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the catalogue #195

1970 The Shoe by Shane. Spoon decked Knee Board 4 ft 11"

#195

MANUFACTURE
MANUFACTURER:Shane Surfboards Mitchell Road Brookvale Sydney
SHAPER: Unkown
DESIGN: Spoon decked Knee Board
DESIGNER: Shane Steadman/George Greenough

SPECIFICATIONS
CONSTRUCTION
Stringerless blank, Volan glassed with pigment laminate on bottom , resin pinlines
DIMENSIONS

*Length:*	4	feet	11	inches
*Width:*	21	inches		*Wide Point:*	+0	inches
*Nose :*	17	inches		*Tail:*	17 1/2	inches
*Thickness:*	x	inches		*Pod:*	0	inches
*Nose/L:*		inches		*Tail/L:*		inches
*Weight:*		inches		*Volume:*		inches
*Other*

FEATURES
Nose: rounded
Tail: rounded square
Deck: deep concave
Bottom: rounded
Rails: round, low at tail
Rocker: medium

FIN
10 1/2" x 7 " base @ 3 1/2 inches
Cliear laminate,
Rear leg rope hole.
The fin is mitred into the blank and has rovings.

DECOR
DECALS
Deck:
Bottom: 'The Shoe' script, and 'Shane' kidney logo on nose, both black
MARKINGS
Deck:
Bottom:
COLOUR
Deck: green marbling
(paint on foam?)
Bottom: clear, with green marbling rail overlap,
black resin pinlines.

NOTES
BOARD HISTORY
Dimensions and photographs Sydney Surf Auction, Mona Vale Hotel, Sydney, 25 - 26 September 2003
Catalogue No. 188 : " Shane Shoe... early 1970's, good example, excellent condition."
Catalogue Notes by Mick Mock, PO Box 330 Manly NSW Australia 2095.
Thanks to Mick Mock.
DESIGN HISTORY
Originally based on a spooned deck balsa wood kneeboard, the Greenough Flex Spoon (Velo 1) was molded off the bottom and then had foam block rails added.
This construction method was not followed by other manufacturers - a full blank was shaped with a thin foam base that was removed after laminating the bottom.
First used in Australia in 1965, George Greenough's performance had a huge impact on many Australian designers.

The design was given exposure in the surf media as was George Greenough's surfing and surf photography.
Many manufacturers made copies of the design and the intensive glassing requirements required a premium price.
The most recognised models were produced by at Hayden Surfboards Caloundra Queensland, featuring Greenough's dramatic Fighter Plane decal, see below.

The design peaked in popularity around 1970 with the release of George Greenough's The Innermost Limits of Pure Fun - featuring some his surfing on Spoon and inflatable mat (see #66) but most famously included on-board footage of radical performance surfing and serious tube rides.

In 1970 Shane Surfboards released a Greenough influenced solid spooned deck kneeboard, known as The Shoe.

Because the high performance capabilities of the design were only achievable in quality waves and the low floatation meant that only the most fit riders were able to catch waves, by 1973 the design was largely supplanted by Peter Crawford's Slab design, circa 1969, see # 83.

Initially Peter Crawford simply filled in the spooned deck to greatly increase floatation and expand the wave range, but over a long life the Slab was apadpted with a range of rail shapes and fin configerations, see # 58.
In the USA the Fish was a notable alternative in kneeboard design.

Greenough's extreme design was attempted to be recreated in stand up boards, most infamously by Nat Young at Gordon Woods Surfboards in 1965, see The Nautilas.
Although this board was a failure, George Greenough's fin design was to have a huge impact on Australian surfboards and by 1968 almost every fin bore some relationship to Greenough's high apsect template.

In 1967 Midget Farrelly, Bob McTavish and other shapers in Sydney developed a short deep vee bottomed board that had strong elements of George Greenough's influence, see # 26.
COMMENTS:
REFERENCES
Other Shane Surfboards
See Paipo Catalogue for other Kneeboards
Magazines
Deep magazine
Mick Mock : The Summer Millionaire (Shane Steadman)
Vol 4 #4 Winter 1999 pages 50 - 61

Popular Science magazine
"Far Out Flexible Surfboard... the wave of the future" by Eric Blum as told to Al Lees
August 1969 pages 92 to 95.

The Australian Surfer's Journal
''Moving Forward - A Greenough Scrapbook 1960 - 1970''
Vol.2 No.2 1999 Pages 76-77, 84, 86-87

Film:
1. The Innermost Limits of Pure Fun George Greenough 1970
2.Crystal Voyager David Elfick 1973
CONDITION: 9

Deck

Bottom

Image left : Full concave deck


Image, above left George Greenough and Spoon Photo by Caloundra, Queensland 1966 "Far Out Flexible Surfboard... the wave of the future" by Eric Blum as told to Al Lees Popular Science magazine August 1969, page 92. '	Image right George Greenough/North coast freefall 1965 Photograph by Tanya Binning First published Surfing World Vol No 196 This cropped version from Margan and Finney , page 310 The most outstanding photograph of committed high performance surfing up to this date, this level of performance was probably not achieved by stand up surfers for another ten years.