The Rambler

A guy I know in Penzance is selling this 1964 AMC Rambler on ebay. It would make such a good surf wagon. Its an export model made in Canada with right hand drive, apparently the only one of this year and model in the UK. Nice burble from the 3.2 litre engine, and has a wind down back window so you can hang the longboards out the back. Stylin' .
The only problem is its £13,000 , ouch !

Piran and Tris

Heres a couple of boards that have come in recently. Not all boards that come through my house are actually mine, and this 1981 Piran is Ryan's. It must have been one of the last singlefins Piran made; the nose is getting thinner and the tail wider. Not too sure who shaped this, probably Alan MacBride or Martin Wright, made at Perranporth. 5'9 x 20 1/2 x 2 3/4. Ryan is building up quite a collection of Pirans.

This one is staying at my house, a Tris twin fin from around 1979 shaped by Chops, with his signature s shaped design on the deck. There are a nice collection of these old boards at Aggie surf shop - Chops' personal pride and joy. Its along the lines of the MR twin fin, which was copied in many variations over here in the late 70s. The board has a solid yellow pigment on the deck and deep red tint on the underside ; the passing of time doesn't diminish the vibrancy of the colours. 6'4 x 20 1/4 x 3.

 

Pete 'chops' Lascalles (Beach Beat surfboards) back in 1978 with a quiver of his singlefins made at Tris.

Biography of a fish

' I am one of those surfers fortunate enough to have hung onto their first surfboard, never wishing to part with its associated memories. In my case a 5’9” fish. I learnt to surf as a child in the 70s around Harlyn Bay, North Cornwall and bought the board secondhand from a local shaper, lifeguard and legendary surfer Tigger Newling – the 1973 British Champion. (cont. below)

 I was told, while buying the board, that it had belonged to Jimmy Blears who had won the 1972 World Championships with it at Ocean Beach, California and that he had left the board as a gift after a trip to the UK. To an eager grommet this remarkable story became my mantra to anybody who asked. I have remained curious about the board’s history and have often wondered if my memory had played tricks with the facts. I recently decided to look into it further and discovered a revelatory old advert for Fresh Fish surfboards. The ad’s stylistic artwork matches succinctly with the distinctive decal on the bottom of the board. (cont. below)

I also got in touch with Tigger Newling, now living in Australia, who generously supplied a number of illuminating new details and context. Tigger could not recall meeting Jimmy Blears in the UK, but said that they did meet and become friends at the 1970 World championships in Bells Beach, Australia. In 75 Tigger was invited to compete in the Hang Ten American pro at Sunset Beach, Hawaii where he stayed with Jimmy Blears and his family at their Makaha home. Tigger recalls returning to the UK with a 6’10 Lighting Bolt board, but alas not a fish. (cont. below)

 The dates certainly match up and I have since read that Blears did make a UK surf trip but whether this board was the actual one ridden in the World Championships of 72 may never be known as he sadly passed away last year. Whatever the board’s true history it can be seen as part of the chronology of British surfing and of the evolution of surfboard design. The board is now in it’s forties, no longer in the best shape and permanently beached for its own sake. A fish without water seems morally wrong, so a few years back my then three-year old daughter re-christened it with a few waves.'

By Nicholas Charles Williams, Newquay.

I was having a look at Tigger Newling photos on google when I found this story Nick had written for the Hickorynines.com site, and asked him if I could reprint it on the blog, and hopefully elaborate a bit on the history of his potentially legendary board. The 1972 Worlds was a notorious contest,a low point of the contest scene, when competitive surfing was looked upon as uncool in favour of 'soul surfing'. As a result of this, many of the worlds' best surfers didnt even turn up, plus the surf was junk (favouring the fishes), and the contest organisers virtually ran out of money.                                    The contest was a victory of the fishes, with Blears and Nuuhiwa coming 1st and 2nd on their new fish designs inspired from Steve Lis kneeboards . The locals were outraged that Nuuhiwa was riding a fish, they saw it as a rip off of their own design, and his board was stolen, broken in half and hung off the pier before the contest started !
After the conest was over,many were even more put off by the contest scene, and surf travelling and exploration  became alot more popular. The British team took part in this contest, and surfer shapers like Steve Harewood, Charles Williams, Graham Nile and Chris Jones all took note of the twin keel fish and some put them immediately into production, notably Steve Harewood at Freedom.

 Anyway, back to Nick's board. Here above is a photo I found of Jimmy Blears' original 1972 world contest winning board, also made by Fresh Fish surfboards of Ocean beach. Its of a very similar plan shape to Nick's and even has an almost identical spray with the smiley fish. They certainly look like they've come out of the same quiver...

 Jimmy Blears at Pipe 1971

So if Nick's board is one of Jimmy Blears personal boards - and I think it is - then how did it get over to the UK in the 70s ?
This Wavecraft could be the link. Jason who used to own this board says-  'I believe Hawiian Jimmy Blears who was world champ in 1972 (the one where someone stole and then nailed David Nuuhiwa fish to the pier) shaped at Wavecraft for a while in the early 70's and I presume his influence had something to do with the template on this board as it is miles off any other fish i have seen from around this era.'
So if this is right, Jimmy Blears came over to Cornwall, with a board/s , befriended Pete Mitchell who was basically a one man show at Wavecraft in north Cornwall, and either shaped some boards , gave designs or mabye even gave his board as a template. The resulting boards, like this green beauty are very accomplished for the time (1973ish ) and have a definite Blears/Lis influence.

Pete Mitchell sadly passed away last month, and not a lot has been written about his role in British surfing. I hope to improve on this with help from his daughter Emma, and hear more about Wavecraft, Pete and hopefully Jimmy Blears.

 

 Early 70s Wavecraft kneeboard, 5'4 twin keel

Fishes made over here got a mixed reception - some loved them, some said they ruined stylish surfing. After a couple of years they fell out of fashion ,and some were even convertd back to singlefins (like my Tris) . Original UK twin keels are very rare to find now. Even though the plan shapes were good, they didnt always surf great because the fins were often uncanted so they were hard to turn. The fish boom of the last decade has seen these designs hit the sea again in big numbers, similar plan shapes but much more evolved bottoms and fin placement.

 

Thanks very much to Nick for sharing his story. If anyone out there knows something about his board ,leave a comment.

I've had one last thought - if Nick's board and the green Wavecraft dimensions are a perfect match then thats pretty strong evidence for this whole story. Mabye they can be brought together one day...

Boards for sale

LaLa rare jet fin quad , early - mid 80s, made in Australia/ USA ? £150 . Its in Braunton, north devon, email scootersqueezes@hotmail.co.uk

NOW SOLDAnd another 80s rarity, a Crab Island quad shaped by Craig Hughes to a Glen Winton design. You don't see Crab Islands for sale much, hence the price, email scootersqueezes@hotmail.co.uk

''Lovely example of a mid/late 1980's thruster. Great condition considering it's age.

White deck and underside with fluro multi coloured rails.

Rounded tail with glass on fluro green fins, in great condition.

Rob Erskine is a part of the British surf scene and still surfs...placed 2nd in the 2000 British Masters! Working under his Rebound brand he shaped and taught surfing to a whole heap of people.

Size : 6'2 | 19 1/4

Usual pressure dings on the deck and a few pressure dings on underside as shown in the photos .Nothing bad though and amazing considering the age!

Forced sale as don't have space for the rest of the boards in my collection.

Pick up from Truro, Cornwall or I will pack if you organise a courier "

Asking price £110, email alistair@studiopublic.co.uk

 

And while you've got your hands in your pockets, please help by giving a donation to my movember page :

http://uk.movember.com/mospace/6462653 

If everyone who reads the blog gave as little as £2 then we could get a lot of money together for men's health !

storm surf Newlyn

Newlyn harbour wall anyone ?? Dry hair paddle out guarranteed

Newlyn harbour wall on an otherwise 'big' day in the 70s with Mark Mayers.

Roberts d fin longboard

This beautiful Roberts d-fin was also owned from new by Tom's uncle (see Hobie for sale blogpost from a couple of weeks ago ) . Tom's uncle was a successful businessman, travelling over to the US for work trips- and apparently buying surfboards too !

 

"The first board was bought in Santa Monica from Roberts who was one of the best local board makers in Los Angeles. It was custom built to what he thought might accommodate my disabilities! I saw it in various stages of construction and I do believe it's well built. I think it was in summer 1959.

I spent some time in the early 60's in Hawaii and sought out Hobie Alter's workshop. He was building boards for the bigger Hawaiian surf. I got carried away a bit by ambition and bought one he was making.

Tom, Both Jane and I used to use them down in Cornwall and they performed beautifully.The blue one has also tried the surf south of Biarritz and off the coast of Portugal. “

 The two boards have been hung up in his uncles' garage at his house near Bristol since the 70s, and are in near mint condition. The Roberts looks almost as good as new, with white foam, very wide balsa stringer and stunning blue tint. The dark blue on the rails isnt original. Beautiful d-fin too with minimal wear. I didn't know Roberts, and it turns out they were a small but important company turning out quality boards with shaper Bob Millner I think .This must have been a hell of a board in 1959/1960.
Lucky Tom had been given both boards by his uncle, and since he's not a surfer he wanted to sell them and buy a guitar. I tried to buy the Roberts as although its not British its a stunner, but my offer was bettered by a chap called Stuart Matthews (well known bore rider ) who bought both boards.The Roberts went for £600.

This is how the boards sat in storage, unsurfed, covered in dust, but well ventilated and kept out of sunlight. Hence their great condition now.

 

 

 

 

The boards emerge from the garage for the first time in decades

new owner Stuart Matthews and Tom