couple of vids of Cheyne. In the one above he's surfing in the Fosters comp at Fistral beach, early 80s - in the white wetsuit and shorty and green vest. Unfortunately the surf looks awful.Check out the crowds on the beach. Below is a photo by Alex from that contest.

early/mid 80s Terry Fitzgerald for Cheyne Horan singlefin

If your pulse rate rises slightly when reading the above title you're probably an 80s collector, and if not you should be ! This board from Gee's collection is a meeting of two Aussie legends at a very evocative time, 1983/4. Cheyne Horan -arguably the most radical competitive surfer of his generation, who pushed board design to its limits and used the world tour as a testing ground for continually radical designs. Terry Fitzgerald - legendary surfer/ shaper and creator of the hugely successful Hot Buttered label, also known for some pretty radical designs in the late 70s / early 80s. This board was shaped by Terry for Cheyne , and was in Cheyne's contest quiver. I decided to do a bit of detective work to find out if this was really a board Cheyne owned and used, so browsed through google images and the above photo came up - Cheyne holding the very same board !!

So how does a board like this turn up in Newquay ? The story goes that Cheyne brought it over in his quiver for one of the Newquay legs of the World Tour, which Cheyne says he loved coming over and competing in. From the look of old photos they got pretty decent surf at Fistral too.

Anyway when Cheyne left for home, he left it behind. Whether he sold it/ swapped it/ gave it away/ lost it I don't know. I guess only Cheyne knows that one. I have emailed him and will post his reply if and when he gets back to me.

1981, tube news

The board is a stubby round nosed singlefin, the sort of board you can imagine him surfing , but a lot less width in the tail than his McCoy lazor zaps. It has his personal symbol on the deck and underside, and an open zip spray unlocking the rainbow colours of the board's soul. It also has the all important star fin, designed by Cheyne and used by him in many world title races against his nemesis Mark Richards.It measures 5'7 x 19 inches.
Thanks to Gee for sharing this gem, which he says surfs great.

Cheyne at the Fosters, Newquay, early 80s

Classic HB with equally classic rider at Bude this autumn , photo from Magic Seaweed -

''You know you're in Cornwall on a Sunday afternoon when two guys come down for a surf (one dressed as a bird) and the other paddling out with 3 cans of fosters stuffed down his suit, making the occasional trip back for the vodka. Hero.''

Tig publicity shot 1969

''Here is an early Tig Surfboards publicity shot - never published (until now!). A shot inspired by Pink Floyd's Ummagumma Album, which in turn was inspired by those shots in mags like the Illustrated London News featuring RAF jet fighters with all their weaponry unpacked and arranged on the tarmac.
The Tig surfboards crew from 1969 in the garden of Rosmerrin, Treyarnon Bay, Cornwall (The Newling family home between approximately 1960 and 1976). L-R Glasser Terry Lysaght, Designer Tigger Newling, Shaper Roger Land.
Roger and Terry were very experienced surfboard builders from New Zealand who taught me a great deal about the art and craft of boardmaking. Somehow they put up with a very green 18 year old boss.
This was the year Tig surfboards really hit its stride and started producing some great boards.
Note the two George Greenough Spoon kneeboards built by Tigger. They feature a scooped out deck and flexible fibreglass bottom and tail. Vintage board collectors should be on the lookout for those!
Also the board at front right is a 'sideslipper' model shaped by Tigger. As popularized by Midget Farrelly at the time.

The strange columns are fibreglass encrusted work trousers which we used to pour waste resin over. After a while they could stand up by themselves.
On the bank behind are unshaped blanks.''
Thanks to Tigger for sending in the great photo and description. I'm stoked the picture got its first showing here after so many years in Tigger's archive. Those Tig spoons are certainly something, would love to find one of them ! As for the trousers - classic !

Pink Floyd full kit

Article by Tigger, British Surfer no 2, 1969, with photos of him.

Lightning Bolt twin fin

Here's a classic bolt sent in by Gee, picked up in the UK. Its a twinnie from around 1980, and is a worthy project to get surfing again-

'This twin was one of my first finds when i returned from Aus in '94 with an idea i wanted to start riding alternative equipment. Unfortunately i didn't get the collecting bug until the last 10 years when all the boards have risen in value so much. The fins are not the originals and i have started restoring it (probably around 95) and have decieded i will finish the job this year. I really want to find out who shaped it. There is a signature in pen on the deck which i have tried to photograph. It looks like BP. Hopefully you or one of your blog followers may have an insight.'
One of the most iconic brands in surfing, headed by Gerry Lopez since the early 70s, Bolt employed many shapers from the islands, and its pretty rare to see them over here, although a couple of surf shops in the UK had franchise - Chapter was one.I'm not sure who this shaper is, possibly some of you more experienced readers might know? Cheers to Gee.

1980
Tim Jones, being a more experienced reader, has come up with the answer of who shaped it , cheers to Tim. -
'I see in the last post there was a one from Gee and I hope I can give him and you a hand. The BP stands for Bruce Palmer http://vintagesurfboardcollectoruk.blogspot.com/2010/06/bruce-palmer-70s-singlefin.html and of course you have featured him and his boards before. I am sure he got the license from Ted Deerhurst and thanks for featuring him recently . He made the best of the early twin fins and I know that PJ rode one and many others did too. He made one for himself that came out a bit too thin and passed it onto me and attached is a shot of me riding it in 1979 . I have never found a board that threw as much spray ( check the arc going over the guy next to me’s head ) and it flew and I kept it for years.
Tim Jones on a Bruce Palmer bolt (below) and with a Paul Blacker bolt above in 1981.


The Lighting Bolt thing went onto Chapter through Ted and there the late and great Bob Liddell made some unreal boards for Mervyn and Bolt and also Paul Blacker made some crackers after Bob in the same factory where I worked. I have also attached a shot of me holding my next favorite Bolt twin that Blackie made about 81 I think around the Thruster change over period. This was serious stuff as Bolt insisted the boards made under franchise were high quality from shape to finish but all the guys who made then in the UK more than filled the requirements.

On the subject of Chapter I did see a while ago this shot http://vintagesurfboardcollectoruk.blogspot.com/2010/09/surf-shops-part-2.html of what you thought was the interior of a Chapter surf shop in Devon. It is in fact a display I set up for Chapter in the Marisco Disco one night as a promo for the shop we were running over the road. There , on the left you can see one of Bob Liddell’s lovely Bolts.

Surfers at the palace ?

Keeping with the royal connection from last week. Below is Prince Charles at Bondi beach during a 1977 Royal visit. Whether he is acutally going to surf here I don't know. Mabye that's his manservant walking his board out for him ?
He was an interested surfer in the 70s though, and surfed North Cornwall and Devon, and was patron of the BSA in the late 70s. The article above from Atlantic Surfer no1 from 1978 (sent in by Henry) is an entertaining account of when the Prince invited the British surf team, wives and girlfiends, officials and a few UK legends to the Palace for drinks !
Funny about the prince being a drop in at Constantine and being straightened out by Ron Berry. Mabye the Duke of Cornwall has a feudal right to drop in ? Not in devon though.


Below is a newsreel film from 1966 on the prince's earlier visit to Australia, mabye when he first got interested in surfing as a 17 year old -

PRINCE CHARLES VISITS BONDI BEACH - British Pathe

Tim Jones from the Lanzarote surf school got in touch with some more on Prince Charlie the surfer -
'Prince Charles went to Aberystwyth Uni and there at the “lovely” Borth Beach began surfing. I remember seeing a picture of him surfing there on the wall at the old life boat station and he could surf and windsurf too. On that trip to Oz he surprised all by actually being half decent and could get across a wave.'

'baywatch part 3

There's been a glut of nice boards on ebay lately, so for those that weren't lucky enough to nab them, including me, here's something to remember them by....

Late 70s stinger by Ocean Magic, great looking board this although the nose was hanging off, the result of 'a trip over the falls' by its owner.

Circle one by Jeff Townsely, perfect condition and 'used only four times'. Nice garden too.

1970 Bilbo with rare resin drag on both sides, given to the owner by a neighbour for the boy to learn on.

Bob Groves Infinity singlefin from Boscombe, don't see many of these.

Nice late 60s piece by JC with full artwork on the underside, got some good bids.

Stunning Phil Jay 7 footer, one owner from new, bought at the Jay shop in Newquay apparently. Also has a Jersey permit sticker which we don't see over here very much. This board gave me an itchy trigger finger, but the final bid was well above my meagre allowance.

j-bay 1984

Dream waves with the boys ripping it up on early thrusters. Includes Tom Carroll, Occy, Shaun Tomson, Derek Hynd and others

Ted Deerhurst team Bolt Sabre

A very historically important board is up for sale on craigslist I think in Hawaii. A rare original Ted Deerhurst shaped team Bolt gun, for use by him in Hawaii and mabye even some contests, late 70s or slightly later. The sort of board which should be saved for the nation etc, if you can afford the shipping costs !!
http://honolulu.craigslist.org/oah/spo/2354401589.html