pods
for primates: a catalogue of surfboards in australia since 1900
 |
surfresearch.com.au
the
x-files : extreme surfing |
|
After
paddling into the wave, then slipping his oars,
this goofy-foot
steersman casually conrols the direction of his craft with body english.
Photo : John
E. Wall.
Surfer, Volume
18 Number 4 November 1977 page 127
Look
closely at David Nuuhiwa's speed crouch, then look underneath.
That's right,
he is in perfect trim with his surfboard upside down.
Fin up, no
wax, reverse rocker : Silly? Definitely. Dangerous? Could be. Easy? No
way.
Attention
thrillseekers: Nuuhiwa is a trained, professional surfer:
Please don't
attempt this at your home break.
Photo: LeRoy
Grannis.
Surfer, Volume
30 Number 10 page 34.
Palm
Beach Surf Life Saving Boat : Cabbage Tree 1,Fairy Bower, 27th March, 1966.
Captain :
John Windshuttle
Brawley,
page 148.
The boat was destroyed
two waves later, and an inquiry was held by the club into the actions of
the crew.
Shooting
the 'Bowl' at Makaha required that the alma (outrigger) be specially
rigged on the right side.
Makaha, circa
1976.
Photograph :
Tommy Holmes' collection.
Image and caption
: Holmes Hawaiian
Canoe (1993) page 108.
In
the aftermath of a wipeout, an empty 30-foot canoe stands on one end of
a Castles wave.
Waikiki, circa
1978.
Photograph :
Jim Pate
Image and caption
: Holmes Hawaiian
Canoe (1993) page 108.
Plywood
surfing, Barbados, circa 1988.
Photograph by
Dave DiGirolamo
No quite a barn
door, but close.
Surfer, Volume
29 Number 12 page 113.
Hasaki, Israel,
circa 1962.
Photograph courtesy
of the Israel Government Tourist Office.
Klein: Surfing
(1965) page 259.
extreme surfboard
designs
Nat Young’s “Nautilas
/ Cuttlefish / Folly”
8 ft 6”
With Greenough spoon
like nose, foam centre and flex tail, manufactured at
Gordon
Woods Surfboards 1965.
The board is part
of the Scott Dillon Museum.
Extensive warping
of the nose section, the board is in otherwise original condition.
Photograph by Alby
Falzon.
Reprinted in Carter1968
#117
Motor Powered Surfboards
Surf Scooter,
Bondi Beach, circa 1935.
Margan
and Finney (1970) page 159
Surf Scooter
in action, Bondi Beach, circa 1935.
Margan
and Finney (1970) page 158.
It's a Skim-Board,
Sydney1938.
"Flat out on
a skim-board. It's the latest, but no good for crowded beaches.
It weighs 90
lb., is nine feet long, folds into four sections, is driven
by a four horse-power
outboard, and does 20 miles an hour."
Daily Telegraph,
7 October 1938, page 7.
Motorized board
with its inventor.
That's right folks,
the $2,000 surfboard; a 10'6': fifty-pound behemoth propelled by two expensive
nicad batteries.
Neil Townsend,
the creator of Aqua Jet honeycomb surfboards, developed the board for his
personal use, because a permanent heart condition would have otherwise
entirely ended the 63-year-old Townsend's surfing.
Neil has ridden
the board in surf up to ten feet in California and Hawaii.
Powered by
a propeller, the board is activateded when the rider lays on the controf
pad, and stops when he stands up.
The board
moves forward as fast as a strong paddler can paddle an equivalent-sized
board.
At present,
the impact of this design is of little consequence on surfing, but as Neil
points out; the power cells being developed are lighter, more powerful
and cheaper than the ones he is using. In ten years, his extensive research
may payoff for you or me.
And who's to
say -one day we may see powered boards at Sunset or Waimea Bay flying through
impossible sections on those big, unsurfable offshore days.
Surfer,Volume
22 Number 3 page 58, circa 1982.
extreme surfboard
fins