Vintage Surf meet 2019 coming soon !

Vintage Surf meet 2019 coming soon !
Free to take part
We buy interesting old boards 60s/70s/early 80s in good condition. Email alasdairlindsay75@gmail.com . Also wanted - Surfing UK , British Surfer and Surf Insight magazines .
Above photo - copyright Rennie Ellis photographer archive

Friday 26 March 2010

Bilbo longboard

Here's my first vintage board, a Bilbo 1966/7 longboard, 9'8 x 23 x 3, shaper unknown. It says Roy Clerk on the stringer, CJ says thats someone he went to school with so its probably who the board was made for, not the shaper.
I got this board around 1994 when I was up at my dad's friends house in the lake district. We were walking round the garden and I saw a large mound of moss with a pink fin sticking out. I asked him what that was and he said its a longboard he bought 2nd hand in Newquay in the early 70s, and if I could fit it on my car I could have it. Lengths of rope and string later it was tied to the roof and I was off to sample 60s surfing. I loved surfing it but didn't get my next old board for a couple of years.


It nicely has its original Newquay UDC malibu registration no 0010 , no date on it but its an early one. Other nice early features are the double stringer and gelcoat union jack - CJ has another couple of bilbos with similar jacks on. It a great board to surf, virtually no rocker on the deck and slim 50 50 rails.














A stack of Bilbos leaves the factory, mid 60s.






Me in 1994, proud new owner of a vintage Bilbo, the best things in life are free.








Pair of Bilbos, I found the other one in a garden too, and sold it to my mate Nick.









1 comment:

  1. Hi, I've recently been given a board and I'm trying to place it's history. I've been told that it might be a Celtic board made in woolacombe by a new Zealand shaper called Roger Lyndon but the name on it says Temple surfboard designs on the board and had the Newquay udc Malibu reg but can't seem to find any info, and ideas would be extremely grateful, cheers Jim

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