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.''
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.''
Very cool board
ReplyDeleteMonty
I used to surf Newquay in the 80s john Lester 57
ReplyDeleteTerry was really into these single fins, including when he was a shaper for the 1st series of winged keeled. I recall a SW Magazine interview, around 1984, where TF still believed the future of surfing was single fin.
ReplyDelete