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history : 1956 international surf carnivals

the international surf carnivals, 1956.
torquay, victoria.
maroubra and collaroy, nsw.

Souvenir Programme Cover for International and Australian Surf Championship Carnival,
Toquay, Victoria. 25th November 1956. Price 3/-
Thanks to John McInnes.

Introduction
In November 1956, Australian surfers had widespread exposure of to the modern fibre glassed surfboard, ridden by visiting Californian and Hawaiian lifesavers.
Two teams, representing the U.S.A. and the Territory of Hawaii, were invited to compete at international surf lifesaving carnivals held in conjunction with the 1956 Olympic Games.

Most commentators, often quoting Greg Noll : Da Bull – Life Over The Edge (1989), focus on the International Carnival at Torquay and emphasize the occasion as an almost incidental development with dramatic consequences.

During one event, we had noticed a little point break off to the side, off a rocky point.
I don't remember the name of the place.
After the paddling events were over, we grabbed our boards and paddled out to the break.
There had been thousands of people watching the paddling events from shore, and they had started leaving.
Ampol Oil was covering all the paddling events, and decided to stay and take fIlms of us surfing.
Word got around in the parking lot as people were leaving, "The Yanks are surfing, you ought to see the Yanks." - Noll (1989), Page 71.

Although context implies this happened at Torquay, Noll's recollections probably relate events at Avalon (Sydney) on the 18th November, which were possibly not filmed.
Rather than an incidental pollination, this paper notes that the arrival of the Malibu board was clearly announced by the Australian press to anyone with an interest in board riding.

The account of the events and repercussions, has six identifiable perspectives.

Surf Life Saving Australia (SLSA)
Association with the Olympic Games was seen as elevating Australian surf life saving competition sport to international prominence.
Unfortunately, although exposure exceeded any previous event, the sport failed in its bid to be an official Olympic demonstration sport and the location (not in the sport's heartland of Sydney, and then some 60 miles outside of central Melbourne) was less than ideal.

Competitively, results were mixed, with some visiting teams performing well.
Since the teams from the British Commonwealth were largely formed under the auspices of the Australian movement, this was possibly less than flattering.

Despite the superior performance of the the U.S.A. and Hawaiian teams' equipment, Australian lifesavers apparently retained their preference for the hollow timber board into the 1960s and it was not until the 1990s that the belt and reel was replaced by the Torpedo Buoy.
For some clubs, the introduction of the Malibu board caused significant disruption.

This was the third organized association with international surfing by the Australian lifesaving movement.
Unlike the 1956 carnival, the impact of the earlier occasions (Duke Kahanamoku's surfing demonstrations in 1914-1915 and the large representative team sent to the 1939 -1940 Pan Pacific Games in Honolulu) were significantly truncated by the subsequent outbreak of world wars.

The U.S.A. - Hawaiian Teams
For the Californian and Hawaiian surfers, the tour was an opportunity to test their skills and equipment in unfamiliar conditions.
Competitively, they performed to a high standard and placed in many events.
The success of their equipment was significant, and proved the fibre glassed board would be superior in all future surfing locations.
Furthermore, it began an association with Australian manufacturers that was to accelerate in the 1960s with the replacement of balsa wood with the foam blank.
In the case of Greg Noll, it opened another market for his early surf films.
Impressed with the organization of the carnivals, members of the Californian team adopted many facets of the Australian surf lifesaving movement in the development of their own lifeguard services and there is evidence that the surf ski was of interest to some Hawaiian surfers.
Image right : "Plate 33. Dick Patterson with one-man Australian surf-ski, Waikiki Beach.
By O.B. Patterson, Honolulu, Hawaii".
Image and caption Patterson (1960) Plate 33.
Note the ski bears the Ampol script on the nose.
Ampol Petroleum was the major sponsor of the 1956 international carnivals.
On the same page, Patterson also includes another photograph (not reproduced) ..
"Plate 32. Neil Ifverson with two-man Australian surf-ski, Waikiki Beach.
By O.B. Patterson, Honolulu, Hawaii".
.

Note that in the 1940s, an earlier model Australian surf ski, acquired as a gift at the 1939-1940 Pan Pacific Games, was ridden with remarkable skill (illustrated by film of the period) at Waikiki by Duke Kahanamoku,

Hall and Ambrose (1995) Page 83.

The historian for the County of Los Angles Lifeguard Division offers this assessment ...
"This singular event is recognized as the most influential surf lifesaving carnival ever held. The international surf lifesaving community was introduced to the rescue can, lightweight paddleboards, fiberglass surf boards, relays and iron man competition, as well as to the overall capabilities of the modern, well trained, professional lifeguard."

http://www.lacofd.org/Lifeguards/WhoIsHistoryByDecade.asp

On a personal level, the tour probably had a variety of attractions beside the desire to compete at an international level.
The experience of travel, expanded social relations and potential romance are other possibilities.

In the case of Greg Noll, any expectation of potential romance appears to have been realised ...

"One night ... no less than five different ladies decided to bestow their warm,
Australian hospitality on this poor Ol' Yank. To this day, I have never
received such a warm welcome, not even in my own native land of California."

Noll (1989), Page 72.

Australian Boardriders
The impact of exposure to state of the art boards ridden by elite boardriders on Australian boardriders was immediate.
The new techniques were intensively studied, particularly with access to film of the performance, and replicated.
Experienced hollow board riders quickly adopted the new design and there was an explosion in the number of juvenile riders.
By 1961, Australian surfers, notably big wave rider Bob Pike, made an impression in winter surf in Hawaii - considered the benchmark of high performance.
In 1962-1963, Bernard 'Midget' Farrelly of Freshwater won the prestigious Makaha Contest in Hawaii.
Farrelly would be at the international forefront of high performance surfing for the next ten years.

Boardriders from Other Nations
The impact of boardriders from other competing countries was also significant, principally in New Zealand and South Africa.
With a traditional relationship with the Australian movement, a more primitive manufacturing base and limited access to materials, both countries initially adopted the Okinuee - a hollow timber adaptation of the malibu design by Australian manufacturers.

Australian Manufacturers
While unfamiliarity with the new materials and new production techniques would be a major difficulty for Australian board builders, these developments were initially stalled by the lack of suitable balsa wood.
Experienced hollow wood builders were able to closely replicate the design, often called an Okinuee, by including a thick timber rail that could be shaped to a rounded edge.
The increasing demand for boards moved the current Sydney builders from their backyards (often in the Eastern suburbs) to industrial factories, ideally located at Brookvale, adjacent to the multitude of surfing locations between Manly and Palm Beach.
The tour also initiated a correspondence on construction and design between American and Australian manufacturers that accelerated with the introduction of polyester foam blanks.

The Australian Press
This study is confined to the domestic Australian press and does not attempt to locate and assess reports in international newspapers.
Although the international carnival was a popular item, it had to compete against the major journalistic focus on official Olympic events, largely in metropolitan Melbourne.
The interest in surf lifesaving was greatest in beach side Sydney, the home of the movement, which probably accounts for the expansive coverage by that city's press.

Press reports provide a reliable chronology and generally appear to be accurate in crowd sizes, weather conditions, competition results and participants (with some misspellings).

Board descriptions vary in their detail, occasionally identifiable as paddle boards but mostly the boards are Malibus.
The Malibu's large fin and it's significance are rarely reported.
The balsawood blank and the coating with fibreglass is regularly noted.
Other possible features of interest, such as variation in length, template shape or decor, are mostly absent.
There is one report of construction using redwood stringers.
It is possible that the reporters interviewed only a small number of team members, or viewed their boards, at the time and then applied these details to all the boards.

The Malibu Board - A Design or a Technology?
The development of the Malibu board (somewhere between 1946 and 1950), despite it's importance, is historically unclear and (fortunately) outside the scope of this paper.
Several surfers are identified as contributing, in varying degrees, to the design.
These include Joe Quigg, Matt Kilvin, Dave Rochen, and Dale Velsey in California.
Most commentators regard the role of Bob Simmons as pivotal, however a distinct lack of printed resources and his early death by drowning (26th September 1954), complicate a fully accurate assessment of Simmons' contribution.
In Hawaii, developments appear to have lagged only marginally behind California, probably pioneered by George Downing.

Regardless of various individual design features or dimensions of the early models, the two elemental developments were the application of a fibreglassed skin on to a hand shaped blank and a large fin.
Fibreglass technology produced a board of significant strength, a huge reduction in weight and the ability to sculpt an infinite variety of shapes.
The use of fibreglass was not limited to the wave riding Malibu board.
US and Hawaiian surfers had a long tradition in surfboard racing and rescue, and the new technology was also applied to these craft. See Blake (1961) Pages 27 to 30 (unspecified in the text).

"PADDLE BOARD RACING Photo: Drummond As the experts strive for honors, these streamlined hollow paddleboards,* leap ahead at a speed of about 7 miles per hour. Obviously a good lifeguard water rescue device, as well as a healthy sport. Paddleboard racing is popular in Hawaii, California, Australia, South America. These boards measure from 18 to 22 feet in length, and are from 151/2 inches to 18 inches wide, maximum. They are 4 to 6 inches deep and are constructed out of a hollowed-out Balsa wood hull, covered with fiberglas. They weigh from 20 to 30 pounds and are all custom built.
Competitors (from bottom) :1-Bright, 2-Zahn, (and cropped) 3-Alter, 4-Hogan.
*Invented by Blake 1926." Blake (1961) Page 28
It must be noted that examples of these advanced race and rescue boards were brought to Australia by the US and Hawaiian teams as well as a model of the Torpedo Buoy, previously developed by Walter V. H Biddell at the Bronte Surf Life Saving Club, 1902-1906.

Longhurst (2000) Page 9.

Greg Noll, in a brief comment, notes ... "We had come to race paddleboards. As it turned out, our surfboards became the real attraction."

Noll (1989) Page 70.

Noll's life guarding and paddleboard activities before 1956 are recalled in the ninth chapter of his autobiography, "Of Paddlers and Life Guards", pages 62 to 65.

Apparently these craft were overlooked at the time by the Australian surf life saving movement, and by most subsequent commentators.

Furthermore, somewhere in this period the application of paraffin wax to the deck of the board became standard practice, greatly increasing the traction of the rider.

Left :
Tom Zahn, Greg Noll and Mike Bright
with Fibreglass and Balsawood Paddleboards,
Australia, 1956.
Galton, page 112.
The photograph (Torquay, by implication) is credited
"Among the first of the malibus - around 1956".

Also printed in Wells (1982) Page 152.
Credited as
"Soon to become a relic of the past
- longboards in 1956.
Manly Library".

Galton and Wells are in agreement on the date.

A similar, but not identical, photograph is printed in Bloomfield (1959) facing page 161, with the credit
"USA and Hawaiian competitors with their
boards at the Olympic International Surf Carnival, Torquay Beach, Victoria, 1956.
Fred Lang Studios."

Note that Zahn's board features the text "U.S.A. 1956 Melbourne" on the nose, Noll's board has deep kneel paddling wells and Bright has the same board as shown in Blake (1961) Page 28, above.
Bloomfield’s credit to “Fred Lang Studios” and Wells' credit to "Manly Library" possibly indicate the photograph was taken on the northern beaches.

Australian Surfboards, circa 1950.
By the 1950s, the surf life saving movement effectively dominated surfboard riding activity.
To a significant extent this was, in a period of limited automobile ownership, simply a function of the need to store these large and heavy craft adjacent to the beach.
Some club members viewed patrol and other club duties as "rent" for their week-end beach side accommodation and access the the club's range of surfcraft.

With an emphasis on race and/or rescue performance, the lighter hollow board and the similarly constructed surf ski were the preferred craft.
Although some solid wood boards were still available at some clubs, these were usually for recreational or training activities only.
Such was the status of Duke Kahanamoku's famous Freshwater board of 1914 ...

"During the early 1950's the board was stored amongst the current boards, given no special
prominence and on occasion was used by Club members, including myself."

- Joe Larkin, noted in a phone conversation, February 2004.

In the mid-1940s the popularity of recreational board riding led to an attempt to promote the activity independent of the formal SLSC structure.
This challenge was quickly recognized and countered ...
"The senior longboard became a national event in 1946 (102), but the SLSAA had been pricked in 1945 by the formation of the Surf Board Association of Australia which it stated was:

''attempting to encroach upon the preserves of constituted authority guarding
surf bathers by running a pseudo 'Surf Board Championship of Australia' (104)'' It seems that the SLSAA did not want this new 'hedonistic' Association, which also had women members, involved in its competition or competing for the social space which was occupied by disciplined surf life saving clubs on Australian beaches. The Board Association was refused affiliation by the SLSAA on the grounds it was not a life saving club, and members of life saving clubs were prohibited from participating in surf events organized by an unaffiliated association. The advent of the board Association seemed to precipitate the SLSAA's formation of a Surf Board and Ski Section, and formulation of appropriate rules for use of boards and skis in its affiliated clubs, as a means of rescues and in carnivals (105)."

Young, F. (2000) Page 66.

Australian Exposure to the Malibu Board - 1950-1956.
In 1950-1951, the first recorded fibreglass and balsawood surfboard in Australia accompanied Hollywood actor and Malibu Point surfer, Peter Lawford.
He was in Australia in 1950 to film ‘Kangaroo’,
Released in June 1952, it was the first Technicolor movie filmed on-location in Australia
Filming was based at Pagewood Studios, Sydney, and locations included South Australia, New South Wales and Queensland. See http://www.us.imdb.com/title/tt0044788/maindetails

The board, identified by Albie Thoms (2000) as a finless board by Dave Rochlen Surfboards, was housed at Bondi for most of its stay and ridden by locals, Jack 'Bluey' Mayes, Ray Young and Aub Laidlaw.

"A Rochlen skegless board had been brought to Sydney by the American actor, Peter Lawford, when he arrived in Sydney in November 1950 to work on the Twentieth Century Fox production, Kangaroo (1952), which was shot in the Flinders Ranges in South Australia.
While filming, he left the board at the Bondi surf club, where it was ridden by the local beach inspectors, Jack 'Bluey' Mayes, Ray Young and Aub Laidlaw, though it didn't seem to impress them, with Laidlaw later achieving notoriety for banning both bikini-wearers and boardriders from Bondi Beach." Thoms (2000) Page 63.

Contrast this with Greg McDonagh's conflicting report ...

"In 1954, actor Peter Lawford, filming in Australia, aroused widespread
interest among surfers with a board called a Malibu... " Pollard (1964) page 56.


*Actor Peter Lawford and other Malibu Surfers,* *The Pit , Malibu, circa 1953.* Lueras (1984) Page 115. Ricky Grigg Collection.	*Duke Kahanamoku with (actors) Richard Boone and Peter Lawford and a board called 'Malibu',* *Waikiki, circa 1952.* Brown (2006) Page 143.

The board was possibly a recreated Hot Curl design, dating from 1937, similar to boards made by Joe Quigg in this period.
For the Hot Curl Story, see Fran Heath in LEGENDARY SURFERS.
Also Matt Kilvin on Joe Quigg and Dave Rochlen, in Longboard magazine, Volume No. pages ? )
Dave Rochlen was the favoured builder among Hollywood surfers, noted for the outstanding quality of the colour and decor design.

Image right :
"Ted Burns competing at Makaha in 1950
- said to be the first Australian to compete in Hawaii."
Unknown : Looking Forward - Looking Back :
History of Wollongong City SLSC 1915-2000. Page 27.

The board Burns is riding is certainly a short Malibu type board and the competition shirt conforms with other examples in use at Makaha in this period.
The caption obviously does not take account of the representative Australian team to the Pan-Pacific Games in Honolulu in 1939-1940.

Although this era precedes the development of an extended surfing press, surfboard designers published their plans in popular technical or handyman magazines as early as 1934.

Bill Reid's 1953 article "Fun on a Plastic Surfboard" details a 9ft 6'' board with a long based fin constructed from a styrofoam blank with a plywood stringer, covered in muslin cloth and plastic sealer before fibreglassing.

Popular Mechanics Magazine July 1953 Volume 100 Number 1 page 159

Californian, Matt Kilvin provided the technical information (and was photographed) building a fibreglassed balsa wood surfboard for Edna Wood's 1954 imaginatively titled article, "Surfboards".

Mechanix Illustrated Magazine September Volume 50 Number 9 pages 173 - 173.

Kilvin was a protégé of Bob Simmons and a companion of Joe Quigg and Tom Zahn.
His printed plans do not feature a fin, which maybe an oversight.
Printed in the U.S.A., it is unknown if any current copies arrived in Australia.
Certainly, without a demonstration of the board's performance, the impact on an Australian reader would have been minimal.
However, it is possible that these articles (or copies of) were in circulation among Australian surfboard builders after 1956.
It is unlikely that members of the U.S.A. and/or Hawaiian teams were unaware of Kilvin's contribution.

Circa 1955 Scott Dillion and Barry "Magoo" McGuigan, members of Bondi Surf Lifesaving Club, rode balsa boards in California at Hermosa Beach, courtesy of local Surf Life Guard Stations.

Scott Dillon Interview by Neil Armstrong. Longboarding Magazine, Number 5, Autumn 1999, page 23.
Scott Dillon Interview 29th June 2005. Coffs Harbour NSW.

In biographical notes, published in 1964, John ‘Nipper’ Williams, of Queenscliff S.L.S.A claims he obtained a balsa Malibu in 1955-1956, bought used in Hawaii ...

Surfing has been Williams' life from the time he joined Queenscliff Surf Club at the age of 12.
He started riding 16-foot plywood boards and believes he had the first Malibu brought to Australia.
He rode one he secured from a friend who had bought it in Hawaii, in 1955, the year after actor
Peter Lawford showed the first malibu here.

Pollard (1964) page 71.

The claim is confirmed by Manly surfer, Bob Evans ... "...'Nipper' Williams, who had been using a beat-up old Malibu for six months, also was showing form.
'Nipper's' board was about 8' 6" and had been brought back by a travelling Australian businessman
for his 11 year old son six months earlier.
Everyone else thought it was a joke - except "Nipper" and several thousand Californians."

Bob Evans in Surfing World Volume 16 # 4 Pages 30 to 35. 1972.

For the full article, a retrospective covering the period from the introduction of the malibu board 1956 to 1966, see ....Bob Evans : Remember the time when?

In early 1956 Scott Dillon returned to Bondi from the USA and purchased a Milacron, a job that was conducive to his surfing activities.
In mid 1956 he encountered 'Flippy' Hoffman, a visiting American surfer, seriously ill with yellow jaundice.
Flippy Hoffman was a member of a famous surfing family that included Walter and Joyce Hoffman.
While Hoffman was hospitalized, his balsa/fibreglass semi-gun was surfed by Scott Dillon at Bondi Beach.
The board featured an unusual concave deck.

Scott Dillon Interview by Neil Armstrong. Longboarding Magazine, Number 5, Autumn 1999, page 23.
Scott Dillon, phone conversation, 2000.
Scott Dillon Interview 29th June 2005. Coffs Harbour NSW.

This is probably the board referred to by Bob Evans, his commentary probably dating Hoffman's arrival in the later half of 1956 ...
"By chance the liner carrying home of the Americans to Australia also carried two Australian
surfboarders returning from a world trip.
They were Scott Dillon and Barry "McGoo" McGuigan and their non-surfing mate Bruce Laird. Obsessed by the possibilities of what they had seen of the short board in action overseas, the boys persuaded one of the Yanks to leave his board in their care at Bondi while he journeyed to Victoria for the big surf carnival.
This board, the first of its kind to be used regularly south-side, was stored at Ross Kelly's house and was ridden to a standstill, till its owner returned to claim it."

Bob Evans : Remember the time when? Surfing World Volume 16 # 4 1972 Pages 30 to 35.

Dave Simmons recalls that "Bluey" Mayes confided that the board was highly valued by the south side riders and effectively hidden from Hoffman on his return to Bondi from Victoria.

Dave Simmons in conversation, Shoalhaven Heads SLSC, 17 September 2006.

Olympic Preparations.
In the lead up to the 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games, the surf life saving movement intensively lobbied to have their sport featured as one of two demonstration sports nominated by the host country.
Despite the Olympic officials allocating demonstration status to Baseball and Australian Rules Football, the arrangements for the proposed International Surf Life Saving Carnival proceeded.

On the 5th October 1956, the Sydney Morning Herald (SMH) announced the forthcoming International surf life saving program as Torquay 2nd December, Maroubra 8th December and Collaroy 9th December, 1956.

-Page?

The program was subsequently adjusted with the International Carnival to be held on the 25th November, with the (delayed from 1955-1956) Australian championships held on the following weekend, 2nd December, 1956.

"Early in the 1956-1957 season, an International Surf Carnival, regarded as the first truly international carnival (133), and the delayed 1956 Australian Surf Championships were held at Torquay, Victoria on 25 November and 2 December 1956 respectively, to coincide with the Olympic Games being held in Melbourne."
Young, F. (2000) Page 71.

The countries invited to compete at all events included teams from Great Britain, New Zealand, South Africa, Ceylon, Hawaii and United States.

U.S.A. - Hawaiian Preparations
Torquay surfer, Peter Troy recalled
"... Arthur Parkin. I think he's 94 years old, living in Queensland on the Sunshine Coast, he was asked by the lifesaving authorities in Australia to travel to California and Hawaii to instruct paid lifeguards to be put together into a team to come out to Australia. And that was done I think as early as 1952 and was sponsored by Ampol Petroleum, where they paid for that man to go several times to America to teach these guys lifesaving methods."

The California Surf Life Saving Association historian reports
"The Honorable Judge Adrian Curlewis of Australia appointed Arthur Parkens (Parkyn?), an Australian lifesaving instructor, to solicit participation from the United States.
California lifeguards and a contingent from the Territory of Hawaii decided to participate.
Both teams were required trained and awarded, "The Australian Surflifesavers Medallion," so as to meet the international competition standards required for the event."

http://www.cslsa.org/about/history.asp

There is some uncertainty to the membership and the independence of the two teams.
Reports have alternative spellings for many team member's names, sometimes it is unclear to which team the member represents, and sometimes the teams are combined under the general description "Americans".
Some reports of the results from the various competitions are unclear.
Furthermore, Tom Zahn's status as a representative of Hawaii was possibly questionable.
The (apparently small) number of native Hawaiians in the team should also be noted.

What is certain is the quality of their equipment and their ability as Watermen.
Several team members were at the forefront of the development of the fibreglass surfboard, protégés of Bob Simmons.
The paddle and Malibu boards bought to Australia were built by some of the premier American designers - Joe Quigg, George Downing and Dale Velsey-Hap Jacobs.

Although the term only came to prominence in the surfing press circa 1978, see Warshaw (2004) Pages 681 and 682, the Waterman concept was essentially formulated by Tom Blake in the 1930s.
Blake (1935 and 1961) promoted the idea of the fully qualified surfer, personified in Duke Kahanamoku, whose skills not only included wave riding but proficiency in swimming, body surfing, the paddle board, canoe paddling, sailing, fishing, diving, rescue techniques and equipment construction and maintenance.
Blake's ideas were particularly taken up by Tom Zahn who was an elite athlete, see Lynch and Gault-Williams (2001) Pages 183 to 185.
In the early 1960s, the concept lost its status to a heavy focus on waveriding skill that, at an extreme, was valued over all other human traits.
That extreme was called Micki Dora - See Steyck and Kampion (2004).

US Team Members
Members were selected from various Californian professional life guard services - Los Angeles County (LACO), Los Angeles City (LACity) and Santa Monica City (SMC).
Rusty WilliamsTeam Captain (LACO)

"Rusty Williams emerged as the County's leader during this era of increased professionalism,
which saw the introduction of formalized training and public education programs."

History of the County of Los Angles Lifeguard Division
http://www.lacofd.org/Lifeguards/WhoIsHistoryByDecade.asp

Kirby Temple Team Coach (LACO)

Herb Barthels, Sr. Team Manager (LACity)

Tad Devine(SMC)
The son of Hollywood actor, Andy Devine, Tad was an elite swimmer who

"... missed selection on times in the United States Olympic team
as a 400-metre swimmer by only 0.1 s."

SMH Monday 10th December, 1956. Page 11.

"In 1964, ... Howard Lee of LA County designed the national logo ... His design was influenced
by a similar design that Tad Devine of the 1956 Australia team had created for the team uniform."

California Surf Life Saving Association - History
http://www.cslsa.org/about/history.asp

Bob Burnside(LACO) - Velzy-Jacobs surfboard
"After the (Australian tour) ... Chief Stevenson appointed Bob Burnside as President of the nascent organization (SLSAmerica)"

"Bob Burnside ... President ... of USLA 1963 - 1967"

California Surf Life Saving Association - History
http://www.cslsa.org/about/history.asp

"Bob Burnside became the Chief lifeguard in 1972. A founding member of the Surf Lifesaving Association, Chief Burnside pushed for professionalism and respect for lifeguarding with the introduction and recognition of important credentials such as rescue boat skipper licensing and EMT certification."

History of the County of Los Angles Lifeguard Division
http://www.lacofd.org/Lifeguards/WhoIsHistoryByDecade.asp

Mike Bright (LACO)
"Mike 'Bones' Bright an Outstanding Waterman of Surfing, Paddleboardering (sic), and Diving. A State Champion in Beach Doubles Volleyball and a 3 time Olympic participant, once in paddling, twice in volleyball. And who glassed boards for Bing Copeland, Rick Stoner, Greg Noll, Dewey Weber, Sonny Vardeman, Hap Jacobs, Dick Mobley and others.
...
When Mike was 15 years old he was repairing boards under the Manhatten (sic) Beach Pier, afterwards he would be glassing in friend's garages from Manhatten Beach to Redondo. Trying new ideas on glassing techniques. He used a Churchill swimfin to squeege a board, Mike liked the way the edge of the swim fin worked the resin, but the fin was to bulky. Back then anything was possible since no one did it before. Mike mentions Bill Bahr was the first to get glassing down, most of the early guys kept the information and technique of what they did to themselves. So you learned on your own."

http://www.theshaperstree.com/tales/bones.asp
Story by Mike Bright, written by Tom Takao.

"Mike "Bones" Bright was a member of the "17th Street Seals" which was a local surfing club back in the 1950’s and 1960’s. As a club member he was involved in surfing, paddle-boarding, and volleyball.
...
Bright was also a multi-winner of the Catalina-to-Manhattan Beach Paddle Board Race. In 1955, Bright, after 32 miles on an 18 foot paddle board winning the Catalina-Palos Verdes-Manhattan Beach paddle board race played volleyball all day to help win the Manhattan Beach Six-Man Tournament. He did this on several occasions, including in 1964, when the event was two-man.
...
Mike Bright, five time winner of the Manhattan Beach Men’s Open, ... was an All-American from 1960-1964. He played on the 1964 Olympic Team and on the 1960 Pan Am Team."

Beach Volleyball Database
http://www.bvbinfo.com/player.asp?ID=313

Greg Noll(LACO) (Gregg Knoll ?)
Greg Noll had a well documented surfing careeer.

Dave Ballinger (LACO)
Chick McIlroy(LACO)
Paul McIlroy (LACO)
Sheridan Byerly(LACO)
Roger Jensen(LACO)

http://www.cslsa.org/about/history.asp

A photograph of the U.S.A. team, location unknown, includes Arthur Pakins from Australia and one Bud Stevenson, who is not listed elsewhere.
His attire indicates he is possibly an official.

http://www.theshaperstree.com/tales/bones.asp

Greg Noll notes several team members as "Tommy Zahn, Mike Bright, Bobby Moore and I"

Noll (198) Page 70.

Albie Thoms' account of the 1956 tour lists "Tad Devine ... Greg Noll, Mike Bright, Tom Zahn and others"

Thoms (2000) Page 64.

Hawaiian Team Members
Dr. Don Gustuson
Harry Shaeffer (Shaffer?) , Team Manager
Tom Shaeffer (Shroeder?) - 9ft 6'' semi-gun surfboard
Team Coach
Tom Moore
Tom Zahn - probably Joe Quigg surfboard
Dan Durego (De Rego?)

Tim Guard- George Downing surfboard
"Tim Guard's lifelong residency in Hawaii has revolved around ocean related activities. As president of McCabe Hamilton & Renny Co., he presides over the state's largest and oldest stevedoring business. He earned his BA from the University of Southern California in International Relations and served as an officer in the U.S. Navy during the Vietnam era, where his combat citations were the Bronze Star and Navy Commendation Medal. Guard's civic service leadership roles include the Hawaii Maritime Center, Outrigger Canoe Club and Honolulu Council of the Navy League, for which he currently serves as president. Prior to joining McCabe, he owned and operated his own executive recruiting company, Robert T. Guard & Associates."

Pacific Marine Life Foundation : Board of Directors
http://www.pmlf.org/pages/bios.html

L. Honka (Hangca?)
Peter Balding (Baulding?)
Shaky Felez

The above team lists are based on those at http://www.cslsa.org/about/history.asp

Tom Zahn's Hawaiian team cloth badge
International Surfing Carnival, 1956.
The Surfer's Journal
Volume 9 No 2, 2000. Page 86.
Photograph : unaccredited.

"The Hawaii team consisted of ten members including Peter Balding, Tom Zahn, Tom Moore, Tommy Shroeder, Harry Shaffer and Danny De Rego."
Patterson page 96

Accompanying the Hawaiian Team in Melbourne was Duke Kahanamoku, returning to Australia as a guest of the Australian Olympic Committee

US Team Arrival Anticipated
The Sunday Telegraph, Sunday 11 November 1956 Page 84, noted ...
U.S. Team for surf
Twelve American and 10 Hawaiian lifesavers will arrive here on Tuesday to compete in surf carnivals
in Melbourne and Sydney.
They will be the first lifesavers from America and Hawaii to compete in carnivals in Australia.
The Americans and the Hawaiians will appear at Torquay (Victoria) on November 25 and December 2
and at Maroubra and Collaroy on December 8 and 9.
The Americans and Hawaiians will make their first appearance in Australia at carnivals next weekend at Cronulla and Avalon.

Under a header "U.S. Surf team Will Tour'', a SMH article (11th October, 1956. Page 8) notes that the team will arrive in in Sydney in November and the success of the Carnival is due to a donation of two thousand pounds from Mr. G Walkley of Ampol.

Arrival in Sydney - Tuesday 13th November 1956.
Members of the US and Hawaiian teams arrived in Sydney on Tuesday 13th November 1956.

SMH 14 November 1956 Page ?
Daily Telegraph 14 November 1956 Page 31.
The Sun Wednesday 14th November 1956 Page 60.

Noll's narrative, and contemporary film, indicates that the teams and the Malibu boards arrived by air ...

"Tom Zahn, Mike Bright, Bobby Moore and I paid the extra
freight to take our surfboards with us to Australia ... When the boards
were first taken off the airplane and put on a flatbed truck ...". Noll (1989) Page 70. It is probable that the larger paddleboards were also in the same shipment.
There is a slight possibility, with lengths exceeding 14 feet, they came by sea freight.

Noll records the initial Australian response to the new design was a mix of scepticism and laconic humour ..

"... a head honcho (unidentified) from one of the surf clubs in Australia came over to look at them.
'What are these for, mate?" he asked us.
... This guy kept looking at the boards, touching them, turning them over.
He finally said, 'Give ya two bob (two shillings, later 20 cents) for the works, mate.'
His way of saying they were worthless." Noll (1989) Page 70.

Note that Greg Noll's assessment of Australian boardriding at this time is less than accurate...

"Up to that time, the Aussies had used a surf ski type of board,
and the idea was to go out and take off on some white water and
come straight in in the soup, while all the girls on the beach squealed." Noll (1989) Page 70. This may possibly be a casual assessment of current surf life saving and competition practice, but from the early 1940s Manly boardriders regularly rode at Fairy Bower, a powerful right hand point/reef break where to "take off on some white water and come straight in in the soup" is not a practical option.

Cover : Walkabout - Australia and the South Seas Magazine October 1, 1942.

Although Noll's account appears to suggest the inclusion of the Malibu boards was almost incidental ...

"We intended to take the boards with us to the paddle meets and,
during our time off, tryout the Australian surf."

Noll (1989) Page 71.

from their first contact with the Australian press, the US-Hawaiian surfers were expansive in their enthusiasm for their new fibreglassed surfboard designs.

The day after the U.S.A.-Hawaiian teams' arrival, the SMH headlined an article "Ultra-Light Board for Surf"...
"Hawaiian lifesaver Henry Shaffer (sic, Shaeffer) believes his 26lb board could revolutionise surfboard racing (1) in Australia.
Shaffer is captain of the Hawaiian surf team, which arrived in Sydney yesterday with 10 American
lifesavers to compete in international surf carnivals in Melbourne and Sydney during the next month.
The most streamlined racing boards in Sydney, made from 1/2 in (half inch) plywood, weigh about
33-35 lb.
Shaffer's surfboard is made of balsa wood reinforced with canvas, and is coated with a thick layer of
fibre-glass.(2)
Several leading Sydney board riders agreed last night that the lightweight balsa fibre-glass boards
would give the Hawaiians a tremendous advantage under normal conditions.(3)
But they claimed the heavier Australian boards would be more at home in a big surf, where the
Hawaiian boards would be at a disadvantage.
Shaffer said: "I must admit that the powerful Australian surf will be the final test for the fibre-glass
board (4), which has just come into vogue in the United States."(5)
The Americans, all powerful rough-water swimmers are university graduates or students, who spend
the summer as professional lifeguards on beaches around Los Angeles.
The Hawaiian and American teams will be billeted at the Balmoral Naval Depot (6) until they leave for
Melbourne next Wednesday.
They wiII compete in carnivals at Torquay on November 25 and December 2, returning to Sydney on
December 6 for carnivals at Maroubra, Dec. 8, and Collaroy, Dec. 9. "

SMH 14th November, 1956. Page?

Commentary
1. "revolutionise surfboard racing"
The boards referred to are likely paddleboards, and not the wave riding Malibus.
2. "made of balsa wood reinforced with canvas, and is coated with a thick layer of fibre-glass."
For a reference to "reinforced with canvas", see Bill Reid's 1953 article "Fun on a Plastic Surfboard"
Popular Mechanics Magazine July 1953 Volume 100 Number 1 page 159 .
3. "... Sydney board riders agreed ... the lightweight ... boards ... give ... advantage".
Australian builders have noted the advantages and, even at this early juncture, have possibly examined the boards.
4. "the powerful Australian surf will be the final test for the fibre-glass board".
Indicates the board design has been paddled, and ridden, in an extensive variety of surf conditions, so far successfully.
5. "which has just come into vogue in the United States."
The design is only recently become popular in California and Hawaii.
6. "billeted at the Balmoral Naval Depot "
Gordon Woods recalled that they were accommodated at the Army barracks on North Head, significantly closer to Manly beach. Gordon Woods, my notes from a phone conversation, 18th July 2005.

As the teams were accommodated adjacent to Manly, a major research resource should be The Manly Daily. Unfortunately, for reasons unknown, the paper failed to archive copies circa 1955-1958 and none are held by the Manly-Warringah Library.

There is no mention of the provision of equipment storage or for training facilities of the visiting teams, the latter certainly requiring access to surfing conditions.
Since Manly Beach was the closest surfing beach to the teams accommodation at Balmoral, it is the most likely available training centre, with equipment storage facilities at any of the beach's three surf lifesaving clubs.

Manly surfers had reason to closely monitor the overseas competition.
The Manly SLSC sent a team of 27 to the Torquay carnivals, contesting a variety of events.
Unfortunately, star Manly swimmer Max Riddington was working in America and was not available for selection.
His place fell to another Manly club member, Barry Taylor.

Harris (1961) Page Twenty-nine.

Furthermore, Manly was one of the major centres of boardriding in Sydney, with a pedigree dating back to Claude West, the recipient of Duke Kahanamoku's Freshwater board in 1915.
West's impressive contest record was continued by his Manly protégé, 'Snowy' McAllister who "... competed in the surfboard race at the Australian surf championships at Torquay,
Victoria in 1956 - 32 years after winning his first title."

Harris (1961) Page Fifty-six.

The Manly club's interest in surfcraft was not confined to surfboards and members played a major role in the development of the Australian surfboat and the surf ski.

The Sun journalist covering the arrival, J. S. McAuley, briefly mentioned the new surfboard design, but gave most prominence to Tom Zahn's paddling abilities ...
"Hawaiian Tom Zahn will not lack staying power when he contests board contests at the Olympic surf carnival at Torquay on Sunday week.
Zahn recently won a 26 mile race in Hawaii.
The longest board races in NSW are about three miles.
With the revolutionary type boards the Hawaiians have brought with them they could trouble our top riders."

He also gave details of the team's competitive attire ...
"US and Hawaiian surfers will wear colorful costumes (donated by Speedo) for their first Australian appearance at Cronulla on Saturday and at Avalon on Sunday."

Some details in the article were, or proved to be, incorrect ...
"The Americans are coastguards from Miami Beach, Florida.
They will not be allowed to contest individual events, as they are paid professionals."

J. S. McAuley : In The Surf
The Sun Wednesday 14th November 1956 Page 60.

Cronulla Beach - Saturday 17th November 1956.
In a brief report focused on the skill of the U.S.A. team, the Sunday Telegraph (Sunday 18 November Page 76) reported ...
"U.S. surfers impressive
The visiting American surf team yesterday showed it could prove a major threat to Australia's domination of international surfing.
The Americans trained impressively before a crowd of 4000 at Cronulla beach."

Avalon Beach - Sunday 18th November 1956.
The first public, and most significant, demonstration of the performance capabilities of the Malibu boards was on Sunday 18th November at Avalon beach, on the Northern beaches peninsular.

The SMH reported (19th November, 1956. Page 3) in an article titled "Thousands Throng Beaches : Many Saved. US Surfers Show New Technique" ...

"Nearly 20,000 went to Avalon for the surf life saving carnival in which lifesavers
from United States, Hawaii and New Zealand competed against Sydney clubs.
The American surfers, standing sideways on small 10ft. boards and moving
at high speed, received a warm reception from the crowd.
One of the American surfers, Ted Levine (sic, Tad Devine) had the opportunity to
demonstrate his country's rescue technique in a genuine emergency.
Instead of the Australian belt and reel, he used a "torpedo buoy' ".

For a detailed account of the use of the Torpedo buoy and it's assessment by Australian lifesaving officials, see the entry for the Collaroy International Carnival, Sunday 9th December 1956, below.

Woolongong - November 1956, undated, but before Wednesday 24th.

"During the year (1956), Olympic swimmers, Lorraine Crapp, Gary Chapman,
plus coach Frank Gutherie were entertained at the Illawarra Leagues Club.
Also at the same venue, the club entertained the U.S.A. and Hawaiian teams in November,
prior to the International Carnival at Torquay, during the Olympic Games."

The Corfu Lifebuoy - History of North Woolongong Surf Life Saving Club 1908-1996.
Pages 85 - 86.

Departure for Melbourne - Wednesday 21st November 1956.

In the period before the departure for Melbourne, Gordon Woods arranged to purchase a 9 ft 6” Velzy-Jacobs surfboard from Bob Burnside.
As Burnside required the board for competition, exclusive possession would only be available to Woods when the teams returned to the U.S.A.
To make certain of the deal, concerned that Burnside may receive a more attractive offer, Gordon Woods travelled to Torquay.
As future owner, he was able to surf the board, his first exposure to Victorian waves.
Gordon Woods, my notes from a phone conversation, 18th July 2005.

Image right : Gordon Woods and his Velzy-Jacobs Malibu board, circa 1958.
Cropped from Pollard (1964) Page 28.

Two other boards were known to be purchased by Manly surfers, Bob Pike and Bob Evans, and given the Burnside-Woods arrangement it is possible that these were similar transactions.

Gordon Woods and Velsey-Jacobs Balsa board. From Bob Burnside in 1956

Bob Pike purchased a 9 ft 6” Malibu from either Ted (sic) Schroeder or Tom Zahn
Bob Evans (1972) and Nat's History (1983) Page 89.
Ray Moran (phone conversation, 23 August 2006) reports a tale from a Manly SLSC member that when the visitors left their boards at the club to venture down the Corso, Pike was invited by an unauthorized Manly member to try out one of the newly arrived boards.
Upon the return of visitors, Bob quickly rode the board into the beach under a hail of verbal abuse and desperately attempted to make amends by insisting that he wanted to buy the board.
Bob Pike was a big wave rider, noted for his Hawaiian performance.
He was the first Australian surfer to win an international contest, Peru 1962.

Bob Evans obtained a board (probably) built in Hawaii by North shore pioneer, George Downing ...

"Gordon Woods bought a 9' 6" Malibu type, Bob Pike acquired a 9' 6" semi-gun from Ted (sic, Tom) Schroeder and I paid Tim Guard 46 (pounds) for a beautiful, hot curl board built by George Downing." Bob Evans : remember the time when...' Surfing World Volume 16 # 4 1972 pages 30 to 35.

Note that this probably was not an original finless Hot Curl, circa 1937 but a later finned model based on the Hot Curl template.
Bob Evans was a surfing photographer and future editor of Surfing World magazine and prolific surf film producer.

Nat Young (1983) also reports that ..."Peter Clare (bought) a Quigg board" - page 89.
This claim is repeated (but probably the source is Young) by Walding (2003) page 25.

None of the reports appear to account for Greg Noll's (possibly self-made) board which he confirms was onsold

"When we left Australia, we also left our boards for the Aussies."

Noll (1989), Page 71.

Note that Peter Troy specifically notes Noll's board had a removable fin, see the entry for Torquay, Sunday 2nd November 1956, below.

A report in the SMH clearly indicates that seven Malibu boards of the Hawaiian team will be onsold to Australian surfers at the end of the tour...
"Surfers To Sell Boards
The visiting Hawaiian surfers will sell their seven lightweight surfboards (1), which created a sensation at Avalon last Sunday (2), after their farewell appearance at Collaroy on December 9.
The boards, which are made from balsa reinforced with two long strips of redwood (3) and coated
with a thick layer of fibre-glass, weigh 26lb.
The lightest racing boards in Sydney, made from 1/2 inch plywood weigh from 33 to 23 lb.
The Hawaiian boards, which have been used at Waikiki Beach for seven or eight years (4), can be made in less than a week.
Shorter, Wider
They are eight feet long, compared with the average Australian length of 16 feet, but are about five
inches wider than the local board's 20-21 inches.(5)
Three hundred people saw the Hawaiians give an exhibition of board riding after a special carnival at
Avalon in a big surf last Sunday.(2)
Unlike Australian boardriders, the Hawaiians stood on the middle of their balsa boards, even when
heavy white water from the broken waves swept around their feet.
Harry Shaffer, captain of the Hawaiian squad, said last night of the boards : "There is no question of
selling out to the highest bidder.
"We plan to give our boards to the fellows we consider to be the real enthusiasts at only a token
cost."

SMH Wednesday 21 November, 1956. Page 15.

Commentary
1. "seven lightweight surfboards"
The boards as described are definitely Malibus, approximately 8 feet long.
This possibly only refers to boards from the Hawaiian team.
The number of boards from the U.S.A. team is unknown.
See below.
2. "which created a sensation ...Three hundred people saw the Hawaiians give an exhibition of board riding after a special carnival at Avalon in a big surf last Sunday."
The report closely aligns with Greg Noll's recollections, that commentators often locate at Torquay.

See Noll (1989), Page 71, quoted above.

3. "reinforced with two long strips of redwood"
.The presence of redwood stringers is not noted in any other report.
In film of Duke Kahanamoku's visit to Freshwater Beach following the Olympic Games, reproduced in Nat Young's A History of Australian Surfing (1985), one board of the accompanying U.S.A.-Hawaiian riders appears to conform with this description.
See Freshwater - December 1956, below. 4. "used at Waikiki Beach for seven or eight years"
Estimates the introduction of the fibreglassed boards to Waikiki circa 1949.
5. "about five inches wider than the local board's 20-21 inches."
It is unlikely that any of the balsa and fibreglass boards width exceeded 24 inches, but it is possible.
6. "in a big surf last Sunday."
The contrast between this report's "big surf" with Greg Noll's "a little point break" (see above) maybe be explained by Noll's, often quoted, extreme method of estimating wave height in "increments of fear".
Noll was one of the first surfers to regularly ride the large waves of Oahu's north shore in the 1950s, his performance at Waimea Bay and Outside Pipeline is well documented.

Wednesday's SMHreport indicates that at least seven boards from Hawaii are to be on-sold to Australian boardriders.
It is unclear if this is the total number of boards, or if other boards were available from the U.S.A. team.
Of the boards identified above, two came from Hawaiian team members (Schroeder or Zahn and Guard) and one from the U.S.A. team (Burnside).
Nat Young's report that "Peter Clare (bought) a Quigg board". does not identify the previous owner, boards by Joe Quigg were in use in both Hawaii and California. Nat Young (1983) Page 89
There are, at least, three boards unaccounted for.
It is known that Greg Noll and Mike Bright brought Malibu boards to Australia, however their fate is currently unknown.
A remote possibility is that one transaction may have included an exchange of craft, at least one Australian surf ski probably returning with a member of the Hawaiian team.

Patterson (1960) Plates 32 and 33.

In a report despatched from Melbourne and published on the day of departure, The Sun's J. S. McAuley detailed accommodation and catering arrangements for the competitors ...
"Australian and overseas surfers billeted at Melbourne Showground will not go short of meals during their 12-day stay. Frank Dennis, who is doing the catering at Melbourne Stadium during the Games, is also looking after the surfers. He has ordered nearly two tons of beef, to be eaten at breakfast. He is providing a la carte dinners for the 350 surfers at night."

J. S. McAuley : Surfers to Eat by ' Ton'
The Sun Wednesday 21st November 1956 Page 59.

Subsequent reports indicate a less than positive assessment of Frank Dennis' culinary skills ... "Many of the competitors were less than happy because they were housed at the Melbourne
Showgrounds and there were mountains of complaints about the bulk food catering.
Lou Vaughan, of Burleigh Heads, and his mate 'Whoopsie' Phipps, of Surfers Paradise,
told me, 'It was worse than horsemeat. ' "

Galton (1984) Page 108.

Torquay Beach - Sunday 25th November 1956 : International Carnival
An Australian (Melbourne?) newspaper article, "Torquay Prepares for International Surfing Carnival "(25th November 1956?) detailed team training activities and noted, once more, the use of fibreglassed boards ... The Americans were particularly interested in the performance of boats and boards yesterday.
Manager Kirby Temple pointed out that the only surf boat used
at Los Angles was a Gloster (?) dory, manned by two rowers.
Americans also use a different type of board.
It measures about nine feet, and is made of balsa wood covered in fibreglass.

The newspaper article is reproduced in Walding, page 17.

In another article previewing Sunday's carnival, Melbourne's The Age notes the attendance of international teams, possible highlights of the day's events and the expectation of a large number of spectators ...

"With Olympic athletes observing a rest from competition,
a crowd of thousands is expected to make the journey." There is no mention of the U.S.A. or Hawaiian teams' surfboards.

The Age Saturday 24th November 1956 Page 12.

Duke Kahanamoku attended at least one of the carnivals at Torquay, probably the first.
He returned to Australia for the 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games, where he and Mrs. (Nadine) Kahanamoku official guests of the Australian Olympic Organizing Committee. Image right :
Duke and Nadine Kahanamoku
International Surf Carnival, Torquay Victoria, 1956.
Myers (1983) Page 18 and Galton, (1984) Page 108.

Following the competition, the Daily Telegraph reported ...
"Surfing draws 50,000
Melbourne, Sun.
- Fifty thousand people today saw 35 teams compete in an international carnival at Torquay.
...
The Americans caused a surprise when they appeared with their surfboards.
Glass Boards
The boards were made of light fibre glass.
They were very narrow, with rounded keels and resembled kayak canoes.
Australia's reel and line method of surf rescue astounded the Americans.
The American system is to carry a coil of nylon line into the surf and pay it out as they swim to the patient."

Daily Telegraph Monday 26 November Page 35.

Note that the board description implies the fibreglass boards are probably the paddleboards, identified above, and the account of the the "American system" is misleading.
For a detailed account of the use of the Torpedo buoy and it's assessment by Australian lifesaving officials, see the entry for the Collaroy International Carnival, Sunday 9th December 1956, below.

The Age's coverage of the contest reported a more modest number of spectators and disappointing swell conditions ...
"Forty thousand people, yesterday swarmed over the cliffs at the Toquay beach to watch the International Surf Carnival.
Overseas Olympic visitors and athletes were well represented in the crowd.
...
Despite high winds the surf was weak and spasmodic and competitors got little help from it.
Passing showers sent the crowds scurrying for cover during the morning, but the sun shone brightly for most of the afternoon.
Overseas visitors did not see the typically Australian sport of surfing at its best because of the poor surf."
The article makes no reference to the use of fibreglass and balsa wood surfboards and an extensive list of results, printed in a separate section, does not include board, surf ski or surfboat events.

The Age Monday 26th November 1956 Pages 3 and 13.

Barry Galton report of the contest results includes ...

"Overall, the New South Wales team ... won the contest from New Zealand's team ...
Hawaii came third. ... Hawaii won the Beach Relay from South Africa and the
United States and the Hawaiian T. Zahn won the Surf Board from American M. Bright.
This was the first time the American malibus had been given a trying test out in the Australian surf."

Galton (1984) Page 108.

His last statement is both possibly misleading and incorrect.

Compare Galton's reported results with the claim by the Cronulla Club, noted by Faye Young ...
"At the International Carnival (Torquay, 25th November), the (Cronulla) Club won the ...Surf Board Race..."

Young, F. (2000) Page 71.

Although the Malibu board had already made an indelible mark on Sydney boardriders, the Torquay Carnivals widened exposure to surfers from other countries and other Australian states.
Queensland boardrider and manufacturer, Hayden Kenny stated...
"I first came in contact with a malibu board at Torquay beach in Victoria in November of 1956 at the Olympic Games Surf Carnival.
The coach of the Californian team, a Mr Arthur Parkyn (Parkens?), who is a foundation member of Mooloolaba Surf Club, introduced me to some of the Californian Team members who had malibu boards with them. I was able to take one of the boards out for a few waves that day and was immediately impressed with the wave riding capabilities of the craft.
And from that day on I was hooked!".

Hayden Kenny, reported at http://www.surfingaustralia.com/article.aspx?nid=3641

Torquay Beach - Sunday 2nd December 1956.
The SMH (Monday 3rd December, 1956. Page 12) reported
"Melbourne, Sunday.
Only about 15,000 watched the championships.
There was hardly any surf and by early afternoon the tide was well out to sea, leaving swimmers a
long run and wade to deep water.
The march past was marred by a storm and ... a second storm cleared the beach and the sandhills later."

"At the Australian Championships (Torquay, 2nd December)... Brian Keane (Cronulla)
was placed second in the Surf Board Championship"

Young, F. (2000) Page 71.

Torquay surfer, Peter Troy recalled his role at the 2nd December carnival for ABC Radio ....
"I was not in the official team, I was only seventeen at the time, I was asked to give demonstration surfboard riding. I rode one of those early surf club boards(1), to show the standard of surfing within this country." But it was the American team that helped inspire the surfing culture in Australia, "in the American lifeguard team, the major people were the lifeguards, basically swimmers.(2) In that team they brought out with them four Malibu boards.(3) It was Greg Noll on the second of December (4) who rode a surfboard on Torquay back beach (5) on a Sunday afternoon, and changed the life of surfing in Australia for so many people. It was totally revolutionary, the board itself was something like nine foot long.

"We were riding sixteen and seventeen foot long boards. We knelt on them in general, we didn't have fins on the bottom of the board. Here's a guy walking down the beach with this strange little thing, and jumps on it and lies down, and everyone who was watching was thinking 'this guy isn't very good he can't even kneel!' (6) Fifty meters out from the beach he spun it around, caught a wave, walked up and down, hung toes over the nose, and did things we'd never seen before! That, basically was the reason we walked away from surf lifesaving, we wanted to learn to shape one of these things. The boards were taken with them after that weekend, we had nothing to copy. (7) We all started from scratch."

Peter Troy: pioneer surfer
ABC Radio (Gold & Tweed Coasts) Friday, 4 August 2006.
http://www.abc.net.au/goldcoast/stories/s1705022.htm

Commentary
1. "I rode one of those early surf club boards"
Peter Troy's role is expanded in a later radio program, noted below.
2 "the major people were the lifeguards, basically swimmers."
A under-estimation of the surf skills of the U.S.A. and Hawaiian team members, see comments on the Waterman concept, above.
3. "four Malibu boards"
There is no mention of the fibreglassed paddeboards.
4. "the second of December"
Peter Troy's recollections clearly refer only to the second Torquay carnival.
5. "Torquay back beach"
Possibly as a result of the lack of swell at Torquay as noted by the SMH (Monday 3rd December), above.
6. " 'this guy isn't very good he can't even kneel!' "
Repeated in a later radio program, noted below.
7. "The boards were taken with them after that weekend, we had nothing to copy."
The boards were, no doubt, by now allocated to various Sydney surfers.

Later in 2006, Peter Troy was interviewed again, his further recollections add some relevant details.

"... Arthur Parkin. I think he's 94 years old, living in Queensland on the Sunshine Coast, he was asked by the lifesaving authorities in Australia to travel to California and Hawaii to instruct paid lifeguards to be put together into a team to come out to Australia. And that was done I think as early as 1952 and was sponsored by Ampol Petroleum, where they paid for that man to go several times to America to teach these guys lifesaving methods.(1)

At the same time, two of us, and I'm talking about another fellow called Vic Tantau (2), and myself, we were asked to give a demonstration of the early surfboard riding because of what we'd developed. So I was very fortunate to have been selected to give a demonstration of surfboard riding.

We basically went out on the 16-foot toothpicks, and Torquay beach is a very special beach for this because there's a large exposed rock off the beach called Haystack Rock, and the way it's come in on an angle on there, and they go off breaking towards the right, down into the middle of Torquay back beach, and it allows maybe a 300-metre ride on one of these surfboards.(3)

I distinctly remember being under the Torquay surf club, which was an elevated building up on lamp-posts, and they had all of the surf craft underneath, and I went under there to get something, and there was one of these American guys, and he was kneeling in the sand, and he was wrapping around a fin that he'd taken out of a little handbag that had his towel and bathers and everything in it, and he was wrapping newspaper around the edge, and putting it into a slot in the surfboard. And he picked up a piece of rock that was in the sand and he was hammering this fin into the surfboard. And of course I had no awareness of what this was about, so I was interested.(4)

I hadn't had the opportunity of ever talking to the guy, so I was just looking at him, and followed him down the beach and there was probably 8 or 10 other people on the beach that followed this guy down, carrying the surfboard under his arm, and he got into the water, (maybe it was 4 o'clock in the afternoon, I'm not quite sure) and lay on it, and of course we looked at that and thought, Well he's not very proficient because he can't even kneel on the surfboard, he's lying on it. And then we thought he wasn't very good either, because he only went 40 or 50 metres off the beach, and that was the last time we thought like that, because immediately he turned around, caught a wave in about three paddles, stood up, and crossed the wave, and then hot-dogged backwards and forwards, walking up and down the board, and we were all just - (Mick O'Regan: Gobsmacked?) Exactly.(5)

Well a couple of us went up to him, and we asked him, 'Can I have a go?' and I distinctly remember having a go on this board, but I couldn't really paddle the thing, and when I did try to stand up on it, it was so responsive, that it flipped out from underneath me (6), and so that was our only contact (1), because by that night, those guys had gone back to Geelong into their hotels (7), they'd packed their belongings and they were gone to Sydney. So the people who were on the beach that night had virtually two hours to think about it, and then they were going home to Melbourne, or to Ballarat, or Geelong, or somewhere, and within one or two weeks, those guys that were fairly competent with their hands had gone into their yards and tried to make one themselves. But they didn't have the material, so they had to make them out of marine ply with hardwood rails and they had bulkheads in the board rather like a small craft, and holes through those so that -

The four surfboards (8) that we knew those guys had, had gone that particular night, they'd gone to Sydney, and we now know that those four surfboards were bought by individuals in Sydney, and so Gordon Woods and Bob Evans and Bob Pike (9), other people in Sydney that acquired those boards, had the opportunity then of being able to copy them. But we in Victoria didn't, so we had to start off with just pure memory." (10)

Peter Troy : The Sports Factor. Presenter : Mick O'Regan
ABC Radio National Friday, 22 September 2006.
http://www.abc.net.au/rn/sportsfactor/stories/2006/1743137.htm#

Commentary
1. "Arthur Parkin ... I think as early as 1952 and was sponsored by Ampol Petroleum, where they paid for that man to go several times to America to teach these guys lifesaving methods."
The date of 1952, even for Parkin's first American visit, appears remarkably early and indicates early sponsorship by Ampol.
..2. "... Vic Tantau, and myself, we were asked to give a demonstration ..."
Troy's earlier recollections did not include his companion, Viv Tantau.
Tantau was to become one of the first Victorian board builders to use fibreglass and balsa.
3. "... Torquay beach is a very special beach ... it allows maybe a 300-metre ride on one of these surfboards."
These details of Torquay surfing conditions are useful information for those unfamiliar with the location.
4. "I distinctly remember ..., so I was interested."
His comments of Greg Noll, fitting a fin to his board are of great interest and the use of a removable fin does not appear in any other report.
5. "I hadn't had the opportunity ... Exactly."
Indicates an approximate number of observers, an approximate time, and a more detailed account of Noll's surfing performance.
Although not indicated, it is possible Greg Noll rode the break adjacent to "a large exposed rock off the beach called Haystack Rock".
This does not correspond with Noll's recollections ... "a little point break off to the side ...we ... paddled out".

Noll (1989), Page 71. My emphasis.

6. "I distinctly remember having a go on this board, ... it flipped out from underneath me."
Peter Troy's difficulty with the new design is a common surfing experience, and was regularly noted in the massive reduction in surfboard volume in the years between 1967 and 1970.
7. "back to Geelong into their hotels"
The accommodation at Geelong is at variance with another report that suggests "Australian and overseas surfers (are to be) billeted at Melbourne Showground "

J. S. McAuley : Surfers to Eat by ' Ton'
The Sun Wednesday 21st November 1956 Page 59.