Aussie surfing in the 70s

A good little film about the developments in surfing in 70s Australia. Worth a watch, especially when you think that new Aussie designs would influence UK boards within 6 months. And quite a few Aussies were over here shaping. We might not have had the same waves, but we had the boards and the enthusiasm !

Surf Meet reviews

Thanks to Gee and Rebecca for writing reviews of last weeks surf meet. They are at http://approachinglines.com/fine-vintage/ and http://blog.kernowforniadreaming.com/ .Photo above is by Rebecca.
And last but certainly not least, Stephane from Biarritz , the surf meet's furthest travelled collector, who endured flights and 9 hour long overnight bus journeys from London to Cornwall and back again, has posted a suitably fantastic selection of photos of his English soujourn , check it out at http://vintagesurffrance.blogspot.co.uk/  .Was great to see Stephane again and I love his dedication and excitement about old boards, especially Circle Ones !

Cheyne Horan by CJ

Colin has sent in photos of his Cheyne Horan model which he has owned for years but not taken into the water much. As with all these UK Cheyne models it was made in Newquay in the Vitamin Sea factory and shaped by Chris Jones. This is one of the later ones, no. 58 made in 1983. I think the first models were produced in late '81/ early '82 , after Chyene signed a deal with Vit Sea while he was over competing at Fistral. Most of them were toned down versions of Cheyne's boards, mostly twin fins with a few singlefins and a few more extreme lazor zap shapes.
This board is interesting because it was actually on the Vit Sea stand at the 1983 Wind and Surf show at Alexandra Palace as you can see below in Alex Williams' photo which was published in an article in Surf Scene mag. Other surf brands exhibiting were New Wave, Gul, Alder, Freedom and Surf Scene, and even Surf-jet the motorised stand up surfboard !

Tad Ciastula at the Wind & Surf show, photo Alex Williams

 Wavelength 1982

Newquay groms, around 1984/5 Spencer Hargreaves (with Lazor zap inspired Vit Sea), Randall Davies, Lucien and Jonny Jonston

Cheyne pushing the limits of his sub 6ft board. Classic photo early 80s by Dan Merkel

Check out the gangster Wayne Lynch

Now here's a find - Cheyne personal board recently on show at a French surf meet , mid to late 80s. See  www.vintagesurfclub.blogspot.co.uk

This speeding bullett is the World's Fastest Cornishman . As well as being a speed legend he is also well known to us as a surfboard collector. We wish him luck

Some more Meet photos

 A few more photies from Sunday's surf meet at Fistral -

 This early wooden hollow construction longboard was for sale

 Stephane from Biarritz, the furthest travelled collector and one of the most stoked

 Jon's '57 Ford stationwagon with Thunderbird engine which sounded great

 Horizon 1971 board shaped by Graham Nile, a label I hadnt heard of before and can't remember the name of the guy who owned the label. One thing that does stick in my mind though is that the guy who brought it along on Sunday had owned it from new and in '71 part exed his longboard for it. His longboard being a certain union jack Bilbo which had previously belonged to Rod Sumpter !!

 Super narrow tail on Pete's Quill

 You don't actually need a beard to own old surfboards. Shaun and Gee

 Very rare late 60s Bilbo paipo with trimmed down single fin

                                      Hayden spoons,late 60s, both with George Greenough's Velo colourscheme

Rebecca's stylish as ever photos of the meet can be seen at - http://blog.kernowforniadreaming.com/

Yesterday's surf meet -

 Newquay delivered the goods again yesterday with another classic Surf Meet in sunny weather which gave the traditional sunburnt nose. The surf wasnt quite big enough to have the vintage board session we all wanted, but the vibe was as ever amazing, the turnout was great too with a couple of hundred boards and some beautiful classic vehicles all glistening in the sun. A big thank you to everyone who took part - I know doing the meet takes time and effort and in some cases considerable expense - but you all make it a very special day and keep surf history alive and accesible to the public !
Photos by Gavin (Finshack) , Gee, Jim, Jason , Matthew (Atlantic Supply co.) and Rob

 Nick Radford's poster proved popular. I have ten left , email me if you want one.

 Gee's Thrusters bedded down

 Gavin's Porsche 912 and Jim's Karmann Ghia

Henry ,Pete and Ryan

Some of Shaun's prized singlefins, Ted Deerhurst, Jolly Good and Phil Jay

Henry's rare Wilderness

Stuart's classic Ford pickup

Mr Bilbo's Bilbo collection

 Simon's Lancia Fulvia. Not the most obvious surf wagon but he still fitted a load of boards in it !

 Chris' 1951 truck, suitably signwritten for the day

 A mass of beautiful boards, with one of Rod Sumpter's personal longboards (not an early one)

Boards for sale

911 in 70's brown

Ryan's John Conway twin fin

Gee's Ferris Bueller moment

 Myles' boards including his Tris kneeboard

 Cheyne Horan by Chris Jones